G.V.V - Start of "King Lear"

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Start of King Lear : G.V.V

In this essay, I'm going to discuss the General Vision & Viewpoint (G.V.V) of the beginning of "King Lear" by William Shakespeare.

How does Lear treat his daughters at the start of the play?

Lear seems considerably harsh to his daughters, and seems to be foolish and insensible. He  decides to split his land evenly between his three daughters, against the better judgement of everyone in the court. "Know that we have divided in three our kingdom...to shake all cares and business from our age".  His inflated ego leads him to ask his three daughters how much they love him, and when Cordelia, his youngest and most loved daughter, says "Nothing, my lord", Lear is disgusted. As a result he renounces her part of the land, "Thy truth be thy dowry" and discards her as his daughter, "Here I disclaim all my paternal care, propinquity and property of blood". His other two daughters lie to him about how much they love him, perhaps because they are bitter about his preference to Cordelia. Kent even tells Lear that he is overreacting. The G.V.V at the start of the play is negative, and to the viewer can only get worse. It is never good to see a father treat his daughter so horribly. It's as if Lear is throwing her away. 

Do Lear and/or Cordelia make a bad decision/s?

The whole court discourages Lear's idea to split the kingdom and relinquish his power to his daughters. Lear is blinded by his pride and is unable to see the bigger picture of what he is doing. He is unaware of the consequences of both his egotistical behavior and his unorthodox decision to split his land. Even Kent, his most loyal servant, can see that Lear is being irrational. "Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad." "Reserve thy state and this hideous rashness." However, Lear will not be convinced to change his mind, only angered further. We see his mental state deteriorating already. This contributes to the desperate, negative G.V.V we see in the first scene. Lear makes the decision to relinquish his power, but does not want his royal status to change.