Lear calls himself “a man more sinned against than sinning” (3.2. 59-60). Is Lear an innocent victim of his daughters’ cruelty, or are some of the terrible things that happen to Lear his own fault?

By the time we get to this quote, Lear is not doing very well. He's lost all his power and is standing in the middle of a thunderstorm yelling at the sky, "Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!" We can forgive for feeling a little down on his luck. Lear however brought most of this upon himself. He had held the illusion that he could just pass off his kingdom to his addoring daughters and retire amidst people fawning all over him. Shakespeare reminds us that life doesn't wotk that way. Expectation and reality are frequently two completely different things. It is only now that he realizes that his daughters, Goneril and Regan never really loved him and and he squandered the love of the only daughter that spoke to him with sincerity. Lear failed to separate power from responsibility and is now paying the price.