What About Kent?

Kent seems like a logical character to look at next. He is second in line to receive Lear’s wrath. His urgent objections to Lear’s censure of his daughter resonate so strongly with us, we are left with the image of the level-headed Earl for the rest of the play, even when Kent effectively becomes a different character. He is the voice of reason in the play; of all the madmen in the play, his “madness” is the most obviously faked.

I think something important happens when Lear’s rage shifts from Cordelia to Kent. The fight between father and daughter was hopelessly entangled in politics right from the start, but I think Lear was trying to keep it intimate, family-focused. As such, Kent’s intercession is more than rudeness. It represents, to Lear, a branch of the political world suddenly piercing the bubble of family. Kent is telling Lear that he is wrong to banish Cordelia (which he obviously is). But he’s also saying, “This isn’t just about you, old man.”

He says, “See better, Lear, and let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye.” This could just apply to Cordelia (and Lear’s poor judgment), but “See better” can just as readily apply to the lords and attendants who surround them, stunned by the proceedings. And what does it mean that Kent is “the true blank” of Lear’s eye? Does “blank” mean target, as Samuel Johnson tells us? The image is of an eye suddenly struck blind, gone white with cataracts.

When Kent becomes Caius in Act Two, he becomes violent and rash, attacking Oswald and getting himself locked in the stocks. This doesn’t seem like Kentish behaviour, so we assume he is trying to make some sort of point, presumably to Lear (who still hasn’t learned to see better). What can Kent teach Lear through these incidents? That suffering is everywhere? That even the King’s servants are not invulnerable? These seem like heavy-handed lessons, and what’s worse, they don’t connect to Cordelia (who, though outside the action by this time, is being defended in absentia by the Fool).

Maybe the “true blank of thine eye” is what Kent is trying to abolish. He wants Lear to recognize him – that is, to see through his disguise and come to understand that he is loyal to his monarch, even now. “My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thine enemies.” Why else would he be such a boisterous, attention-getting servant? He wants to make Lear’s gaze fix on his eyes, and he wants Lear to listen to him long enough to see reason and undo the terrible mistakes he’s made.