King Lear

Aged king demands his daughters perform their love before he divides the kingdom; banishes the one who refuses theater (Cordelia); discovers too late that the flattering daughters intended his fall; goes mad on the heath; reconciles with Cordelia at the very end of his strength. Failure mode: Confusing the performance of love with love. Restoration path: On the heath the king becomes naked man and learns what he could not learn on the throne. Markers: demands performance of devotion; banishes the honest one; gives away the strength that protected him; goes out into the storm; reconciles only after losing everything — King Lear, Shakespeare, King Lear (Literature)