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Children can be used in stories to effectively enhance the imagery of the language. In both King Lear and in Macbeth, children are used to more clearly show a theme or comparison within the play. However, the ways in which children are used in these two plays are very different. Shakespeare uses the same device in both stories but for two very different purposes. In King Lear, there are five children. King Lear has three daughters. They are Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Goneril and Regan both tell the king how much they love him and how they worship him but they do not mean it. They are only saying good things so that good things will happen to them. King Lear is dividing up his kingdom at this time and the daughters know that whoever the king loves most will get the most land. Cordelia is the one that loves the king the most but because she will not say false things about her love for the king, she is disowned by Lear and given nothing. The theme of children being ungrateful and manipulative towards their parents is illustrated by Goneril and Regan. Goneril even plots against her own husband near the end of the play. This also shows us just how evil a woman she really is and how deceiving she was to the king. Al