Persuasively, Shakespeare has written various tragedy stories, and “King Lear” is one of them. This play was written when both Protestant and Catholic dominions influenced Elizabethan England. However, his play falls short of the prominent Christian allusions prevalent in his other contents. Despite him applying this pagan setting, the divine justice seems to retain its importance in this play. The play is all about a king by the name Lear who experiences some hardships as a result of his actions. The first passage in Act 3 Scene 2 shows Lear’s madness as he deliberately distresses about his daughter during a deadly storm (Shakespeare 3.2. 3). His behavior is a clear indication of the tragic patterns that a person considers to follow. In this source, the writer criticizes humanities’ flaws via his application of nature imagery, diction, and the secondary character, the fool, to demonstrate the importance of divine justice in the universe. Having presented the overview of the play, I will discuss how justice unfolds in the play, King Lear’s character flaws, whether pride is a flaw while still showing how Cordelia was involved in his downfall.
Although some readers may argue contrary to this statement, it is doubtless that there is no trait of justice in the play. Whether it is Gloucester’s torture, Cordelia’s banishment, or characters in the play, neither Lear’s insanity is guaranteed mercy. More so, maybe this is the main reason why Shakespeare’s contents are referred to as tragedies. Throughout his work as a writer, he has been viewed as a writer who ends his plays with demise, dramatic irony, injustice, and this play is no exception.
Instances of unfairness are notable in this play. For example, injustice starts with the banishment of Cordelia. To gauge how much of his kingdom each of the three daughters should get, Lear inquires each of them to explain the love they have for him. Cordelia flatters her love toward his father; she is unable to bring herself to demonstrate it. In this statement, she indicates, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love our majesty according to my bond, no more nor less” (Shakespeare 1.1.90–92). In reply to Cordelia’s behavior as a sycophant toward him, Lear is surprised and disowns her and denies her any portion of his kingdom. Worse still, Lear sells Cordelia to her two suitors. He even disgraces her in front of these suitors because she lacks any dowry to offer her husband to be. He lives to discover that Cordelia is the only daughter that loves him and that both Regan and Goneril are just pretenders and only want to take advantage of the condition. Lear’s view and treatment towards one of his daughters further support the idiom, “Life’s not fair.” This is evident when they throw him out after he divides the kingdom among them.
Another incidence of unfairness is evident through the son of Gloucester, Edmund. This man commits many crimes all through the play and consistently demonstrates disloyalty towards others intending to achieve his objectives. Edmunds views himself as the best person compared with other aristocrats around him as he says, “Edmund the base shall top th’legitmate. I grow, I prosper. Now, gods stand up for bastards!” (Shakespeare 1.2.1–22). He accomplishes whatever he thinks will increase his powers. He goes to the extent of killing anyone who he views as an obstacle to his goals. He is the main cause of the Edgar banish and responsible for the demise of Cordelia. Edmund’s demise comes after battling with his brother Edgar who finds revenge for plotting against him. Notably, these are not only the incidences that show that this play is not a show of justice but a clear indication of poetic injustice.
Although this play is accomplished by most horrible individuals who deserve severe punishment, some of them are subjected to more severe punishment that they do not deserve. For example, King Lear does not deserve the punishment imposed on him. He is portrayed in the story as being a selfish man who considers public displays of love over honest, and he ridiculously banishes both Kent and Cordelia. Due to his actions, King Lear is seriously punished by being banished from his premise. He even experiences madness and loses every person he loves. This punishment is severe compared to other characters such as Goneril and Regan, who accomplishes worse crimes and eventually meets their demise without really having acknowledged their actions.
Lear does not view himself as a person deserving this hefty punishment, and this makes him say, “I am a man/ More sinned against than sinning” (Shakespeare 3.2.2-3) This is because he feels that he has power over others and what he is passing through is not what he deserves. Nonetheless, after reading through the play, it is evident that King Lear is getting the punishment he deserves because he is misjudging others and making them pass through hardship. For example, he banishes his daughter Cordelia because of his pride and cruelty. At the same time, because of his ignorance, he has to face the consequences since each evil deed has its consequences.
It is worthy to note that King Lear is a play full of tragedy, and it discusses a tragic hero whose flaws take control over him, resulting in negative impacts on the kings’ life and that of the society at large. Lear qualifies to be a tragic hero because he is in power as the leader with the highest rank in the land since he is the king. Despite being the king and most powerful person, King Lear experiences some downfalls when he realizes his mistakes. Furthermore, he is arrogant, ignorant, and he misjudges others. This evident when Cordelia issues a speech about how she loves him, but he misjudges her and banishes her from the land. The first flaw in King Lear is arrogance. Due to his arrogance, Lear decides for banishing Cordelia and Kent, thus ending up losing them, although he believes that his favorite and youngest daughter is worthy of his love. His pride becomes a flaw as it makes him believe that Cordelia’s speech is filled with love. Unfortunately, Cordelia relies upon the kings’ inquisition by indicating that she loves her majesty due to the bond they have and nothing less.
As a result of pride and anger, King Lear banishes Cordelia and divides the kingdom into two, where he gives his two evil daughters, Regan and Goneril. During this incidence, pride controls his senses making him not evaluate and establish the truth of the matter before making such a harsh decision. Another incidence of pride being a flaw is when the refuses to reason together with Kent, one of his royal servants (Vikramsinh 6). Kent is pleading with the king to have a look at the issue again and reconsider his decision. The King tells Kent to mind his own business as he feels that Kent is hurting his pride. He as well banishes Kent for trying to interfere with his decision. As a result of the flaw of pride, Lear has initiated the tragedy by reassuring the order in the chain of being, dividing his kingdom into two and banishing his favorite daughter and royal servant.
The downfall King Lear faces is not only hurting him but is affects every person down the chain of being; it affects those he banishes and society at large. If he does not have pride, he would have reasoned before banishing his daughter, and Kent and his other two daughters would not have conspired against him. Because of his pride, his daughters are betrayed by Edmund, who then loses his sight after being charged with treason. His pride makes even the lowest person in society suffer the consequences. The flaw of being arrogant makes him make a harsh decision, which he regrets after he starts to realize what has befallen him. This is evident when he is thrown out on the streets by Goneriel and Regan, and he becomes a beggar on the streets. From the play, it is evident that pride is a flaw. This is because King Lear’s pride results in his downfall. Nonetheless, pride alone is not a flaw because, without arrogance and ignorant, he could have been able to control his pride and understand the truth. Before his pride takes control over his conscious, King Lear is planning to divide his kingdom among his three daughters.
2019-11-26-1574809705