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Gloucester, his eyes recently gouged out

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Gloucester, his eyes recently gouged out

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I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;/
I stumbled when I saw.

(IV, i, 22-23)

Gloucester here seems to be admitting defeat, that he's made a fatal mistake of his own accord. His "free will", his sight, have brought him only pain.

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Alack, I have no eyes!/
Is wretchedness depriv'd that benefit/
To end itself by death? 'Twas yet some comfort/
When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage/

And frustrate his proud will.

(IV, vi, 70-74)

Gloucester mourns his lack of vision, seemingly believing some fundamental part of him has been lost in his eyesight.

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Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse/
in a light. Yet you see how this world goes.

(IV, vi, 157-158)

Get thee glass eyes/

And, like a scurvy politician, seem/
To see the things thou dost not.

(IV, vi, 179-181)

Lear attempts to explain to Gloucester that sight, the ability to know what is really going on, goes beyond the physical. He even implies that relying on this purely physical sight, taking things as they seem before you, can lead to deception.

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The Earl of Gloucester's strife is perhaps the most on-the nose example of seeing and knowing in this play. His eyes are gouged out by his rivals, symbolically stripping his of his dignity and nobility. However, it's only after this blinding that he may realize who truly loves him, and who his allies are. He stumbled when he saw, and only when he stopped being able to rely on this sight did he truly understand what was happening around him. This creates a sense that the physical aspect of sight cannot be relied on - that perhaps a more subjective view is required.

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The oldest have borne most; we that are young/
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

(V, iii, 394-397)

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Albany for much of the play finds himself unable to see Goneril's deceit, perhaps blinded by his own feelings and judgments toward her. Only at its conclusion can he begin to see the truth about his wife. He blames this on his youth, a lack of understanding clouding his vision - an ironic notion, considering the fate of several of his elders. He, too, finds himself betrayed by objective sight.

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See better, Lear, and let me still remain/
The true blank of thine eye.

(I, i, 166-167)

Kent, here, is first to recognize Lear's metaphorical blindness in casting aside his daughter. He pleads with the king to see better, understanding that Lear is currently unable to see what Kent knows to be true, that his daughter truly does love him.

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Lear, realizing his descent into madness

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Lear, realizing his descent into madness

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Doth any here know me? This is not Lear:/
Doth Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his eyes?

(I, iv, 218-219)

As King Lear begins to go mad, he notices the discrepancies between what he sees going on around him and what he feels to be true. This schism proceeds to the point where he no longer recognizes himself - marking a point where he's realized the mistakes he's made while he couldn't see.

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All that follow/

their noses are led by their eyes but blind men; and/

there's not a nose among twenty but can smell him/

that's stinking

(II, iv, 74-77)

The Fool here remarks on how even a physically blind man could tell the misery of Lear's situation, and the tragic mistakes he continues to make. It further reinforces the theme that knowledge and understanding come from a deeper understanding than just sight.

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I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion/
I would have made them skip: I am old now,/
And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you?/
Mine eyes are not o' the best: I'll tell you straight.

(V, iii, 336-339)

There is a bitter irony in Lear claiming the fallibility of his eyes - he admits he was wrong before his court, though it is at this point far too late to make a difference.

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Lear, while not literally blind as Gloucester is, is unable to truly see who is loyal to him, and what goes on in his court. This leads not only to the downfall of his nobility, but also to his madness - as the world he sees does not reconcile with the world he thought he knew. Only when he embraces this madness, abandoning objectivity for what he feels to be true, is he able to discern who his allies and enemies are.