more nor less Lear believes her silence means disobedience The audience feels pity and fear because we know that Cordelia s love is true while Lear s trust is misplaced Blindness and Truth Lear s blindness creates another layer of irony He banishes Kent and Cordelia the only ones who truly love him Yet he welcomes the flattering traitors When Lear says Peace Kent Come not between the dragon and his wrath Here the audience sees his foolish pride We know that his anger will bring tragedy This irony reveals Lear s moral blindness The audience watches as he punishes honesty and rewards lies which later lead to his suffering and downfall Gloucester s Parallel Story The subplot of Gloucester adds more dramatic irony Gloucester trusts his wicked son Edmund and doubts his good son Edgar When Edmund shows a false letter Gloucester believes it The audience however knows the truth Later when Cornwall blinds Gloucester he says Lest it see more prevent it Out vile jelly The audience feels the full cruelty of the act Gloucester gains true vision only after losing his eyes The irony lies in his statement I stumbled when I saw This shows that physical blindness brings moral insight Lear s Awakening When Lear is out in the storm dramatic irony reaches its height He realizes that the world he ruled is cruel and false He cries I am a man more sinned against than sinning The audience already knows that his suffering is the result of his own mistakes We also know Cordelia still loves him and will soon return The audience feels both hope and sorrow The storm becomes a symbol of his inner realization which he achieves too late The Tragic End The final scene is full of painful irony Lear carries the dead Cordelia and cries Howl howl howl howl She s gone forever The audience knows that Edmund has confessed and sent help too late to save her Lear believes she may still breathe and says If that her breath will mist or stain the stone why then she lives The truth is cruel Cordelia is dead The irony makes the ending more tragic and heartbreaking In termination Dramatic irony in King Lear deepens the tragedy and touches the heart The audience sees the truth that the characters cannot see Lear s blindness Gloucester s trust and Cordelia s silence all become powerful through irony It makes us pity the fallen king and reflect on human pride and foolishness Shakespeare employs irony to transform pain into wisdom and illustrate how truth often arrives too late