Lear and Gloucester

King Lear and Gloucester have quite similar stories that eventually intertwine because the one of the overriding themes of the play is to show how the balance of power and ego always tends to clash with the power of love. The two men are in remarkably similar situations where the direction of their fortunes is left up to their own prerogative. This quite a tough situation and Shakespeare uses the characters like Goneril, Regan, and Edmond to highlight the types of faulty or dishonest influences that can shape ones decision when dividing up spoils amongst family. Lear and Gloucester have paralleling stories because Shakespeare wants to highlight that the balance between love and ego is a fateful decision for most powerful people. Both men choose their ego and in turn their children who love them the most genuinely are out casted and the men are left to the mistreatment of their divisive children who no longer have much need for their powerless fathers. I think this careful balance between genuine love and deceptive flattery is the key in the relationship between the two powerful men and in the end it is both of their choices for flattery and egotism over love that leads to their demise