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When Gloucester is saying this, he still lacks clear vision, and would

never have seen vengeance taken upon Cornwall. When Cornwall puts out

his eyes, Gloucester’s vision becomes clear from this point on, and he

later discovers that Cornwall was killed. Ironically, Gloucester does

not see vengeance until after he is blinded. In this sense, Cornwall

also suffers from clouded vision because his death is a direct result

of his blinding of Gloucester, when a servant kills him. As a result,

Gloucester is spared and his vision is cleared, while Cornwall is left

a victim of his own faulty vision.

From this point onwards, Gloucester learns to see clearly by

using his heart to see instead of his eyes. It is evident that he

realizes this when he says:

I have no way and therefore want no eyes;

I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen,

Our means secure us, and our mere defects

Prove our commodities. (IV.i.18-21)

In this, he is saying that he has no need for eyes because when he had

them, he could not see clearly. He realizes that when he had eyes, he

was confident that he could see, while in reality, he could not see

until his eyes were removed. Afterwards, he sees with his mind instead

of his eyes.

Gloucester’s vision can be contrasted with that of Lear. While

Lear has the physical sight that Gloucester lost, Gloucester has the

clearer vision that Lear will never gain. When Lear and Gloucester

meet near the cliffs of Dover, Lear questions Gloucester’s state:

No eyes in your

head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are

in a heavy case, your purse in a light, yet you

see how this world goes.

Gloucester. I see it feelingly. (IV.vi.147-151)

Here, Lear cannot relate to Gloucester because his vision is not

clear, and he wonders how Gloucester can see without eyes. Although

Lear has seen his mistakes, he still believes that sight comes only

from the eyes. Gloucester tells him that sight comes from within.

Vision is the result of the mind, heart, and emotions put together,

not just physical sight. This is a concept that Lear will never

understand.

In King Lear, clear vision is an attribute portrayed by the

main characters of the two plots. While Lear portrays a lack of

vision, Gloucester learns that clear vision does not emanate from the

eye. Throughout this play, Shakespeare is saying that the world cannot

truly be seen with the eye, but with the heart. The physical world

that the eye can detect can accordingly hide its evils with physical

attributes, and thus clear vision cannot result from the eye alone.

Lear’s downfall was a result of his failure to understand that

appearance does not always represent reality. Gloucester avoided a

similar demise by learning the relationship between appearance and

reality. If Lear had learned to look with more than just his eyes, he

might have avoided this tragedy.

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