In Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear, there is a reoccurring theme of insight and sight mostly between Gloucester and Lear; furthermore, Gloucester lacked physical sight but had insight, while Lear had physical sight but lacked insight. It is obvious that insight is not in any way derived from vision. Throughout most of King Lear, Lear's vision is obstructed by his lack of insight. Since he can not see into other people's characters, he can not see …showed first 75 words of 632 total…

…showed last 75 words of 632 total…he could not see until his eyes were removed. In conclusion, in King Lear, there are two different people in two different plots with the same problems. Lear thinks you can only see with your eyes, but Gloucester learns that insight does not emanate from eyes, and that vision comes from the mind. Appearance does not always represent reality; therefore, if Lear could have realized this sooner, he might have avoided some of his anguish.