The Earl of Kent plays a small but important part in Shakespeare's play King Lear. From the beginning scenes to the end we see a minor character that is used to show the values that Shakespeare believed in. Whether Kent is an example of the dutiful servant or plays the intermediary between Lear and Cordelia he is essential to the functioning of the plot.
The role of Kent is important because of the use Shakespeare has for his character in giving the reader an example of what the values are in the play. In Kent the reader sees a man who is loyal to his King but is not blind to the wrong that this King has committed Kent is also able to defend his King even though he has been banished by him. Kent is an example of a dutiful servant and a symbol of reason.
The reader discovers Kent's willingness to protect his King in the first scene. After Lear has had his daughter’s display their love in a pubic competition Kent tries to persuade him that Cordelia "does not love him least" and that Lear should think about banishing her. Kent is trying to protect the King from his emotions and the decision that they have led him to. But Lear does not listen and instead banishes Kent from the Kingdom. His banishment is a result of another emotional outburst on the part of the King. If Lear were to look rationally at his actions and what his daughters have said he would realize his folly. Instead he is enraged by Kent and thinks that he is challenging his authority.
Even after he has been banished Kent goes back to protect Lear. He sees that the King is headed for trouble. He has let his emotions guide his actions. He has abandoned reason, and Kent is present as a reasoning force. Lear has divided his Kingdom between two of his greedy daughters and banished the third. Lear no longer wants the burdens of being the ruler he only wants the prestige that goes along with the job. Kent realizes that Lear’s" older daughters, Regan and Goneril, do not deserve to rule Britain and that he has made a mistake by giving them power at the cost of his own. Kent sees what Lear can't see. Once you hand your power over to someone your own standing suffers.
The loss of the King’s" standing is seen in the way Oswald has lost respect for the King. After Kent has come back to Lear, in disguise, the reader sees the first challenge to the Kings power. Upon inquiring of Oswald where Goneril is. Oswald ignores the Kings request and leaves him unanswered. It is here that we see the lost respect for the King because of the loss of his power. It is in this scene that we see Kent take on the role of protector. Kent forces Oswald out of the Kings presence because of his lack of respect and duty to his King. Oswald is another minor character that Shakespeare uses to build his plot on as well as to illustrate what some of the vices of the time were. He is the negative counterpart of Kent.
We see Oswald again after Lear leaves Goneril to go to Regan for assistance and the treatment he thinks he deserves. Kent is sent by the King to tell Regan of the Kin4s approach and of the lack of respect he has been shown by his other daughter. When Kent meets up with Oswald again, Kent attacks Oswald because of the dishonor he has done to the King as well as the lack of duty he has shown to Lear. Kent is the representation of the old value of standing by your master no matter what the circumstances while Oswald symbolizes the flight from the one who had power to the one who now has the power. Kent fights to defend the honor of his King and for his belief in what honorable men do. He feels that Oswald has been dishonorable in abandoning his King for power.
After the two men fight Kent is put into the stocks. This action by Regan shows her lack of respect for the King. Putting the King's messenger in the stocks is almost the same as putting the King in them. In this scene Shakespeare uses Kent to symbolize the complete loss of power and respect the King has suffered. Up to this point Kent has been able to protect the King. Once he is put in chains the King has symbolically lost his power. This is apparent when the reader sees the way Lear is received by Regan. She sees him as a feeble old man with no authority and should therefore be treated like one. When Lear realizes what is happening to him he starts to descend into madness.
Kent can no longer protect him from others and must now try to protect Lear from himself and to act in a reasonable way for the King. During the third act Kent can be seen as the protector of Lear. It is in this act that the King becomes mad and has completely lost his reason. Kent uses his reason to get the King to shelter because the King does not recognize the danger he is in by staying out in the storm. If the storm represents Lear's decent into madness then Kent represents the last strains of sanity in Lear. It is by being reasonable that Kent is able to protect the King.
It is also through reason that Kent is able to represent Lear. Acting on behalf of the King Kent asks for Cordelia's assistance in restoring the King's power. Since Lear is to stubborn to talk to his banished daughter Kent does so in an attempt to get the two reconciled. When Lear is mad Kent is the one who is able to protect him and is there to look out for him. Shakespeare uses the character of Kent to symbolize the King's interest and duty. From the beginning of the play he is trying to protect the honor of the King. By challenging the King in the first scene he shows his concern that the King is acting poorly and is merely trying to council him to make the right decision.
Kent is the only one who stands by the King through his loss of power and reason. His function in the play is that of a dutiful servant who is never willing to leave his Liege, even if it means his own death. He is a representation of how a person should act. He does not change allegiances like Oswald and doesn't goad on his insanity like the fool. He tries to save the King from the mistakes he has made. Even though he was banished by Lear he still serves him like a dutiful servant. He has no reason to help the King except his sense of duty. It is imperative to Kent that he tries to help the King. It is everything he believes in. If he were to just vanish after his banishment than Lear would have been left without protection.
Kent also symbolizes the forces of good. At the end of the play he stands with Albany and Edgar as the surviving forces of Good. During the play he and Edgar have been symbols of what is right and at the end are there to make sure that good will survive. But it is clear that Kent’s service to his King is more important than preserving what is right because of his desire to answer his master's call to death. So the play ends with Kent’s journey to meet his master. Kent has played the part of protector and servant of Lear. Shakespeare uses him as an example of what is right and to show how powerful duty is. Without Kent the play would take a completely different course. He is able to connect the King’s madness with the loss of reason that Lear displays in the first scene. Kent is a representative of Lear before he lost his power.
The actions of Kent are connected to the main plot of the play. He is present in almost all of the scenes in which Lear shows his descent from power into madness. The reader is able to make connections in the plot because of the presence of Kent. The reader also sees the strong moral messages of the plot through the character of Kent. Kent is the embodiment of honor and duty. These themes are needed in order to keep the story complete.
The text of King Lear