Benjamin W. Cheng

Princeton University '00

KING LEAR: A MILDER TRAGIC HERO IN THE FOLIO

According to the classical notion of tragedy, a tragic hero is a character of high

social standing who possesses a "tragic flaw." This personal defect leads him to commit a

fatal error in judgment which ultimately results in his downfall. As we see in William

Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear appears to serve as a prime example of a tragic hero. As

the most powerful man in England, he obviously enjoys the elevated status required of

such a character. Moreover, from the very beginning of the play, we also notice the king's

"tragic flaw" -- overweening vanity. This fault clouds his judgment of character, leading

him to fall for the insincere flattery of his two wicked daughters. Because of his naivete,

Lear makes the mistake of presenting Goneril and Regan with his kingdom and power,

thus paving the way towards his own ruin. In the Quarto version of King Lear, we clearly

see the high standing, pride, and gullibility which qualifies the king as a tragic hero.

However, some of the changes Shakespeare makes in the later Folio edition actually serve

to diminish these very same qualities. A closer examination of Act I Scene i in both

versions reveals that in the Folio edition, Lear does not enjoy as lofty a status as he does

in the Quarto. Furthermore, the later edition portrays him as less conceited and naive than

does the earlier one. Consequently, the Folio's representation of King Lear as a tragic hero

is considerably milder than that of the Quarto.

From the beginning of Act I, we notice that the Folio edition places less emphasis

on Lear's high social standing than does the Quarto. When we see the king for the very

first time, the Quarto's stage directions read: "Enter...King Lear, then the Dukes of Albany

and Cornwall; next Gonoril, Regan, Cordelia, with followers" (Quarto, 1.1.34). By

instructing the characters to enter in the order of their respective ranks, with the king

coming first, Shakespeare seems to call our attention to the fact that Lear is at the apex of

the social hierarchy. In the later Folio edition, however, he changes this line to, "Enter

King Lear, the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and attendants"

(Folio, 1.1.33). Because the characters now enter simultaneously and in no specific order,

the new directions in effect cloud the distinction between the rank of the king and that of

his followers. We see a similar decrease in Lear's status through the way his subjects

address him in the two versions of the play. For example, in the Quarto edition, after the

king orders Gloucester to bring in France and Burgundy, the old earl replies: "I shall, my

liege" (Quarto, 1.1.36). In the same line of the Folio, however, he simply addresses Lear

as "my lord" (Folio, 1.1.35). By referring to the king as his "liege" in the Quarto version,

Gloucester explicitly acknowledges that Lear's position is far superior to his own. In

contrast, he makes no such concession in the Folio, for characters in the play commonly

greet each other as "my lord" even when they are of equal rank. As a consequence of

these and other similar changes in the newer edition, we witness a slight diminution of the

lofty status which qualifies Lear as a tragic hero.

At the same time, the Folio version also portrays the king as less proud than does

the Quarto edition. In his first speech in Act I Scene i, we see Lear's resolution to divide

his kingdom among his three daughters. However, as discrepancies between the Quarto

and Folio versions of the speech reveal, his justification for this decision differs in the

two editions. In the Quarto, the king simply declares that "'tis our first intent / to shake all

cares and business off our state, / confirming them on younger years" (Quarto, 1.1.39-41).

Through these words, Lear gives us the impression that he is abdicating his power on his

own volition, and that he merely has no desire for further involvement in affairs of state.

These same lines in the Folio, however, suggest a different reason for his decision. As the

king states in the newer edition, he wishes to "shake all cares and business from our age, /

conferring them on younger strengths while we / unburdened crawl toward death" (Folio,

1.1.39-41). By admitting that his old age has forced him to give up his kingdom and to

confer it on "younger strengths" (italics mine), Lear in effect concedes that he is too weak

and feeble to continue ruling himself. Moreover, by declaring that he will "crawl toward

death" (italics mine), the king reveals a sense of vulnerability and humility in the Folio

version which we definitely do not see in the Quarto.

A similar change later in the same speech further emphasizes this diminution of

Lear's vanity in the newer edition. Desiring the flattery of his daughters, the king asks in

the Quarto: "Which of you shall we say doth love us most, / that we our largest bounty

may extend / where merit doth most challenge it?" (Quarto, 1.1.46-48) By "merit,"

Shakespeare refers to legal eligibility for inheritance, and because Cordelia is both female

and the youngest of three children, she is the one whom "merit...most [challenges]." For

this reason, Lear's words imply that he had resolved to give the largest portion of his

kingdom to Cordelia even before listening to his daughters speak. He demands to hear

their flowery speeches of praise not to decide who deserves what, but merely to reinforce

his own self-image. In the Folio edition, however, Shakespeare changes the king's line to

"where nature doth with merit challenge" (Folio, 1.1.53). This new phrase simply

suggests that Lear would reward any of his three daughters who harbors natural affection

for him, even though she is female and technically should not inherit. Thus, as a result of

this change in wording, the king exhibits a lower degree of conceit in the Folio version of

the speech than he does in the Quarto.

Furthermore, we also notice that Lear appears less naive in the newer edition than

he does in the earlier one. In the Quarto, we only see the king gullibly falling for the

insincere flattery of Goneril and Regan. Indeed, he never seems to suspect (until it's too

late) that their love is not genuine, but motivated by greed for his kingdom. However, in

the Folio version, Shakespeare adds new lines which suggest that the king is not as naive

and trusting as we may have believed. As Lear declares in his first speech in Act I Scene i

of the Folio, "We have this hour a constant will to publish / our daughters' several

dowers, that future strife / may be prevented now" (Folio, 1.1.43-45). Through these

words, Lear implies that even though his daughters have thus far treated him with care

and loyalty, he does in fact doubt the sincerity of their love. For this reason, the king

believes it is necessary to take precautions before their greed for his power results in

conflicts among themselves. Thus, as a result of these added lines, Lear reveals a

shrewdness which we definitely do not see in the Quarto. Moreover, by portraying the

king as less naive and more suspicious in the Folio version of the speech, Shakespeare in

effect diminishes the very quality which directly leads to Lear's tragic downfall.

But why would Shakespeare have chosen to make these changes if their effect is

to milden the play's representation of Lear as a tragic hero? One possibility is that he

wished to uncover a more human side to the king. For example, by illuminating Lear's

doubt about whether or not his children truly love him, the newer edition suggests a sense

of insecurity which we do not see in the older one. At the same time, the king's words in

the Folio version also reveal a vulnerability which is notably absent from his speech in

the Quarto. By portraying Lear less as a traditional tragic hero, and more as a complex

human being, Shakespeare creates a character with whom we can more easily relate. As a

result, Lear's downfall may seem even more tragic to us in the Folio than in the Quarto.