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King Lear : Lear's basic flaw at the beginning of the play is that he values appearances above reality .He wants to be treated as a king and to enjoy the title , but he doesn't want to fulfill a king's obligations of governing for the good of his subjects .Similarly , his test of his daughters demonstrates that he values a flattering public display of love over real love .

King Lear : Lear's basic flaw at the beginning of the play is that he values appearances above reality . He wants to be treated as a king and to enjoy the title , but he doesn't want to fulfill a king's obligations of governing for the good of his subjects . Similarly , his test of his daughters demonstrates that he values a flattering public display of love over real love . He doesn't ask " which of you doth love us most , " but rather , " which of you shall we say doth love us most ? " ( 1.1.49 ) . Most readers conclude that Lear is simply blind to the truth , but Cordelia is already his favorite daughter at the beginning of the play , so presumably he knows that she loves him the most . Nevertheless , Lear values Goneril and Regan's fawning over Cordelia's sincere sense of filial duty . An important question to ask is whether Lear develops as a character - whether he learns from his mistakes and becomes a better and more insightful human being . In some ways the answer is no : he doesn't completely recover his sanity and emerge as a better king . But his values do change over the course of the play . As he realizes his weakness and insignificance in comparison to the awesome forces of the natural world , he becomes a humble and caring individual . He comes to cherish Cordelia above everything else and to place his own love for Cordelia above every other consideration , to the point that he would rather live in prison with her than rule as a king again .