A girl in my class’s take on Kent coming back to work for Lear-
(Not an exact quote bc class ended nearly an hour ago)
“So Kent’s obsessed with being Lear’s top adviser/ Lear’s most trusted person in court, so he came back even though he’d be killed if he were caught because he can’t stand the thought of someone else filling his role. He came back to get his role back or die trying”
And I think that’s a very valid interpretation, because it fits in with the themes of the play well.
Practically everyone’s obsessed with their roles and where they fit in here- Lear begins losing his sanity when he realizes he’s not a real king anymore, Edmund’s out here trying to gain a better title (or. Just. Any title at all), Cordelia decides that she’d rather give up her status than kiss up to Lear- I could (and might!) go on analyzing this in another post.