King Lear Journal 4

"When the mind's free,
The body's delicate. This tempest in my mind
Doth from my senses take all feeling else
Save what beats there." (3.4, 13-17).

Context: Lear is outside in the storm, talking to the storm about his daughters and their betrayal. He is agonizing over why they have turned against him even though he has given him so much.

Lines on their own:
When the mind is not troubled by anything,
The body is sensitive. The storm in my mind
Takes all the feeling from my senses
Except for the feelings in my mind.

Lines together in context: In this statement, Lear is saying that when a person is not troubled by anything in their mind, their physical body is more sensitive to pain. But when the person's mind is troubled, they are too pained by that trouble to be sensitive to physical pain any storm can inflict on them. For example, Lear does not mind being outside in the violent storm because he is too focused on agonizing over his daughters than he is aware of the discomfort inflicted on him by the storm. If he had nothing weighing down his thoughts, he wouldn't be willing to stay out in the storm.

Personal Response:
To me, this passage shows a surprising side of Lear. For one thing, I'm not used to hearing him share pieces of wisdom like this one. Usually he speaks much more bluntly and non-poetic, but these lines are surprisingly flowy and meaningful. After reading this passage, I also see a different side of Lear that I had not before. Previously, it has seemed to me that Lear was just being selfish and stubborn in insisting he be accompanied by 100 knights at his daughters' houses. However, this passage makes me see that part of Lear actually feels hurt by his daughters' unwelcoming attitudes towards him. He is an old man with no power or land left, and he only wants to spend time with his daughters; however, they are shunning him (and possibly planning to overthrow his kingdom). I didn't expect to ever change my perspective on him so much, but this passage actually makes me feel a little sorry for Lear, who just needs family to fall back on and is being let down by his daughters whom he thought loved him but are not welcoming him in to their homes.