Similar to most of Shakespeare's tragedies
King Lear is another complex masterpiece with dramatic works which function on a variety of levels. Therefore, the play can be approached from different critical perspectives to enhance its interpretation (Snyder, 70).
Depiction of a slow descent into insanity
King Lear depicts a slow descent into insanity of an aging King Lear after deciding to step down and divide his kingdom among his three daughters to avoid any conflict after his death. Initially, he tests his daughters by asking each of them how much they love him. The older daughters, Regan and Goneril, give their father flattering answers. He values the false declarations of love from Regan and Goneril. These deceitful statements carry more weight with him than Cordelia's profound silence. Cordelia, the King's last born and his favorite remain silent, saying she has no words to describe how much she loved her father. King Lear becomes angry and disowns her, but the King of France still wants to court her, despite having no inheritance from her father and Cordelia accompanies him to France without her Fathers blessing. Lear has a fragile emotional state that makes his susceptible to anger and pride which are some of his Achilles heel. Nevertheless, in the course of time, Lear learns he made a wrong decision regarding his daughters. Regan and Goneril promptly begin to undermine King's Lear authority. His disbelief that his beloved daughters are betraying him, Lear gradually slips into insanity. King Lear undergoes through paradox, for him to be wise, he had to go mad. The King's actions end up destroying the royal family, dividing the kingdom, and causing a big old war, leaving just about everyone in a tragic end in the play. The audience is shown how Lear deals with the problems and challenges that he faces. As a result, He Lear finally dies out of grief of losing his daughter. In some sense, Lear is "unburdened" as he crawls towards his death.
Reconciliation
Unhappiness and darkness engulf King Lear throughout the play, and the devastating chapter 5 epitomizes one of the greatest tragic endings in literature. Nonetheless, the play depicts the central relationship; between King Lear and Cordelia as a vivid embodiment of pure, real and self-sacrificing love. Instead of despising Lear for exiling her from the Kingdom, Cordelia remains dedicated and loving even from afar. She ultimately brings an army from a foreign country to rescue her father from his oppressors. In the intervening time, King Lear learns an immensely harsh lesson in humility in which he eventually arrives at a point where he can reunite with his daughter, Cordelia (Vickers, 313). He is therefore unburdened when he experiences the relief of the forgiving love Cordelia. Lear realizes that he bears accountability for not only his problems but also for other people who suffer equally because of his actions. Additionally, Lear recognizes his mistakes which act as an integral ingredient in reconciliation with his daughter. He understands the depth and sincerity of Cordelia's love for him. Even if it lasts for a moment, King Lear maturity from the harsh lessons in life allows him to bring back Cordelia into his good graces. The reconciliation was a testament to the ability of love to flourish in King Lear's life amid the chaos and horrors that engulfed the entire play.
Justice
The play is filled with accumulative meaningless disasters that are filled with human cruelty. Therefore, the play's sequence of terrible events raises the question whether there is any likelihood of justice in the cruel word or whether the world is inherently apathetic or hostile to humanity (Vickers, 310). As illustrated in the play, different characters offer a variety of opinions about the world: "As flies to wanton boys are we to gods, they kill us for their sport," Gloucester ponders (Lear, I.ii.37-38). Gloucester realizes it is foolish for human beings to assume that the universe works in parallel with morally appropriate notions of justice. However, he believed that the gods were just, believing that people got what they deserved. Nevertheless, in the end, the play depicts a frightening reality; although the bad die, the good also dies along with them. While the King was left frustrated by the death of his daughter and even died of a broken heart, he was also unburdened by the death of the biggest offenders in the play.
Natural Order
Tragedies operate uniquely, they call order into question to bring balance. Whereas the order is restored in the end, it does so in a heartrending manner that it neither feels satisfactory nor permanent. King Lear challenges order when he examines his daughters, and consequently, values exaggerated flatteries from Goneril and Regan. I love you more than words can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare (Lear, 1.i.55-61). These unnatural accounts of love have more influence on him than Cordelia's heartfelt and sincere silence. Regan and Goneril carry on breaking the natural order by turning against their father and plotting to overturn and rule the kingdom for the selfish need and greed. Moreover, they continued to violate the natural law through murder and suicide. Cordelia, on the other hand, was faithful to her course since she refused to rebel against her father even when he mistreated her. Whereas greed and treachery drive he sisters, Cordelia returns to Britain with an army with the aim of rescuing her father and saving the Kingdom. Therefore, though Cordelia is killed, nature takes its course since all the wrongdoers, including her two sisters, die. Lear's outlook of nature is one that holds particular values that should not be broken. These values comprise of respect for one's parents and loyalty to the King as imperative regardless of the circumstances. Therefore, nature taking its course was somehow unburdened King Lear before his death.
Parallel Paradox
Sight and blindness are linked in a manner that depicts appearance versus reality. Additionally, Shakespeare depicts a correlation between two powerful people - King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester, with their unappreciative children. Initially, King Lear is blinded by Regan and Cordelia false flattery and therefore fails to see Cordelia genuine affection for him. Lear fails to look beneath the surface. He, therefore, allows ritual appearances replace subjective reality; in fact, he fails to distinguish between the two. Similarly, Gloucester is blinded by Edmond's explanation of Edgar and also physically blinded by Cornwall when he gouges his eyes out. In the play, Gloucester recognizes his hopeless situation. "I have no way and therefore want no eyes. I stumbled when I saw. Full of 'tis saw our means secure us and our minor defects prove our commodities" (Lear, 4.i.18-21). He, therefore, acknowledges that he was figuratively blind to his son's conduct. Hence physical blindness had symbolically opened his eyes to the truth of the matter. Thus, King Lear has blinded from the truth as he banished the truthful daughter. King Lear is successively and ruthlessly stripped of all the trappings of kingship by his villainous daughters, who he trusted so much. Goneril and Regan ultimately reduce him to the condition of a raggedy and homeless madman. Paradoxically, it during this extremity on the heath with Edgar and the fool that King Lear comes to the enlightenment of himself and his people with humanity that he never realized while enjoying the splendors of power (Vickers, 311). Lear through his madness enables him to see the intimate bond that connected him with the rest of humanity. Therefore, this experience unburdened him as he was crawling towards his death. King Lear therefore is a play of parallel paradoxes. Lear had to undergo the challenges in order to feel empathy, regret, and repentance and compassion that made him relatable to the poor people and the common folk in his kingdom. Gloucester attains insight in blindness whereas King Lear gains wisdom in madness.
Aging and Self-awareness
The play depicts the tragedy of the aging process by tracing King Lear's fall from a noble king to a week old may that is experiencing both physical and mental degeneration. Initially, Lear's rationality is questioned by Regan and Goneril who believe his age as the reason for his inconsistency. Moreover, they recognize King Lear's lack of self-awareness throughout his lifetime. "Tis the infirmity of his age; yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself" (Lear, 1.i.1-2). King Lear is therefore forced to become more self-aware through the experiences he undergoes as he ages and his mental health deteriorates. He also becomes aware that his mental health is worsening. The audience is aware of the conflicts between child and father, and to fathers that are easily tricked by their children because of lack of awareness. Most parents tend to rely on their children for support during old age, and his case proved to be a disastrous mistake. Therefore through the destructive process of aging and mental deterioration, he becomes more aware of himself and the surrounding hence unburdening him before his death.
A poignant play
King Lear is a poignant play that is not only a captivating drama but also a troubling one. As a trend of all great tragic scenes, the story of Lear and his irrationality purges the emotions by dread and pity. The play is masterpieces in which Shakespeare shows his unbending view of reality that no such modest application of poetic justice rewards the good and punishes the wicked (Snyder, 77). The good die too. Though in a favorable view of the poignant play; Lear dies in a moment of ultimate joy because, despite the vicious and cruel life he lived, the demise of Cordelia embodies the triumph of love.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Horace Howard Furness. King Lear. Courier Corporation, 1908.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Snyder, Susan. The Comic Matrix of Shakespeare's Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. Princeton University Press, 1979.
Vickers, Brian. "King Lear" and Renaissance Paradoxes." The Modern Language Review (1968): 305-314.
