King Lear's Death At the end of Shakespeare's play King Lear, Kent and Edgar survive to be offered their power and titles back so that they can jointly rule with Albany. The title character of the play is not so fortunate. Lear enters carrying the dead body of his loving daughter Cordelia, then collapses and dies beside her. Over the years, scholars of Shakespeare have debated whether Lear's death was caused by his joy at …showed first 75 words of 755 total…

…showed last 75 words of 755 total…Tom" is about to be rewarded for his devotion and loyalty by becoming "Rich Edgar". King Lear deserves no sympathy. Lear's feelings of guilt do not redeem him from his responsibility of causing the tragedies that unfolded. His selfish acts brought about the tragedies that unfolded. The real tragedy in King Lear is not the death of the King but the death of the devoted Cordelia who ended up as a sacrifice to Lear's vanity.