Discuss Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of real and pretend love in the play King Lear.

The play King Lear by William Shakespeare commences with a love test to determine which of
the three daughters, Goneril, Regan or Cordelia love their father, King Lear, the most. This
influences the share of the kingdom that each daughter will receive. Interestingly, this is not the
only instance where real and pretend love is displayed in the play. Shakespeare also portrays this
theme in characters such as Edgar and Edmund in a parallel plot. Real and pretend love is
dramatically presented through techniques such as juxtaposition, soliloquy, dramatic irony,
among others.

The first instance of real vs. pretend love in the play is between King Lear’s daughters, Goneril,
Regan and Cordelia. Shakespeare unveils this through indirect characterisation of the three.
Goneril is seemingly deceitful and cunning as she expresses her love for her father in a speech.
She claims to love him “more than word can wield the matter” and ironically proceeds to use
words to verbally express her love. This appears to indicate a lack of authenticity and displays
her pretend love for Lear by creating a false sense of the depth of her love. Regan follows in
Goneril’s footsteps and appears to piggyback on Goneril’s speech. Rather than expressing her
love for her father in her own unique way, she relies on Goneril’s words which could point to her
pretentious and deceitful character hence amplifying the pretend love. Further events in the play
depict Goneril and Regan’s pretend love for their father. They both disrespect him by alluding to
the fact that he is senile and force him to downsize his soldiers as portrayed in the phrases, “I
pray you, father, being weak seem so” and “dismissing half your train, come then to me”. By
preying on their father’s lack of authority and old age, it is evident that Goneril and Regan were
pretentious in their love for Lear. Their behaviour is reminiscent of how children show extra love
and affection to their parents for material gain. Once this objective is met, such love dissipates.
Cordelia, on the other hand, is a symbol of real love. This is exemplified by the statement “I love
your majesty according to my bond, no more, no less” which seems to echo the authenticity and
purity of her love for Lear. Her love for her father surpasses verbal declarations which could be a
reflection of sincerity. More so, she assists Lear with troops to fight in the war against Goneril,
Regan and Edmund.

Another example of real and pretend love is displayed in the characters, Edgar and Edmund, in
their love for their father, Gloucester. Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate son, is pretentious in his
love for his father because he deceives him with a letter so as to turn him against Edgar. The use
of dramatic irony and soliloquy unveils Edmund’s duplicitous character to the audience.
Edmund’s wicked actions are motivated by a hunger for power, authority and inheritance as
revealed in the phrase “Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. I grow. I prosper. Now gods
stand up for the bastards!” Later, in the play, Edmund witnesses his father’s eyes being gouged
out by Cornwall, Regan’s husband and betrays him by exposing his loyalty to Lear to Cornwall,
Regan and Goneril. Similar to the evil sisters, he is treacherous, power hungry and deceitful. On
the contrary, Edgar’s love for his father, Gloucester, is genuine. He is sympathetic and
compassionate for his father and guides him to Dover as shown in the phrase “give me thy arm;
poor Tom (Edgar disguised) shall lead thee”. Despite Gloucester’s gullibility in believing
Edmund and turning against Edgar, Edgar remains compassionate and prevents Gloucester from
killing himself. Rather than leading his father to a high cliff, he guides him to low ground which
displays his genuine love for his father.

In both examples of real vs. pretend love, an underlying theory is the illusion of love. This can be
defined as the mismatch between physical reality and perception. Lear is deceived by an illusion
of love from Goneril and Regan. Their cunning speeches during the love test instil a false
perception of love within their father. As a result, there is a colossal gap between Lear’s
perception and reality. In the same way, Gloucester has a false perception of Edmund and rejects
Edgar, who truly loves him. Because of manipulation and deceit, Gloucester also falls prey to the
illusion of love.

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s exploration of real and pretend love through a handful of characters
in the play is rich, detailed and dramatic. It is a lesson to the audience to be keen not to fall prey
to the illusion of love just like Lear and Gloucester did.