The Value in Nothing

King Lear is the play I have the least experience with. The first time I visited King Lear was over this past summer and since then I’ve re-read it twice. With this read through I cannot help but notice the importance of incompetence and the importance of nothingness. Lear’s incompetence is something that we as the audience should always have in the back of our mind. That is not to say he is a bad person; rather he does not heed any warnings and is the type of person to react first and think later.

But what I find most fascinating is not what the characters do, but what they do not do that leads to the more interesting response. After all, if Cordelia responded the way her father wanted to, there probably would not be a story, but it is her reaction to not react that has the most value. In my opinion, Cordelia may be one of the strongest female characters in Shakespeare, simply for saying nothing.

Take notice of the use of nothing throughout the play – it is a word used often, by nearly every character. And when King Lear says, “Nothing will come of nothing” we have to wonder if there is any value in that statement. The play’s frequent reference to nothingness begs the question of whether something can exist if it does not have tangibility. If we cannot see or feel something, does it exist?