Complex sentence: According to Kahn, Lear's old age forces him to regress into an infantile disposition, and he now seeks a love that is traditionally satisfied by a mothering woman, but in the absence of a real mother, his daughters become the mother figures.
Split into simpler sentences: According to Kahn, Lear's old age forces him to regress into an infantile disposition, and now seeks for a love that is traditionally satisfied by a mothering woman. Her characterization of Lear is that of a child being mothered, but in the absence of real mothers, his daughters become the mother figures.