The Light in the Dark

The ending of the play is full of tragedy and death but there is at least some small mercy for Lear and Gloucester and that for them at the very end the story was not tragic. For Lear, it was the moment right before he died when he thought he saw Cordelia starting to breath after her button was undone. In that moment he believed that his beloved daughter would be alright and not all is lost. He died believing that his mistake did not cruelly take his daughter's life and in that moment, he found some happiness. For Gloucester, he had found out that the stranger who was taking care of him was in fact his son Edgar. He had been shown mercy by knowing that his son was indeed alright and that there must be some feelings of love if Edgar had taken care of him until then. He died feeling torn between happiness and grief but there was at least a sense of bitter sweet for him. Both fathers had that one moment of hope and happiness, even if it was false for Lear, making life seem just a little bit more merciful from their point of view. The play may have been a tragedy for the audience and the characters that survived but for these two men, there was a small light at the end of a dark tunnel.