"I stumbled when I saw."
Sound ironic?
Yes, indeed it is a very ironical phrase yet it is also a very insightful sentence in the play King Lear by William Shakespeare.
This phrase is uttered by Gloucester after his eyes were plucked out by Cornwall. Only after he has lost his eyes he realizes the tremendous mistake that he has made. Now, in his blindness he can "see" clearly how evil his illegitimate son Edmund is and has easily fooled him into believing that his loyal son Edgar is set on killing him. He has trusted blindly what he perceives as the truth without considering deeply beneath the surface.
The theme of sight and blindness can also be seen apparently through the other character, Lear. Although he is not blind, Lear fails to see the truth about his three daughters. His "disability to have insight" has led him to make terrible decision that has brought destructions to his own life.
Besides that, one main thing that I believe has hindered Lear and Gloucester to have a clear vision is their pride. Because of their pride, they never thought that they would make mistake thus they do not seek for or listen to others' advice.
"I stumbled when I saw."
This phrase should be a very good reminder for all of us. Isn't it a precise description about human life? The story of Gloucester and Lear does not simply occur on the stage for us to watch but it should be an impact for us in reality. The experience of Gloucester and Lear should be a very good lesson for us to learn. We should not perceive anything only on its face value. Instead of using our eyes to see, we should also make use of our mind, heart, knowledge and experience. Besides, we should not be overconfident on our own judgement. We should always consider other's advice to us.
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Comment on "I stumbled when I saw."
I like this topic and how Soon Mun brings out the idea of blindness by using the phrase "I stumbled when I saw” uttered by Gloucester. Yes Soon Mun, it sounds very ironic when someone is blind when he has the sight or when he can see. It is not the literal blind, but rather taken as “morally blind” where Gloucester at that point in time cannot distinguish between lies and truth due to lack of insight; misjudging his innocents son Edgar as he was blinds to believe Edmund’s lies. The phrase "I stumbled when I saw", suggest that all this while although he has eyes to see but he failed to have insight. He later becomes literally blind as his eyes has been plucked out and says “And therefore want no eyes” as he realizes that he stumbled when he saw (in other words, he could not see when he had eyes). And yet, the issues of blindness does depicts in Lear; not able to see the honesty in Cordelia and the dishonesty in Regan and Goneril which later drags him into destruction of his life. Again, Soon Mun sees this blindess roots from the same factor as I thought; the arrogance of upholding their pride by refusing others’ advice and view. To see things vividly, we have to see it with our insight not only using our physical sight. This issue would be the best reminder for us to actually see without stumbling.
Nur Shahida Zakaria 131366
Hi, soon mun. I am totally agreed with your opinion, when you said that pride is the reason why Lear and Gloucester did not have clear vision on the decision that they are going to make. Pride, according to Webster’s dictionary, is a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that you get when you, or someone connected to you, have achieved something special. It is not wrong for you to be pleased or satisfied with what you had achieved because it was a reward after working so hard to complete a task. But, it is better for you to be moderate. Besides that, you also wrote about, that “We should not perceive anything only on its face value”. Instead of using our eyes to see, we should also make use of our mind, heart, knowledge and experience. I do agree with you. This is where the line “Fair is foul, foul is fair” fits. We may not know what lies underneath something or someone. Well, I think all of us had experienced this situation before: meeting someone who is different from her looks. As a conclusion, reading King Lear was a good opportunity for us not only for educational purpose but also a lesson of a life time.
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