- Lear is emotionally blind: he cannot see Cordelia’s true love for him & banishes her. Through his madness he gets perfect vision, realises Goneril and Regan’s wickedness and Cordelia’s loyalty but it is too late. Lear’s blindness ends up costing Cordelia her life and consequently Lear’s own.
- Gloucester exhibits a less wilful blindness: after all, he was tricked. He was too willing to believe Edmund without even speaking to Edgar – he behaved rashly and jumped to conclusions. As Gloucester’s eyes are plucked out, he learns to see. It is not until he loses his physical sight that he realises how blind he has been to the truth. Although blind, by the end of the play he has achieved a clearer vision of the world.
Ultimately “Eyes aren’t the source of sight in the play, it is knowledge that leads to sight and further insight in the play”.