No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison:
We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage:
When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness: so we’ll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. Even if there is evil in the world, the good will still be there. That is what Lear seems to be saying in his "gilded butterflies" speech to daughter Cordelia. Lear accepts his tragic fate, unlike many Shakespearean characters who rebel against theirs. He is excited to be in prison in the company of Cordelia’s goodness. He fantasizes about a future in which they will share life together like birds in a cage (simile). He speaks about a tender and joyful relationship with her in their prison cell, where they will sing like birds, tell old stories, pray together and laugh at pretentious courtiers. Who, in the circumstances, would begrudge Lear his flight from reality and vision of a simple happy life reunited with his favorite daughter? Yet in the midst of Lear’s unreal fantasy, he is still sane enough to be aware of his own guilt. When Cordelia asks for his blessing, he says that he will kneel down and ask for her forgiveness.