ACT II: 2

2. The actions of Goneril and Reagan are not very simple to understand or explain. In essence they are two-faced, evil women who will do anything to achieve their goals. The beginning of the novel shows a lighter and more compassionate side of the girls when they must confess their “love” to gain the lands of their father. However, we quickly see that they have no such feelings and are eager to gain the title of Queen. No one can really put a direct reason for why people act this way. Some people are just born evil and know no other way of acting than to be ruthless. To the sisters’ account, Lear is not the best father in the world. He needed his daughters to say how much they loved him and compete for his land. A normal father knows that his children love him and should treat them with the same love. Evil in people is bred into them and no one can control the path that these people take. Resentment that children have for their parents can be caused by a behavior they have seen or something that has happened to them in their childhood. Goneril and Reagan could have been treated badly by Lear and have never forgiven him or the power to rule has gotten the best of them. The relationship between child and parent is very powerful and it can be a parent’s worst nightmare or the best thing that ever happened to them. The bond that exists between child and parent is something that can never exist anywhere else. Children and parents can do many things to each other, but in the end the love still exists. The evilness of these two girls won’t prevent Lear from loving them.