Wisdom Does Not Come With Age Although it is never too late to learn, those lessons learned in old age are often the most difficult and the most costly. Following Lear’s dispute with Goneril, the Fool tell him, “Thou shoulds’t not have been old till thou hads’t/ Been wise” [I, v, 43-44]. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, Lear illustrates that wisdom does not necessarily come with age. The mistakes that …showed first 75 words of 512 total…

…showed last 75 words of 512 total…fair to say that Lear did not display this attribute right away. His pride blinded him and his downfall came as a result of his self-indulgence. Unfortunately, Lear’s lack of knowledge condemned him from the beginning. This tragic hero learned the error of his ways too late for his salvation. Works Cited 1. Quennell, Peter and Johnson, Hanish. Who’s who in Shakespeare. Great Britain: Chancellor Press, 1973 2. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Pocket Books, 1993