King Lear, at the beginning of the play, decides it's time to retire- so he decides to split his kingdom equally among his daughters, but only after each tells him how much they love him. Two of his daughters recite flowery praises, but the third, Cordelia, keeps silent. She claims that she cannot "heave her heart into her mouth"- she can't put into words what she feels.
Lear is pissed, and disowns her- he completely believes that what his other daughters said to him was true, because he trusts speech- he sees no separation between words and action- to say- is to make it so.
His Duke, Gloucester, is in another situation- this man trusts only what can be proved. His illegitimate son Edmund takes advantage of this by presenting him with a false letter. Gloucester believes Edmund because he believes what he sees, not what he hears.
And so the two men are both punished- Lear goes mad and Gloucester is blinded. Gloucester can therefore no longer see to believe, and Lear loses comprehension, and so all his understanding of words shifts, including his understanding of his own identity.
One of the critics I read said that both men are fated to their specific punishment because of their attachment and relationship with language, and that resonates.
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