Love Contest: What's Love Got to Do with it?

Shakespeare's King Lear opens with the 'Love Contest' in which Lear, King of Britain, sinfully surrenders all of this power to his three daughters - Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia as a reward for their public declaration of love towards him. This untimely abdication of his throne displays the manifestation of Lear's character, his mistakes, and the foreshadowing consequences leading to his downfall. Lear's character rapidly develops through the staging of the love trial. His state …

…frail nature. Lear's stratagem for the division of his kingdom, one that seems calculated to reward flattery rather than merit. This opening scene reveals the tragic flaw in Lear's own nature and the forshadowing consequences of his foolish decisions. Lear's abdication of his power and responsibilities as King of Britian, and his division of the Kingdom is intended to reward flattery rather than merit. This foreshadows a chain of events leading to treachary and madness.