King Lear Questions on Metaphor
King Lear
What does the Fool mean by "Fathers that wear rags, do make their children blind" in King Lear?
The Fool's quote means that fathers who are poor ("wear rags") are ignored by their children, who become "blind" to them. Conversely, wealthy fathers ("bear bags") receive kindness from their...
King Lear
What does Shakespeare's quote "There was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass" mean?
Shakespeare's quote "There was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass" means that any beautiful woman will spend time looking at herself in a mirror, primping, and making faces to admire...
King Lear
What does the fool mean by "She will taste as like this as a crab does to a crab. Thou canst tell why one’s nose...
The fool means that Regan will treat Lear just as poorly as Goneril did, comparing their similarity to that of one crab to another. He then mocks Lear’s inability to perceive the truth about his...
King Lear
Literary Devices in King Lear
In Edgar's soliloquy in William Shakespeare's King Lear, various rhetorical devices enhance the dramatic impact. Alliteration, such as "happy hollow," and personification, like "persecutions of the...
King Lear
Why does King Lear refer to his daughters as "pelican daughters"?
King Lear refers to his daughters as "pelican daughters" because, in Shakespeare's time, pelicans were believed to feed their young with their own blood. This metaphor illustrates how Lear feels that...
King Lear
What literary devices are used in this passage?
Lear uses simile, metaphor, and repetition in this passage to convey his intense emotion at being betrayed. Sometimes Shakespeare's characters speak in soliloquies. This is when a character expresses...