King Lear

Lear's Perception of His Situation in Shakespeare's King Lear
Thou shall honour thy father and thy mother, is not only one of ten powerful commandments but is also the foundation for King Lear's perception of himself and his overwhelming situation in Shakespeare's masterpiece King Lear. After a recent life-altering decision, Lear's seemingly stable and comfortable world has been thrown into upheaval through the disobedience and lies told by not only his two daughters but also by his servants! Thus, after being dishonoured by his family and attendants, Lear forms an accurate perception of his situation, that he is "a man / More sinned against than sinning" (Act III scene ii lines 60 - 61).
To begin, Lear's two eldest daughters dishonour him on several occasions. The first of three situations involves solely Goneril, the eldest. In Act I scene iii, Goneril gives a direct order to her manservant, Oswald: "Put on what weary negligence you please, / You and your fellows. I'd have it come to question. / If he distaste it, let him to my sister" (14 -15). She decided that having her father live with her was more than she could bear and, therefore, ordered Oswald to both disobey and ignore Lear from that point onward in hopes that he would soon leave her home. Thus, Goneril is explicitly disobeying one of the Ten Commandments; thou shall honour thy mother and thy father, causing her to sin against her father. Moreover, Goneril's sister, Regan, later disobeys the same commandment and also sins against Lear. After receiving a letter from Goneril informing her that Lear and his knights were planning to arrive at her home that night, Regan and her husband decide to leave t!
heir home to stay with Gloucester. Regan explains her plan plainly to Gloucester saying only that, "if they come to sojourn at my house, / I'll not be there" (II. ii. 105 - 106). Therefore, not only is Regan sinning against her father but she also refuses him shelter, a basic necessity for living.  Finally, although quite successful individually, Goneril and Regan decide to combine forces against Lear. The daughters force Lear to bargain for shelter from the storm raging outside each allowing only a certain number of attendants. At first, Regan agrees to allow Lear to bring "but five and twenty" (II. iv. 246-48). However, Goneril questions Regan's leniency and Lear's need by asking, "What need you five and twenty? ten? or five," 
(II. iv. 260). Inevitably, Regan sides with her sister and demands, "What need one?" thus leaving Lear with no choice at all (II. iv. 263). This humiliating series of questions and answers demonstrates how little respect Goneril and Regan have for their father. A commandment has been disobeyed, thus as sin has been committed . . . committed against the king. 
Not only have Lear's daughters sinned against him, so have his lowly servants: Kent, Oswald and The Fool. First, none other than his trusted advisor sins against Lear. Ironically, Kent is the first person to lie to him. Kent's lies begin when he returns to the kingdom after being banished by Lear but this time in disguise. A disguised Kent reveals in plan to deceive Lear on his return to the kingdom:
If but as well I other accents borrow
That can my speech difuse, my good intent
May carry through itself to that full issue
For which I razed my likeness. (I. iv. 1-4)
Although Kent's lies are used to help him help Lear, they are still lies. Kent returns to the kingdom not only to serve Lear out of loyalty for the old man but also to assure that the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed does not wither away if by telling a few lies to his king, he can remain at the palace. Thus, Kent's lies are disrespectful to the king and disobey another of the Ten Commandments; thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Kent's lies must, therefore, be considered sins. Shortly there after, again in Act I scene iv, yet another servant disobeys Lear's orders: Oswald. While in the court, feeling quite ignored, Lear demands of Oswald, "Who am I," to which Oswald plainly replies, "My lady's father," (I. iv. 80-81). By replying in this manner, Oswald disrespects Lear by not recognizing him as the king but as simply another master in the household. Disobedience such as this cannot be regarded as anything but a sin. Finally, and throughout the !
rest of the play, his Fool disrespects Lear. Although the Fool is trying to help Lear to solve the mysteries that form the path in front of him, the boundary between master and slave becomes blurred as the Fool begins to make comments no one in his position should be allowed to make without suffering the consequences. For example, in Act I scene iv, the Fool sings a song providing his own interpretation of Lear's situation:
Fools had ne'er less grace in a year,
For wise men are grown foppish,
And know not how their wits to wear,
Their manners are so apish. (170-74)
The Fool's song portrays Lear as a fool, saying he has little wit and a clumsy manner. Comments like these are not appropriate for a Fool or anyone else at all when speaking about the king. Hence, the Fool's disrespectful comments are considered sins since Lear is dishonoured in the process. In short, Kent, Oswald and the Fool, all disobeyed and disrespected their king (in essence, their father), thus disregarding altogether the commandment which forms the base of Shakespeare's work.
To conclude, it is evident that Lear was sinned against by a great many people, the most important of which being his daughters: Goneril and Regan, and his servants: Kent, Oswald and the Fool. Therefore, Lear's perception of himself, that he is "a man / More sinned against than sinning," is unfortunately but truly accurate (III. ii. 60-61).