King Lear - Themes and Symbol

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Themes

Justice

King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and

awful, seemingly meaningless disasters. The play’s succession of terrible

events raises an obvious question for the characters—namely, whether there is

any possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is fundamentally

indifferent or even hostile to humankind. Various characters offer their

opinions: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their

sport,” Gloucester muses, realizing it foolish for humankind to assume that the

natural world works in parallel with socially or morally convenient notions of

justice (4.1.37–38). Edgar, on the other hand, insists that “the gods are

just,” believing that individuals get what they deserve (5.3.169). But, in the

end, we are left with only a terrifying uncertainty—although the wicked die,

the good die along with them, culminating in the awful image of Lear cradling

Cordelia’s body in his arms. There is goodness in the world of the play, but

there is also madness and death, and it is difficult to tell which triumphs in

the end.

Authority versus Chaos

King

Lear is

about political authority as much as it is about family dynamics. Lear is not

only a father but also a king, and when he gives away his authority to the

unworthy and evil Goneril and Regan, he delivers not only himself and his

family but all of Britain into chaos and cruelty. As the two wicked sisters

indulge their appetite for power and Edmund begins his own ascension, the

kingdom descends into civil strife, and we realize that Lear has destroyed not

only his own authority but all authority in Britain. The stable,

hierarchal order that Lear initially represents falls apart and disorder

engulfs the realm. The failure of authority in the face of chaos recurs

in Lear’s wanderings on the heath during the storm. Witnessing the powerful

forces of the natural world, Lear comes to understand that he, like the rest of

humankind, is insignificant in the world. This realization proves much more

important than the realization of his loss of political control, as it compels

him to re-prioritize

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