Similarities and Differences of characters in "King Lear"

In the Shakespearean play of "King Lear" there are many characters which work together and against each other. There are both "flat" and "round" characters. The flat characters are Cordelia, Goneril, Regan, Edmund, Cornwall, Albany. Kent and the fool. The round characters include: Lear, Gloucester, and Edgar, who all change because of the actions of other characters toward them.

The characters King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester have very similar traits. They both are fooled by their offspring due to blindness to deception and their own pride and rage. However, only one is harmed in the play.

Edgar and Cordelia are the loving and beloved children who both get into the "wrong books" of their fathers. However, the way each came about this is different. Cordelia is banished from the kingdom whilst Edgar is deceived by his brother and is pursued by his father.

The sisters Goneril and Regan are both evil, manipulative, power- hungry, self destructive people, who both meet their end as a result of their own folly and greed. Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester also has these same destructive traits. These three characters were all encouraged by the same thing: power and money.