What I liked about this King Lear summary and commentary video is that the author of this video explains the summary in a very understandable way within a short time. In this video, the author not only talked about the main plot about King Lear and his daughters, but also the subplot about Gloucester and his sons. He also mentioned about how Shakespeare would sometimes use a subplot to comment on the main plot. For such reason, a subplot of Gloucester and his sons was added to the main plot of King Lear and his daughters. However, these plots revolve around the same theme, which is family issues.
In the main plot, King Lear wanted to retire and handover his kingdom to his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. However, the portion they are going to receive is determined by how convincingly they profess their love for their father. In other words, it is determined by how good they can lie. Love should be felt by heart. Words sometimes are not strong enough to express the whole. If someone truly loves you, you can feel it and see it through their actions. Not surprisingly, the older two daughters, Goneril and Regan, received much of the land because they know how to lie. Meanwhile, the youngest daughter, Cordelia received nothing because she did not do his favor. In the end, it revealed that the older two daughters wanted King Lear to die while the youngest one is the one who wants to rescue him.
In the subplot, Gloucester is being lied to by Edmund that Edgar wants to kill him to obtain his inheritance. In return, Gloucester believed Edmund and decided to arrest Edgar. Then, Edgar believed Edmund that Gloucester is going after him and Edgar decided to flee. However, Edgar saved Gloucester when he was in danger.
In both stories, the parents did not really understand their children and mistrust the wrong ones. They chose to see what they want to see and they chose to hear what they want to hear. Because of their misunderstanding and mistrust, they led themselves into tragedy in the end.