Shakespeare has developed a tragedy that allows us to see man's decent into chaos, King Lear. Lear is perceived as "a man more sinned against than sinning".
The play begins with Lear, an old king ready for retirement, preparing to divide the kingdom among his three daughters. Lear has his daughters compete for their inheritance by judging who can proclaim their love for him in the grandest possible fashion. Cordelia finds that she is unable to show her love with mere words and for this King Lear banishes her. This is very quick tempered and I believe he performs this act out of embaressment. Lear is blind to the fact that Cordellia is his most loving daughter. At the beginning of the play, we see Lear as a proud, vain, quick-tempered old king, not necessarily evil, but certainly not good. His ignorance leads to the dismissal of his one truly loving daughter Cordelia and the revelation that Regan and Goneril's profession of love for him were simply empty words. Turned away by both Regan and Goneril, King in the storm screams "I am a man more sinned against than sinning." During the storm Lear still believes he is the victim but he also admits partially that he has some guilt. After the storm, when Lear's madness has run its course, him and Cordelia are taken prisoners by Albany's army. We see the full effect of Lear's transformation when we see his Joy at being re-united with his loving daughter and he is not embaressed by the circumstances which they are re-united as