Shakespeare, King Lear Acts 1,2 -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)
"I do profess to be no less than I seem, to serve/him truly that will put me in trust, to love him that/is honest, to converse with him that is wise and says/little, to fear judgement, to fight when I cannot/choose, and to eat no fish."
Kent is my favorite character in this whole play. He follows Lear regardless of his [Lear's] actions lack of mental sanity or logical thinking. He shows what it means to be a friend in this literary world created by Shakespeare where it seems no one is a friend to anyone, where fathers turn on daughters, sister against sister, brother against brother, wife against husband. Kent's honesty, fowardness, and loyalty are the very kind of admirable qualities we look for in people in our own society today. His humanity makes it very easy to relate to him, and his chivalrous deeds throughout the play make one want to aspire to his persona.