https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g17ziHN59tg
This commentary of King Lear was done by Wisecrack in the series “Thug Notes”. He first gives an extremely short summary of the play, and then he analyzes the play. The major lesson that was constantly being emphasized in the play and his commentary was “keeping it real.” Lear wanted the image of being loved so much, that he fell for some superficial words, and disowned the only daughter that truly loved him. His situation was so bad that he went from a King to a straight up bum. If only he had seen the truth sooner, maybe he wouldn’t have had such a miserable ending.
This lesson could also be seen with Gloucester and his two sons, Edmund (illegitimate) and Edgar (legitimate). Edmund convinced Gloucester that Edgar was out to kill out of jealousy. Now Edgar went out and dressed like a bum to live out in the streets. When Glocester decides to help Lear out with his situation, Regan and Goneril remove his eyes and kicks him out of the castle. Edgar finds him in the streets and saves his life. Glocester was blind to the truth of what Edmund planned, and he only saw the truth when he lost his eyes. “I have no way, and therefore want no eyes. I stumbled when I saw.” This entire play is about loss. Loss of power, loss of love, loss of sight, and loss of life.
Even though reading the play was super arduous, the lesson on keeping your eyes open to the truth is flashing neon lights. This entire play is about the consequences of staying blind. This commentary was also super interesting because King Lear, with it’s old english, was quickly summarized into a seven minute video. Wisecrack used language that is super easy to understand and highlighted the important parts of the play. I would say that this channel is better than sparknotes.