William Shakespeare wrote many seminal works of literature. Each play of his explores a deep philosophical theme, and for the observant reader, each one sheds lights on what makes us inherently human and tries to make some sort of order out of the chaos that is life. However, in King Lear, you can throw that notion out the door. This play is nihilistic at it’s best, sentimental at it’s worst, and is full of profound thoughts on death, existence and power (among other things.)
At the start of the play, we learn that King Lear wishes to abdicate from the throne and divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters (Goneril, Regan and Cordelia). Of course a King is something of a metaphor for God- his job being to maintain harmony and stability in the place where he is ruler. An abdicating king is something akin to God saying, ’Goodbye, all. Look after yourselves, I quit!’ so you see the implications of the drastic action Lear has taken. Lear is falsely flattered by Goneril and Regan, but Cordelia refuses to play this foolish game, and therefore loses her share of the kingdom. What follows is Lear’s descent into madness, wherein he ironically becomes a wiser man. Act III is probably the most famous scene from the play, where Lear and his fool brave the storm on the heath, which is a symbolic reflection of the torrents that rage in Lear himself.
The sub-plot involves another King, named Gloucester, who is having some paternal difficulties of his own. This sub-plot is meant to parallel the main plot, but the one huge difference between the two is that the sub-plot is very moral- all involved get their just deserts- but in Lear’s case, the world is seen as a very nihilistic place where people die and suffer without rhyme or reason. The contrast between Gloucester and Lear brought up a very relevant point for me. The Lear scenario was realistic and a more accurate reflection of real life, whereas the moralistic Gloucester affair left me totally unconvinced. Morality plays sicken me, and maybe this was Shakespeare’s way of saying they sicken him too.
While many a grain of wisdom can be found in the text of this play, the essential themes give us no assurance or definitive answers to those big question we all ponder at one time or another. Some of the sentiments expressed are: that we are all helpless against the forces of nature, which can take us at any time (’’As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods. They kill us for their sport.’’); we are not Gods, although we may try to play at being Gods; and that we should strive for honesty, no matter what the consequence (’’Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.’’)
If you haven’t already read King Lear , it’s time you picked it up. If you have already read it, read it again!