The line: "Tis the times' plague when madmen lead the blind." is from William Shakespeare's play titled "King Lear", Act 4 Scene 1. This line has pointedly been taken by scholars to mean just what the words say. However as a paraphrase, the words can note: “we live in such sick times that madmen (lunatics) lead us as blind men (who are non-thinking individuals)”.

It can easily be imagined that a madman is a dangerous guide for a blind person. Of course Shakespeare's whole play, in this case, is obsessed with several different kinds of blindness. It is obvious by just reading or seeing the play. Also the point is made by noting Edgar. He is feigning madness because his bastard half-brother has turned their father, the Earl of Gloucester, against him. He winds up leading Gloucester; the person who is blind because Cornwall has put his eyes out. He will travel through the countryside, and will even attempt one of the most bizarre and disturbing “cures” that any person could image. This is all made very clear within this play "King Lear" by Shakespeare.

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