William Shakespeare's King Lear tells the account of the tragic downfall of two men, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester, from power. Their ordeal stems from their own inability to judge the true intentions of their children. While the deceitful kin gain power and authority, the true and honest are banished. In order for the King and the Earl to realize their errors, they must first experience a great deal of pain and suffering.
             When King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters to rid himself of stress and obligations to allow himself to make an "Unburthened crawl toward death" in peace, he figures his power can best be split by the flattering words of his girls (I,i, 43). " . . . Which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty my extend . . ."(I,i, 53-54). This leaves the door wide open for the imposturous words of his older daughters, Goneril and Regan, since his test cannot filter out mere flattery from true love. Although his loyal servant, Kent, warns him of his folly, "see better, Lear, and let me still remain the true blank of thine eye," he, like Cordelia, who refuses to succumb to such a porous examination, is banished (I,i, 161-1).
             Gloucester, likewise, makes such an error in judgment when his bastard son, Edmund, who is envious of his father's love for his brother, frames Edgar. The Earl is at first shocked and disheartened by the forged letter, wrongfully condemns Edgar without so much as speaking a word to him. All the while, Edmund professes his love and honesty to his father. However, when Gloucester exits, so does Edmund's sweet-talk, for his immediate remarks thereafter ridicule him (I,ii, 128-144). Gloucester, as well as Lear, will not become aware of his deception until the power has shifted to the "unnatural" kin.
             Lear, having enjoyed a life of power and authority,
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