Beginning of Essay
Nakedness and dress in Shakespeare's King Lear, represented the status of a character. Many scenes use clothing to show one characters dominance over another. The more opulent the clothing, the higher the status, or the lack of clothing, the lower the status. ....

Middle of Essay
.... high to low, Lear strips off all his clothing, showing he is now at the very bottom of the social order. To have some clothes is to be someone, to have none is to be nobody. Edgar, legitimate son to the Earl of Gloucester, is well dressed, not as much as Lear, but still above commoners. Edgar is believed to be plotting to annihilate his own father. So every one is after someone named "Edgar", who is a well dressed noble. In order to protect himself, Edgar becomes no one. He becomes nobody by shedding his noble garments, and disguises himself by, "My face I'll grime with filth,/ Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots,/ And with prese ....