t even his. For this, Goneril gets quite upset and says, By day and night he wrongs me. Every hour / He flashes into one gross crime or other / That sets us all at odds. / Ill not endure it. / His knights grow riotous and himself upbraids us / On every trifle (Shakespeare I. ii. 4-8). Moreover, she is confused about how can Lear continue to command when he has relinquished his power, because she struggles to maintain her own power in her household. Although, her power is second fiddle to the power that Lear has as an absolute monarch, and as such can never fully give up rule. This is how he is still able to behave as a king. It is not just his behavior that gives a monarch his power, but also the support of his people and the physical symbols of that support. In an absolute monarchy, true power displays itself in the affective exercise of physical force through competition and is subsequently ratified by an outpouring of popular support for the displaced king (Tennenhouse 133). Lears power is first bolstered when it is challenged by his daughter Goneril. After fighting with her, he realizes his loss of kingly power [and it] is accompanied by physical divesture (Nelson Greenfield 284). Lears advisors cannot take their king loosing his sense of himself. Alack, bareheaded? Kent mourns (III. ii. 60), and Lear, finally recognizing the extent of his loss, begins to tear off his clothing (Nelson Greenfield 284). Kent and the Fool know that Lears clothing is important as an outward symbol of his power, and try to prevent him from tearing it up (Foakes 20). They support the king by reminding him (with clothing) of his power and not letting him give it up again. Afterwards, Lear is restored to his senses and to his friends, [and] his new status is accompanied by new garments: In the heaviness of sleep/ We put fresh garments on him (IV.vii.21-22) (Nelson Greenfield 285). Also, a new crown has been made and Lear has made the cr...
