Humans look down on animals because of their inability of successfully solving problems, especially when it’s related to power or control within their own species, although, humans too, share the same complication. During my investigation on the animal imagery in Shakespearean plays, I noticed that many of the authors effectively analyzed animal imagery and the use of animal instincts to express the true behavior and emotion from the characters in the play. Unfortunately, during my research I could not find much discussion about the similarities between the characters and the animals that were used to vigorously display their behaviour. I discover that the animal references presented in King Lear illustrates and provides evidence for supporting the idea of humans sharing the same behaviour as animals. This is significant because during the 1600’s, which was the time that Shakespeare wrote the play, there was a common misconception that humans were superior to animals. I come to see, Shakespeare challenges this barrier of human superiority and continuously attempts to allude the relationship and similarities between his characters, animal and other species through animal imagery. My objective in this paper is to focus on the significance of the animal imagery presented in King Lear by connecting the use of animal instincts to present character’s honest behavior and the similarities between humans and animals
