A Lesson Learned Too Late in King Lear In the first half of the play, King Lear struggles with the problem of authority and the consequences of giving up one's authority. Lear's eventual loss of sanity is the result of his poor judgment and unwillingness to part with his power as king. However, the question of authority is not the only theme addressed in the show. King Lear is also about Lear's search for identity and wisdom in his old age. The play explores the concept of human worth towards Lear and the other characters associated with him. Furthermore, the play speaks to Lear's changing definition of identity and human worth. Although the majority of the play is spent presenting these problems to the audience, the fact remains that the protagonist figure (Lear) and the other innocent character (Cordelia) die in the end although they are the characters who present the knowledge and problems. of the game. It is necessary to understand the impact of these characters' deaths because their deaths have the potential to erase the values ​​and issues they present and embody throughout the play. However, in the case of King Lear, the problems that Lear struggles with are not negated with his death. With the deaths of Lear and Cordelia, the audience feels more than a sense of loss over the deaths of these two characters who have finally come full circle and are reconciled. More importantly, the audience is presented with the tragic consequences of events that have been set in motion and cannot be reversed or erased. It is this main issue of consequences that is not negated with the deaths of Lear and Cordelia, but rather, strengthened with their deaths. Lear's struggle... in the center of the paper..., the audience is left with a purely tragic conclusion. The audience also experiences a feeling of loss at the wisdom that comes too late for Lear. The fact that the play focuses on Lear's search for wisdom and meaning in life gives the audience the feeling that the wisdom he has gained only came too late. Therefore, the remaining theme is that of the inevitable and serious consequences of our actions. Ultimately, the deaths of Lear and Cordelia serve as an example of how terrible the consequences can be. Works Cited and Consulted Brower, Reuben A. _Hero and Saint: Shakespeare and the Graeco-Roman Heroic Tradition_. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1971. Leggatt, Alexander. _King Lear_. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.Shakespeare, William. "King Lear". _The bank of the Shakespeare river_. Ed. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.