Lear's Maternal Instincts

The need to be loved that Lear shows is not something that would be expected from a King in a male dominated patriarchal society. Respect and admiration, but not necessarily love. That would seem to be more of the mother's forte. They would be the ones who need their children to love and cherish them. But Lear seems to need both. At the beginning when he wants his daughters to shower him in songs of deepest love and cherishing he is only pleased with the grotesque showings of affection. While Cordelia gives a most respectable and honorable answer that would be good enough for any other king. She shows her loyalty and appreciation for him with out going overboard on describing her love. This does not please Lear, and I believe Kahn is very right in saying that this is because he is making up for the lack of a mother figure. The mother-like characteristics seem to be predominate. He does balance it out with the need to be respected and the need for his wish for his soldiers to be with him honored. As he realizes what Goneril and Regan truly think about him he begins to understand what is important. Not the overblown description of that love that they gave, but the simple and honest love and respect that Cordelia voiced.
Even though he does show these feminine emotions he has them closely intertwined with his masculine mindset. He wants to be loved, but can't weep or breakdown as Kahn says. It is only till the end when he is with Cordelia that realizes what an old fool he has been the entire time, and he allows himself to feel and exhibit these sad sentiments. You really see the transformation that Lear goes through, throughout the play. He begins with "childish" requests of "how much do you love me" and ends with realizing that there is much more to peoples relations then how they answer that question. It seems at first that as the play goes on that Lear is getting older and more senile, but I believe it shows him maturing. He understands fully now and is not so naive. He doesn't need the fool any longer to point out his folly, he is wise to the ways of the world, and realizes how truly foolish he had been before. His relation to the motherly characteristics are also much more straightforward, and not as muddled. He now recognizes true love and respect and shows emotion the way he deems fit.