Blog Post #39

Foil characters are alike in someways however differ in a very critical way. Shakespeare portrays Glouster and Lear as foil characters toward one another. The main reason for their similarities is because both of these characters participate in a downfall. Lear and Glouster both lose power in their kingdoms. Lear has gone mad, as Kent states, "..his wits are gone" (Shakespeare 155) Lear loses the respect everyone had for him and it was replaced with a crazy old man. Glouster loses his power and sight. Both attacked by people they trusted. Their difference is expressed figurtively. When Glouster loses his power he is also blinded. His blinding actually causes him to see the insight Lear lacks. Although Lear has full sight he lacks insight, understanding and direction. It is evident that these two characters that clear vison is not derived solely from physical sight. Lear's failure to understand this is the principal of his demise. While Glouster learns to achieve clear vison, and consequently avoids a fate similar to Lear's. Glouster's character undergoes more of a physical change he discovers truth; Lear goes through more if a physoclogical change, from fantasy to reality and from insanity to sanity. The similarity is that both men are obviously not mentally stable from their downfalls.