In William Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear is driven to madness through his stubborn nature of being and his loss of identity. Throughout the play Lear loses all of which define his identity. His loss of fatherhood, role as king, and respect, all eventually lead to the loss of his sanity. Lears journey through his madness offers him a new perspective of the core nature of people, realizing that at our core, people are no different than animals. King Lear initially had planned to retire with Cordelia with his kingdom split amongst his three daughters, but that was not the case due to Cordelias refusal to convey her love in his manner. Here we can see early signs of Lears sanity begin to lose his grasp. His beloved daughters refusal clouds his judgment, causing him to ban Cordelia from the kingdom. We can also see Lear slowly beginning to lose his relationship with his daughters. The betrayal of his two daughters are a significant cause of his loss of sanity. His loss of his daughters eventually led to his total loss of power. This relationship is illustrated when Gonreil dismisses Lears knights. The knights served as a shell, they gave Lears sense of protection and a sense of power. The dismissal of the knights broke this shell and he grew more mentally unstable. Lear even calls his daughter a degenerate bastard (1.4) when Gonreil threatens punishment and continues to act rudely towards Lear. In Act 1 Scene 4, Oswald ignores Lear to spark a confrontation between the daughter and the Lear. Lear demands that Oswald tell him who he thinks he is talking to and Oswald replies My ladys father, which enraged Lear, because King was a more important label to him than father. Lear is driven to madness through his pursuit for power. After the sisters had gotten their fair share of land, they no longer felt the need to respect their father. When the two sisters turn against Lear, he realizes his mistake. He declares that his heart is broken, he e