king lear essay on justice

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Justice in King Lear

In William Shakespeare’s, King Lear, the concept of justice is a theme that many characters struggle with. There is a prominent emphasis on the question of whether there is moral righteousness in the world which would demand that every crime committed must have an equally appropriate punishment.

However, is justice served when some characters crimes and punishments are in equilibrium, while other characters punishments far surpass their crimes? Justice can be served by the characters being given fair punishments, however, ultimately justice in King Lear is served the best when the punishment surpasses the crime because the knowledge and compassion that the character gains have an everlasting effect on their life and ultimately makes them a better person.

For characters such as Edmund, Cornwall, Regan and Goneril it can be accepted that justice has been served because their punishments completely coincide with their crime. Edmund, the son of Gloucester, commits many crimes throughout King Lear and repeatedly exhibits disloyalty to achieve his goals. Not only is Edmund the underlying reason as to why his brother Edgar is banished, he is also responsible for the death of Lear’s beloved daughter Cordelia.

Edmund’s selfish and destructive actions tear his family apart and result in the innocent murder of Cordelia. Edmund dies after battling his disguised brother and after all the grief that he causes, his death is highly anticipated. Edmund dies exactly how many feel he should; he inflicted pain on others and his death can be seen as an appropriate punishment.

Cornwall, who was the husband of Regan, is not a fundamental character however through his actions such as the gouging out of Gloucester’s eyes; he had a major impact on the play. Cornwall’s cruelty and disrespectfulness towards Gloucester is not just, and one of the servants stands up and voices how wrong this act is.

The action of the servant ultimately causes the death of Cornwall which supports the notion that justice is served because Cornwall’s cruelty and inhumanness result in the death he deserves. Regan and Goneril, Lear’s two eldest daughters, are selfish and malicious characters who take advantage of Lear’s vulnerability. Their spiteful ways begin when they lie about their love for their father so that they will inherit more land but when Lear needs them most they banish him from their home.

Once again justice prevails because Regan and Goneril’s death was a direct result of their conniving ways. Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy and then Goneril stabs herself. Ultimately, all of these characters receive a punishment that is in line with their crime but they do not learn anything from their mistakes and therefore are unable to become better people.

Even though many of the characters in Shakespeare’s tragedy are horrible people who deserve their punishments, there are also characters such as Lear and Gloucester who did not deserve the extent of their punishments. Lear is introduced into the play as being a selfish man who values public displays of affection over honesty and he irrationally banishes Cordelia and Kent.

As a result of his actions, Lear is severely punished by being banished from his home, experiencing madness, and losing everyone that he loves. Lear’s punishment is very severe in comparison to other characters such as Regan and Goneril who commit worse crimes and then die without actually having to acknowledge their actions.

Lear does not feel he deserves his punishments and therefore says, “I am a man/ More sinned against than sinning” (III.ii.58-59). Lear not only endures severe punishments while alive, but his death can be seen as his final punishment. Gloucester is another example of a man whose greatest crime is favoring his non bastard son, Edgar. He is punished for this crime through the gouging out of his eyes. Gloucester’s punishment is not equal and appropriate to his crime.

He blames this unjustness on the gods, “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. / They kill us for their sport” (IV.i.36-37). Gloucester’s actions did not deserve the gouging out of his eyes and like Lear, Gloucester realizes this and he blames his punishments on the gods whom he believes can arbitrarily impact the outcomes of people’s lives. However even though in these situations the punishments were unfair the characters were forced to endure them to become better people and to make the natural order of the world better.

Justice is not always about doing the fair thing it is also about moral righteousness which is why justice is ultimately served in King Lear. Most characters in this play excluding Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan in some way become better people by suffering through their punishments. Edmund was remorseful on his death bed and even tried to save Cordelia which is proof that after being a witness to the chaos that unfolded he realizes his mistakes and tries to fix them.

Lear and Gloucester, on the other hand, suffer much more than other characters and even though their punishment surpasses their crime, justice is still served because they become moral and just people. Lear ultimately becomes a just person when he says, “Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are,/ That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,/ How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,/ Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you/ From seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en/ Too little care of this!”(III.iv.28-33). Lear would never realize the wrongs he committed as King if he had not experienced his major downfall from the very top of society, as a King, to the very bottom, as a homeless man.

If Gloucester’s sight had not been taken from him it can be assumed that he would not realize the mistakes he made. However, he does eventually realize his mistakes and says, “I stumbled when I saw. Full oft’tis seen/ Our means secure us, and our mere defects/ Prove our commodities” (IV.i.19-22). These characters suffer through their punishments and even though they eventually die they die a better person unlike Cornwall, Goneril and Regan.

These three characters did not learn anything from their mistakes because their punishment was death. Although this is the greatest punishment of all, they did not have to work through their mistakes and therefore did not repent nor learn a single thing. Justice can be served by doing the fair thing but wouldn’t be accepting your sins and dying as a good and insightful person even if you had to endure more.

The natural order of the world is eventually re-established from fair to good by the end of King Lear. This is done through the suffering and punishment that some of the characters endure. Although some characters have to endure more suffering than others, justice is ultimately served by all and for some the restoring of justice brings on a more significant impact on their lives. In conclusion, justice did prevail in the end and through the service of justice some characters are able to die as good and insightful people.

Work Citied

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Toronto: Thomson Nelson, 2007.

Madness in King Lear: Act 4
Health/Sickness and Lust in King Lear
Shakespeare’s King Lear: Motifs
Blindness And Insight In King Lear
King Lear Summary

Author: William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

William Shakespeare

Literature Notes
Divine Justice
Play Summary
About King Lear
Character List
Summary and Analysis
Act I: Scene 1
Act I: Scene 2
Act I: Scene 3
Act I: Scene 4
Act I: Scene 5
Act II: Scene 1
Act II: Scene 2
Act II: Scene 3
Act II: Scene 4
Act III: Scene 1
Act III: Scene 2
Act III: Scene 3
Act III: Scene 4
Act III: Scene 5
Act III: Scene 6
Act III: Scene 7
Act IV: Scene 1
Act IV: Scene 2
Act IV: Scene 3
Act IV: Scene 4
Act IV: Scene 5
Act IV: Scene 6
Act IV: Scene 7
Act V: Scene 1
Act V: Scene 2
Act V: Scene 3
Character Analysis
Earl of Gloucester
Earl of Kent / Caius
Edgar / Poor Tom
Duke of Albany
Duke of Cornwall
King of France
Duke of Burgundy
Character Map
William Shakespeare Biography
Critical Essays
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Parent-Child Relationships : The Neglect of Natural Law
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Critical Essays Divine Justice

King Lear inspires many philosophical questions; chief among them is the existence of divine justice. This concept was particularly important during the Elizabethan era, because religion played such a significant role in everyday life. Religious leaders directed people to expect that they would have to answer to a higher authority, expressing some hope that good would triumph and be rewarded over evil. But throughout King Lear , good does not triumph without honorable characters suffering terrible loss. In fact, at the play's conclusion, many of the good characters lie dead on the stage — Lear, Gloucester, and Cordelia. In addition, the audience hears that Kent will soon die, and the Fool has earlier disappeared, presumably to die. Of course, the evil characters are also dead, but their punishment is to be expected according to the laws of divine justice. But how then does the audience account for the punishment and, finally, the death of the good characters in King Lear?

Lear makes several poor choices, most importantly in misjudging the sincerity of his daughters' words; but when he flees out into the open heath during a storm, his madness seems a painful and excessive punishment to witness. Parallel to Lear's punishment is that which Gloucester suffers. The plucking of Gloucester's eyes can be perceived as another instance in which divine justice is lacking. Gloucester has made several errors in judgment, as has Lear; but the brutal nature of Gloucester's blinding — the plucking out of his eyes and the crushing of them under Cornwall's boots — is surely in excess of any errors he might have made.

Both Lear and Gloucester endure terrible physical and mental suffering as punishment for their misjudgment, but before dying, both men are reunited with the child each earlier rejected. This resolution of the child-parent conflict, which earlier tore apart both families, may be seen as an element of divine justice, although it offers little gratification for the audience.

Throughout King Lear , the audience has witnessed Edmund's growing success as a reward for his evil machinations. But when Edgar and Edmund meet in Act V, the duel between these two brothers is very different from the traditional match for sport. Christian tradition recalls several biblical battles between good and evil, as divine justice is an important component of trial by combat. The duel between Edgar and Edmund is really a conflict that replays this ongoing battle between good and evil, with Edgar's defeat of Edmund obviously signaling the triumph of righteousness over corruption. Edgar's victory, as well as his succession of Lear, as king of Britain, points to an intervention of divine justice.

And yet, when Lear enters with Cordelia's body, any immediate ideas about divine justice vanish. The deaths of Cornwall, Edmund, Regan, and Goneril have lulled the audience into a belief that the gods would restore order to this chaotic world. But Cordelia's death creates new questions about the role of divine justice; a just god could not account for the death of this faithful and loving daughter.

In spite of the seemingly senseless death of this young woman, Shakespeare never intended for his audience to escape the painful questions that Cordelia's death creates. Instead, the audience is expected to struggle with the question of why such tragedies occur. The deaths of Gloucester and Lear are acceptable. Both have made serious errors in judgment, and although both came to recognize their complicity in the destruction that they caused, the natural resolution of this change was an acceptance of their future, whatever it held. But Cordelia is young and blameless. She is completely good and pure.

At the play's conclusion, the stage is littered with bodies, some deserving of death and some the innocent victims of evil. Cornwall has been destroyed by his own honest servant; Edmund is killed by the brother he sought to usurp; both Goneril and Regan are dead, one murdered and the other a suicide; the obedient steward, Oswald, is dead, a victim of his own compulsion to obey. In the end, no easy answer surfaces to the question of divine justice, except that perhaps man must live as if divine justice exists, even if it's only a product of rich and wishful imaginations.

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Story Arcadia

King Lear Themes: Power, Madness, Family, and Justice Explored

“King Lear,” one of William Shakespeare’s most profound tragedies, delves deep into the human condition through its intricate narrative and multifaceted characters. At the heart of this dark and powerful play are themes that resonate with audiences centuries after it was first performed. Understanding these themes is crucial to grasping the full complexity of the story and the motivations driving its characters.

The play’s exploration of power and madness, family dynamics, and justice not only shapes the unfolding drama but also offers a mirror to our own societal structures and personal relationships. As we delve into these central motifs, we uncover how King Lear’s fateful decision to divide his kingdom among his daughters triggers a cascade of chaos and betrayal, while madness—both feigned and genuine—reveals deeper truths about the characters’ psyches.

Family ties are tested as loyalty comes into question, particularly in the strained relationships between Lear and his daughters, as well as between Gloucester and his sons. Meanwhile, the theme of justice—or often its absence—underscores the play’s events, highlighting its arbitrary nature in a world rife with moral ambiguity.

In examining these themes, we gain insight into why “King Lear” remains a timeless tragedy that continues to captivate audiences with its emotional depth and commentary on human nature. Through Shakespeare’s masterful thematic exploration, we are invited to reflect on our own lives and societies. Power and Madness in King Lear

In William Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” the quest for power and the descent into madness are central themes that drive the narrative forward. The play opens with King Lear’s fateful decision to divide his kingdom among his daughters based on their flattery, a choice that ultimately leads to his downfall and the unraveling of order within the realm.

The theme of power is evident as Lear’s authority is challenged and diminished. His abdication of responsibility sets off a chain reaction of chaos and betrayal. As Lear relinquishes his crown, he expects to retain his kingly dignity, but instead, he finds himself stripped of power and respect. This loss becomes a catalyst for conflict as his daughters Goneril and Regan vie for control, revealing their true, ruthless natures.

Madness is another key theme that intertwines with power. Lear’s descent into insanity is both a literal and metaphorical reflection of the kingdom’s disintegration. As he grapples with the consequences of his actions and the treachery of those he trusted most, Lear’s mind begins to fracture. His madness is not only a personal tragedy but also serves as commentary on the folly of relinquishing control without foresight.

The play also explores feigned madness through the character of Edgar, who disguises himself as Poor Tom to escape persecution. Edgar’s pretense contrasts with Lear’s genuine madness, highlighting how sanity can be feigned or lost in response to overwhelming circumstances.

Through these examples, Shakespeare delves into the complex relationship between power and sanity, showing how quickly stability can turn into turmoil when authority is misused or misunderstood. The themes of power and madness in “King Lear” serve as a stark reminder of the fragility of human reason and social order when faced with ambition and deceit. Family Ties and the Quest for Justice in King Lear

In “King Lear,” the bonds of family are tested and torn asunder, revealing the complexities of loyalty and betrayal. Lear’s relationship with his daughters Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia serves as a stark portrayal of how familial love can be manipulated and weaponized. Lear’s misguided decision to judge his daughters’ affection based on flattery leads to his downfall. Cordelia’s refusal to partake in her sisters’ deceitful exaggerations of love results in her disinheritance, setting off a chain of events that exposes the fragility of family ties.

Similarly, the subplot involving the Earl of Gloucester and his sons Edgar and Edmund echoes this theme. Gloucester’s trust in his illegitimate son Edmund over Edgar demonstrates how easily family loyalty can be subverted by lies and ambition. Edmund’s treachery not only endangers his brother but also contributes to the larger theme of justice within the play.

Justice—or rather its absence—is a central concern in “King Lear.” The characters who commit acts of betrayal and cruelty often seem to escape punishment, while those who remain virtuous suffer. This apparent injustice is epitomized in the play’s tragic conclusion, where characters like Cordelia meet untimely deaths despite their integrity. The randomness with which suffering is meted out suggests that justice within the world of “King Lear” is as unstable as a kingdom divided by a king’s whim.

Through these intertwined themes of family dynamics and justice, Shakespeare invites us to ponder whether true justice can ever be achieved in a world rife with corruption and broken familial bonds. The harsh treatment of characters like Cordelia and Edgar reveals a grim perspective on the fairness of life’s outcomes, yet it also emphasizes the importance of maintaining one’s moral compass amidst chaos.

In sum, “King Lear” delves deep into the heartache wrought by fractured families and the elusive nature of justice. These themes underscore not only the personal tragedies experienced by the characters but also resonate with timeless questions about human relationships and societal equity. Understanding the Heart of Tragedy in King Lear

In conclusion, “King Lear” remains a timeless masterpiece, not only for its dramatic narrative but also for the profound themes it explores. The play’s examination of power and authority reveals the chaos that ensues when leadership is misguided or relinquished. Lear’s descent into madness, mirrored by Edgar’s feigned insanity, underscores the thin line between reason and lunacy when faced with overwhelming betrayal and loss.

Family dynamics are at the core of this tragedy, with Lear’s relationship with his daughters and Gloucester’s with his sons serving as cautionary tales about trust, love, and loyalty. Moreover, the theme of justice—or often its absence—highlights the unpredictable and sometimes cruel nature of both human decisions and fate.

These themes contribute significantly to “King Lear”‘s emotional depth and its enduring relevance. Through Shakespeare’s exploration of power, madness, family ties, and justice, we gain valuable insights into human nature and societal structures that continue to resonate today. The tragedy invites us to reflect on our own lives and communities, reminding us of the complexities and vulnerabilities inherent in our existence.

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Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of William Shakespeare’s King Lear

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s King Lear

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 25, 2020 • ( 1 )

There is perhaps no play which keeps the attention so strongly fixed; which so much agitates our passions and interests our curiosity. The artful involutions of distinct interests, the striking opposition of contrary characters, the sudden changes of fortune, and the quick succession of events, fill the mind with a perpetual tumult of indignation, pity, and hope. There is no scene which does not contribute to the aggravation of the distress or conduct of the action, and scarce a line which does not conduce to the progress of the scene. So powerful is the current of the poet’s imagination, that the mind, which once ventures within it, is hurried irresistibly along.

—Samuel Johnson, The Plays of William Shakespeare

For its unsurpassed combination of sheer terrifying force and its existential and cosmic reach, King Lear leads this ranking as drama’s supreme achievement. The notion that King Lear is Shakespeare’s (and by implication drama’s) greatest play is certainly debatable, but consensus in its favor has gradually coalesced over the centuries since its first performance around 1606. During and immediately following William Shakespeare’s lifetime, there is no evidence that King Lear was particularly valued over other of the playwright’s dramas. It was later considered a play in need of an improving makeover. In 1681 poet and dramatist Nahum Tate, calling King Lear “a Heap of Jewels unstrung and unpolish’d,” altered what many Restoration critics and audiences found unbecoming and unbearable in the drama. Tate eliminated the Fool, whose presence was considered too vulgar for a proper tragedy, and gave the play a happy ending, restoring Lear to his throne and arranging the marriage of Cordelia and Edgar, neatly tying together with poetic justice the double strands of Shakespeare’s far bleaker drama. Tate’s bowdlerization of King Lear continued to be presented throughout the 18th century, and the original play was not performed again until 1826. By then the Romantics had reclaimed Shakespeare’s version, and an appreciation of the majesty and profundity of King Lear as Shakespeare’s greatest achievement had begun. Samuel Taylor Coleridge declared the play “the most tremendous effort of Shakespeare as a poet”; while Percy Bysshe Shelley considered it “the most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world.” John Keats, who described the play as “the fierce dispute / Betwixt damnation and impassion’d clay,” offered King Lear as the best example of the intensity, with its “close relationship with Beauty & Truth,” that is the “Excellence of every Art.” Dissenting voices, however, challenged the supremacy of King Lear . Essayist Charles Lamb judged the play to have “nothing in it but what is painful and disgusting” and deemed it “essentially impossible to be represented on a stage.” The great Shakespearean scholar A. C. Bradley acknowledged King Lear as “Shakespeare’s greatest achievement” but “not his best play.” For Bradley, King Lear , with its immense scope and the variety and intensity of its scenes, is simply “too huge for the stage.” Perhaps the most notorious dissenter against the greatness of King Lear was Leo Tolstoy, who found its fable-like unreality reprehensible and ruled it a “very bad, carelessly composed production” that “cannot evoke amongst us anything but aversion and weariness.” Such qualifications and dismissals began to diminish in light of 20thcentury history. The existential vision of King Lear has seemed even more pertinent and telling as a reflection of the human condition; while modern dramatic artistry with its contrapuntal structure and anti-realistic elements has caught up with Shakespeare’s play. Today King Lear is commonly judged unsurpassed in its dramatization of so many painful but inescapable human and cosmic truths.

King Lear is based on a well-known story from ancient Celtic and British mythology, first given literary form by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1137). Raphael Holinshed later repeated the story of Lear and his daughters in his Chronicles (1587), and Edmund Spenser, the first to name the youngest daughter, presents the story in book 2 of The Faerie Queene (1589). A dramatic version— The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his three daughters, Gonerill, Ragan, and Cordella —appeared around 1594. All these versions record Lear dividing his kingdom, disinheriting his youngest daughter, and being driven out by his two eldest daughters before reuniting with his youngest, who helps restore him to the throne and bring her wicked sisters to justice. Shakespeare is the first to give the story an unhappy ending, to turn it from a sentimental, essentially comic tale in which the good are eventually rewarded and the evil punished into a cosmic tragedy. Other plot elements—Lear’s madness, Cordelia’s hanging, Lear’s death from a broken heart, as well as Kent’s devotion and the role of the Fool—are also Shakespeare’s inventions, as is the addition of the parallel plot of Gloucester and his sons, which Shakespeare adapted from a tale in Philip Sidney’s Arcadia . The play’s double plot in which the central situation of Lear’s suffering and self-knowledge is paralleled and counterpointed in Gloucester’s circumstances makes King Lear different from all the other great tragedies. The effect widens and deepens the play into a universal tragedy of symphonic proportions.

King Lear opens with the tragic turning point in its very first scene. Compared to the long delays in Hamle t and Othello for the decisive tragic blow to fall, King Lear , like Macbeth , shifts its emphasis from cause to consequence. The play foregoes nearly all exposition or character development and immediately presents a show trial with devastating consequences. The aging Lear has decided to divest himself of kingly responsibilities by dividing his kingdom among his three daughters. Although the maps of the divisions are already drawn, Lear stages a contest for his daughters to claim their portion by a public profession of their love. “Tell me, my daughters,” Lear commands, “. . . Which of you shall we say doth love us most.” Lear’s self-indulgence—bargaining power for love—is both a disruption of the political and natural order and an essential human violation in his demanding an accounting of love that defies the means of measuring it. Goneril and Regan, however, vie to outdo the other in fulsome pledges of their love, while Cordelia, the favorite, responds to Lear’s question “what can you say to draw / A third more opulent than your sisters” with the devastatingly honest truth: “Nothing,” a word that will reverberate through the entire play. Cordelia forcefully and simply explains that she loves Lear “According to my bond, no more nor less.” Lear is too blind and too needy to appreciate her fidelity or yet understand the nature of love, or the ingenuous flattery of his older daughters. He responds to the hurt he feels by exiling the one who loves him most authentically and deeply. The rest of the play will school Lear in his mistake, teaching him the lesson of humanity that he violates in the play’s opening scene.

The devastating consequences of his decision follow. Lear learns that he cannot give away power and still command allegiance from Goneril or Regan. Their avowals of love quickly turn into disrespect for a now useless and demanding parent. From the opening scene in which Lear appears in all his regal splendor, he will be successively stripped of all that invests a king in majesty and insulates a human being from first-hand knowledge of suffering and core existential truths. Urged to give up 50 of his attending knights by Goneril, Lear claims more gratitude from Regan, who joins her sister in further whittling down Lear’s retinue from 100 knights to 50, to 25, 10, 5, to none, ironically in the language of calculation of the first scene. Lear explodes:

O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars Are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man’s life is cheap as beast’s .

Lear is now readied to face reality as a “poorest thing.” Lear’s betrayal by his daughters is paralleled by the treachery of the earl of Gloucester’s bastard son, Edmund, who plots to supplant the legitimate son, Edgar, and eventually claim supremacy over his father. Edmund, one of the most calculating and coldblooded of Shakespeare’s villains, rejects all the bonds of family and morality early on in the play by affirming: “Thou, Nature, art my goddess, to thy law / My services are bound.” Refusing to accept the values of a society that rejects him as a bastard, Edmund will operate only by the laws of survival of the fittest in a relentless drive for dominance. He convinces Edgar that Gloucester means to kill him, forcing his brother into exile, disguised as Tom o’ Bedlam, a mad beggar. In the play’s overwhelming third act—perhaps the most overpowering in all of drama—Edgar encounters Lear, his Fool, and his lone retainer, the disguised Kent, whom Lear had banished in the first scene for challenging Lear’s treatment of Cordelia. The scene is a deserted heath with a fierce storm raging, as Lear, maddened by the treatment of his daughters, rails at his fate in apocalyptic fury:

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks! You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak cleaving thunderbolts, S inge my white head; and thou all-shaking thunder, Strike fl at the thick rotundity o’ th’ world, Crack nature’s mould, all germens spill at once, That makes ingrateful man.

The storm is a brilliant expressionistic projection of Lear’s inner fury, with his language universalizing his private experience in a combat with elemental forces. Beseeching divine justice, Lear is bereft and inconsolable, declaring “My wits begin to turn.” His descent into madness is completed when he meets the disguised Edgar who serves as Lear’s mirror and emblem of humanity as “unaccommodated man”—a “poor, bare, forked animal”:

Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you From seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en Too little care of this. Take physic, pomp, Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, That thou mayst shake the superflux to them And show the heavens more just.

Lear’s suffering has led him to compassion and an understanding of the human needs he had formerly ignored. It is one of the rare moments of regenerative hope before the play plunges into further chaos and violence.

Act 3 concludes with what has been called the most horrifying scene in dramatic literature. Gloucester is condemned as a traitor for colluding with Cordelia and the French invasion force. Cornwall, Regan’s husband, orders Gloucester bound and rips out one of his eyes. Urged on by Regan (“One side will mock another; th’ other too”), Cornwall completes Gloucester’s blinding after a protesting servant stabs Cornwall and is slain by Regan. In agony, Gloucester calls out for Edmund as Regan supplies the crushing truth:

Out, treacherous villain! Thou call’st on him that hates thee. It was he That made the overture of thy treasons to us, Who is too good to pity thee.

Oedipus-like, Gloucester, though blind, now sees the truth of Edmund’s villainy and Edgar’s innocence. Thrown out of the castle, he is ordered to “smell / His way to Dover.”

Act 4 arranges reunions and the expectation that the suffering of both Lear and Gloucester will be compensated and villainy purged. Edgar, still posing as Poor Tom, meets his father and agrees to guide him to Dover where the despairing Gloucester intends to kill himself by jumping from its cliffs. On arriving, Edgar convinces his father that he has fallen and survived, and Gloucester accepts his preservation as an act of the gods and vows “Henceforth I’ll bear / Affliction till it do cry out itself / ‘Enough, enough,’ and die.” The act concludes with Lear’s being reunited with Cordelia. Awaking in her tent, convinced that he has died, Lear gradually recognizes his daughter and begs her forgiveness as a “very foolish, fond old man.”

The stage is now set in act 5 for a restoration of order and Lear, having achieved the requisite self-knowledge through suffering, but Shakespeare pushes the play beyond the reach of consolation. Although Edmund is bested in combat by his brother, and Regan is poisoned by Goneril before she kills herself, neither poetic nor divine justice prevails. Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoner, but their rescue comes too late. As Shakespeare’s stage directions state, “Enter Lear with Cordelia in his arms,” and the play concludes with one of the most heart-wrenching scenes and the most overpowering lines in all of drama. Lear, although desperate to believe that his beloved daughter is alive, gradually accepts the awful truth:

Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all. Thou’lt come no more, Never, never, never, never, never!

Lear dies with this realization of cosmic injustice and indifference, while holding onto the illusion that Cordelia might still survive (“Look on her, look, her lips / Look there, look there!”). The play ends not with the restoration of divine, political, or familial order but in a final nihilistic vision. Shakespeare pushes the usual tragic progression of action leading to suffering and then to self-knowledge to a view into the abyss of life’s purposelessness and cruelty. The best Shakespeare manages to affirm in the face of intractable human evil and cosmic indifference is the heroism of endurance. Urging his despairing father on, Edgar states in the play’s opposition to despair:

. . . Men must endure Their going hence, even as their coming hither; Ripeness is all. Come on.

Ultimately, King Lear , more than any other drama, in my view, allows its audience to test the limits of endurance in the face of mortality and meaninglessness. It has been said that only the greatest art sustains without consoling. There is no better example of this than King Lear .

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays

Oxford Lecture King Lear

Justice in “King Lear”

Many themes are evident in King Lear, but perhaps one of the most prevalent relates to the theme of justice. Shakespeare has developed a tragedy that allows us to see man’s decent into chaos. Although Lear is perceived as ‘a man more sinned against than sinning’ (p.62), the treatment of the main characters encourages the reader to reflect on the presence or lack of justice in this world. The characters also vary in their inclination to view the world from either a fatalistic or moralistic point of view, depending on their beliefs about the presence or absence of a higher power.

The theme of justice in relation to higher powers can be illustrated from the perspective of King Lear, Gloucester, and Edgar. When reading King Lear, it is helpful to understand the Elizabethan ‘Chain of Being’ in which nature is viewed as order. Rosenblatt (1984) states that there was a belief in an established hierarchy within the universe. Everything had its own relative position beginning with Heaven, the Divine Being, and the stars and planets which are all above.

On earth the king is next, then the nobles, on down to the peasantry. Holding the lowest position were the beggars and lunatics and finally, the animals. Interrupting this order is unnatural.

King Lear’s sin was that he disrupted this chain of being by relinquishing his throne. By allowing his daughters and their husbands to rule the kingdom, the natural order of things was disturbed. His notion that he can still be in control after dividing the kingdom is a delusion. According to Elizabethan philosophy, it would seem that this is the beginning of his mistakes and is also the cause of much of the misfortune that occurs later on in the play. Chaos rules the unnatural. As well, King Lear makes another devastating mistake which affects his relationship with his daughters by asking them to tell him how much they love him in order that he may divide his kingdom according to the strength of their love. Cordelia, the youngest daughter, states that she loves her father ‘according to her bond’ (p.4). She is saying that she loves him as much as any child could love a father. On the other hand, Goneril and Reagan easily speak the words that their father wants to hear, rather than the truth. Because Lear is not satisfied with Cordelia’s response, he turns his back on Cordelia and on her love. By doing this he is destroying the natural family unit and lacks the insight to know this. He unjustly punishes Cordelia by banishing her from the kingdom.

He casts out his daughter in an unfatherly fashion, yet is gravely upset by the ingratitude of his other two daughters, Goneril and Reagan. Once again, due to Lear’s lack of wisdom, he fails to recognize the sincerity of Cordelia’s words. Thus, he puts his relationship with his daughters in jeopardy which results in a constant source of grief for King Lear. King Lear holds firm to his belief that the world is governed by the gods and in justice. Therefore he does not question the will of the gods in letting him suffer from his daughter’s unkindness, but prays If it be you that stirs these daughters’ hearts Against their father, fool me not with so much To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger (p.50).

Greer (1986) reminds us that Shakespeare uses the word ‘nature’ often, but rarely with the same meaning. For instance, Lear personifies nature when he calls Cordelia ‘a wretch whom Nature is ashamed/Almost to acknowledge hers’ (p.9). Here, it seems as though Lear thinks himself to be particularly special and close to nature because he is presumptuous in believing that he can read Nature’s mind. On the same note, Lear also seems to order his goddess, Nature, as though he is in control. He commands Nature to follow his orders, Hear, Nature, hear! dear goddess, hear! Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend To make this creature fruitful (p.29).

Therefore, Lear is once again disturbing the order of things by putting himself above the gods. Lear disturbs the Chain of Being, unjustly punishes Cordelia and misinterprets his role in life by assuming himself to be the lord of creation. For these ‘sins’ he is punished when Goneril and Reagan turn on him and Cordelia dies. Thus, it would seem that justice is served. However, Holloway (1961) suggests that Lear suffers more for his ‘sins’ than seems reasonable. Holloway sums up this concept as follows: ‘the world can be to mankind, and has been to Lear, a rack: a scene of suffering reiterated past all probability or reason’ (p.506). Gloucester plays a parallel role to Lear in the play. He is elderly, gullible and taken in by his children. Again, the natural unit of the family is disturbed for Gloucester has a bastard son who is his downfall. However, unlike Lear, he is not weak and infirm and is more good- natured and brave. Like Lear, Gloucester makes reference to Nature. However, Greer (1986) feels that Gloucester views Nature as neutral and sees it existing only for man’s benefit:

These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us. Though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by the sequent effects (p.15). Rather than blame Nature, Gloucester is aware that his problems are a result of his own foolishness. He does not feel that the gods are necessary to explain Edmund’s treason or Cornwall’s brutality. However, he does make clear his belief that the gods are not interested in the affairs of men: As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport (p.82). Although it may seem as though he is an atheist, Frye believes otherwise: Gloucester is not atheist: he postulates gods, divine personalities, and if he replaces them with a mechanism of fate or destiny he couldn’t ascribe malice to it. What he feels is that there is some mystery in the horror of what’s happened to him that goes beyond the tangible human causes’ (p.111). It is true that Gloucester has been lustful and has fathered an illegitimate son as the consequences. Since this, too, is an unnatural act, it seems justice must be served to restore order. However, to what degree is Gloucester responsible for Edmund’s evil behaviour? And was it just that Gloucester’s eyes were poked out by Goneril and Reagan? This leaves one wondering whether or not justice was served as Gloucester dies at the end of the play.

The punishment would seem to exceed the crime. Edgar is Gloucester’s legitimate son who is in danger of losing his right to his inheritance. At first, he is the good and dutiful one. At times he is gullible and naive when responding to his illegitimate brother Edmund, who tries to take his birth-right. Edgar is the moralist in this play. When he reflects on his own undeserved troubles and the suffering of others, there is a religious tone. He has faith in the gods and their justice, and is quick to give the ‘higher powers’ the credit for what happens to men. Thus, he says to Gloucester, who believes he has fallen from the edge of a cliff: Think that the clearest gods, who make them honours Of men’s impossibilities, have preserved thee (p.96). And thus he points out the justice of the gods in punishing Gloucester by the hand of Edmund: The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague us (p.119). Edgar believes that there is order in nature. He thinks that there is a natural ebb and flow in human fortunes, meaning that even the worst situation can become better (Greer, 1986). He believes in the Wheel of Fortune and if he is at the bottom of the wheel, his fortune will improve as he moves upward: To be the worst, The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear.

The lamentable change is from the best; The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then, Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace! (p.81). However, he comes to realize that this belief is not necessarily so. When he finds his father blinded, it becomes obvious that this suffering is renewed: The worst is not So long as we can say ‘This is the worst’ (p.82). Greer (1986) comments that it may seem that nature is indifferent to the fate of any individual. Edgar differs from Gloucester in that he takes a moralistic point of view. Frye suggests that while Gloucester ‘feels that there is some mystery in the horror of what’s happened to him that goes beyond the tangible human causes…Edgar…looks for human causes and assumes that there are powers above who are reacting to events as they should’ (p.111).

In Edgar’s case it seems that he has received his just reward. He does not have an easy time when dealing with his brother, Edmund. Yet, it would seem that justice is served as Edgar regains his proper position in the natural order of things. In King Lear, each of the characters discussed have varying interpretations of the importance of the higher powers affecting their fortunes. As well, justice is handed out in different degrees. In the eyes of the characters, Shakespeare succeeds in illustrating the universal conflict that members of society have always had in understanding their fate in this world.

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Home | Literature | Play | King Lear

Cruelty and Justice in Shakespeare’s King Lear Analytical Essay

Updated July 25, 2023
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The word justice as we know it was first coined in 15th Century France as the “quality of being fair and just.” This word has come to equate to righteousness and equity– in other words, getting what one deserves. As much as it is expected that good things should happen to good people and bad things in turn, should happen to bad people, justice does not always play itself out that way. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, it becomes apparent that many of the characters receive punishments that are not at the level of the crimes they committed. Shakespeare portrays whoever it is that serves justice in this play in almost this cruel and menacing way–unforgiving and unfavorable toward humans. As Lear slowly slips into insanity, we see him cry out to the heavens asking why this is even happening to him. As readers, we see how the play steadily unfolds into the tragedy that Shakespeare had meant it to be.

It’s true–justice in the play is cruel and menacing, and in many cases, the ways in which justice is served to those who are “good” and those who are “bad” are indistinguishable. Although most of the characters in the play essentially end up dead, Lear and Gloucester end up being the only ones who die better people as a result of their anguish because they were the only ones who had no choice but to come into terms with their actions. While Cornwall, Goneril, Reagan, and Edmund were consistently reinforced that they were right in their actions, Lear and Gloucester were practically abandoned by those who were closest and meant the most to them, essentially forcing them to come into terms with their wrongdoings.

Both Lear and Gloucester do not realize where they went wrong until they are confronted with retribution. In the case of Lear, it is not until he is stripped of everything and anything that eventually allowed him to come to terms with who really cared for him from the beginning. When he is confessing his mistake to Cordelia, he states, “If you have poison for me, I will drink it. / I know you do not love me, for your sisters / Have, as I do remember, done me wrong. / You have some cause; they do not” (4.7, 82-85). This quote is significant in that it illustrates just how far Lear has come from being this arrogant King who required praise and material objects to make him feel whole, to this father who is throwing his ego aside to confess his mistake to his daughter. However, it is important to explore just what caused Lear to get to his realization.

Earlier in the play, when Lear was denied being able to have his 100 knights from both Goneril and Regan, it marked a shift in the power that Lear thought he had into the hands of Goneril and Regan. The knights symbolized his power and made him feel as though he still had something even though he was not King anymore. However, Goneril and Regan’s failure to oblige with Lear’s request illustrates that they are not on his side–and as we soon realize, they never were. He realizes his loss of authority which is what leads him to seek shelter in the storm and eventually slip into insanity. And through this period of insanity, Lear becomes a more compassionate and empathetic person, which is what leads him to eventually address his mistakes with Cordelia.

In the case of Gloucester, he would have never been able to realize his “mistakes” had he not become blind. It is unclear as to why Shakespeare believed that Gloucester deserved punishment–whether it is because he trusted Edmund blindly or because he fathered an illegitimate son. Nonetheless, it is when he is blinded that he comes to realize that Edmund was the one that told Cornwall that he was helping Lear escape to Dover. When he cries out for Edmund, Regan states, “Thou call’st on him that hates thee. It was he / That made the overture of thy treasons to us / Who is too good to pity thee” (3.7, 108-110). This deceit from Edmund represented the deterioration of a support system that Gloucester thought he had.

All along, he believed that Edmund was looking out for him and was trying to protect him. When he finds out that this could not have been further from the truth, he is forced to come face to face with his mistakes. He states, “O my follies! Then Edgar was abused. / King Gods, forgive me that, and prosper him” (3.7, 111-112). Gloucester is punished and ultimately dies a better and more insightful person–he realizes where he went wrong in trusting Edmund and that Edgar was innocent all along. However, it is because of the lack of support from Edmund and the lack of empathy from everyone else, that forces him to realize his mistakes.

Yet through it all, some characters–namely Cornwall, Goneril, Reagan, and Edmund–learn nothing from their mistakes and it seems death is punishment enough for their actions.

Justice – Cornell Law School
Distributive Justice – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Justice and Mental Health – National Center for Biotechnology Information
United States Department of Justice
Migrant Rights and Justice – Human Rights Action Center
Journal of Consumer Research – Special Issue: Food Justice
Universal Declaration of Human Rights – United Nations

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5 Sovereignty, Justice, and Political Power: King Lear

Published: September 2020
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King Lear intertwines two family stories: one of disinheritance and the consequent crisis of sovereignty that follows on the division of territory and political authority; the other of legitimacy, illegitimacy, resentment, and revenge against a father. The political plot of King Lear puts sovereign authority, patriarchal authority, political strategy, and violence into juxtaposition with the claims of social justice. The play puts into question the idea of a ‘sovereign body’, in particular in its treatment of economic and social transformations in attitudes to value and exchange, and in its meditation on the way sovereign power destroys human and social bodies. These themes can be reflected in interpretations of the drama that emphasize loneliness and meaninglessness. The drama also focuses on forms of violence which track social status, and instantiate forms of authority, including sovereignty.

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Essay: King Lear – character flaws and how justice unfolds in the play

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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.

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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.

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