The Most Evil Character in King Lear Goneril Essay

There is such an incredible amount of killing, violence, and deceit in King Lear by many characters that it is difficult to choose the most evil character. The most evil character may deceive one into thinking she is less evil than she is, but upon closer inspection it is quite clear that the most evil character is Goneril. Nevertheless, some may think Edmund, Cromwell, or Regan are the worst, but for a variety of reasons Goneril surpasses their evil. First of all, how does one define evil? Anything highly immoral is evil. In terms of the play King Lear, the most common form of evil is deceit and cruelty. Cromwell and Regan showed violence towards Gloucester by gouging out his eyes. However Cromwell does not try to deceive anyone. He†¦show more content†¦Goneril killed herself when Albany found out she killed Regan. Goneril did not have any true allies. She was not even an ally with herself because of her suicide. Cromwell and Regan had each other for allies. Not only did Go neril lie and cheat, but also as mentioned earlier she committed many acts of violence. She killed Regan and herself. She conspired to kill Albany. If she did not turn her back on her own father, the whole tragedy would have never happened. Goneril was more of a leader than Regan, so it is suspected that Goneril devised up the plan for Lear. Her actions spurred on a spiral of tragic events. Consequently, her decision destroyed many characters. Gloucester would have never been blinded and eventually killed from misery because he would not have tried to help Lear. Therefore Goneril is more evil than any other character because she lied the most, and did the most harm to everyone else. Goneril is not loving at all. She fakes her love for Regan and Lear. She has a supposed love with Edward. This is most likely not true love. She never showed true signs of love (even for Albany) prior to her ‘love’ with Edward. 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