King Lear: The Element of Disguise The play King Lear is, first of all, a play about kingship; about a trustful old king, every inch a king, who in old age brings destruction to himself, and to certain persons in his own circle, and to his country. It is a play which tears off the outer coverings. Pious and innocent-seeming people who are villainous, are revealed in their true nature, and the similar is disclosed for what it is, as it works destruction. This is done in a world in which most men are constantly seeking their own advancement, in a court which flatterers are always lurking, and in which a king should b