King Lear: Final Words

The final act of king lear was extremely confusing, which perfectly echoed the rest of the play. There was so much going on and although the subplots and main plot seemed to finally connect, I think it was done so poorly. Shakespeare doesnt transition at all; he just lists actions. I thought Lear's final words were especially interesting. It seemed that in Act 4, Lear had been able to understand all of his mistakes. In his final interaction with Kent, I couldn't tell if maybe he had not really learned or if it was truly his insanity setting in. I did not actually like Edmunds final good deed. Throughout the play he has been evil and I feel like his last attempt to do good was only to spare himself. I do not really think he cared for Lear or Cordelia but maybe he just did not want to die with anything negative on his conscious. In Kent's last words I felt bad for him. He's tried so hard to help Lear with everything and I think the reason he is so gloomy at the end is because his helps seems meaningless. Kent, throughout all his positive behavior, ends the play with thoughts of his death. It upset me that Cordelia did not survive, she was a character that was true to herself and her values under whatever circumstances. Her final words were confusing because when she dies it is very unclear. So, her actual final words don't seem as significant. I liked that at the end, Albany was open to sharing his newly gained wealth. I think it showed who he was as a person and that he was a good man. The end of this play was really bad because it seemed rushed. I think all of these events could have been spread out through an entire other play! Shakespeare's writing is so confusing. He is normally so elaborate and everything usually takes a long time to happen, but the last act is abrupt and has no flow.