In King Lear, do the characters get what they deserve?

The theme of justice is apparent throughout King Lear and in some cases we do see justice being served but we also many gross injustices within the play. This play is tragic because of the shocking and unnatural way that the essentially noble and decent characters are treated. The main character, King Lear comes to mind immediately when thinking about the theme of justice within the play, as there can be great debate on whether or not he deserved the harsh cruelty that he received from Goneril, Regan, and Cornwall.

When we are first introduced to King Lear, the audience is not given a good impression of him. He is shown to be immature and foolish in the way he deals with the passing down of his legacy to his children. The 'Love test' that he puts his daughters through would not be expected of a wise king and this act of folly paves the way for his downfall. He scorns and banishes his most loved daughter simply because she will not reduce herself to the level of a sycophant as her sisters had done. Cordelia tells us, 'I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth' which explains clearly that her love for her father is there and i

At the end of the play, both Lear and Cordelia die. Lear died perhaps through grief of Cordelia's death, which was completely uncalled for. The play is as tragic due to the death of Cordelia as it is due to the protagonist, Lear. In King Lear, the audience is shown no fault in Cordelia and her premature death is very saddening when performed on stage. Lear's death is also saddening due to the unfortunate circumstances that it came about from, however there is some relief in the knowledge that in death, he will be at peace with himself.

As soon as Lear hands over his power to his sycophantic daughters, they begin to plot against him. They explain that they are not looking forward to living with him through his 'choleric years' if he continues with his 'unconstant starts'. We can see that now they have what they want from their father, he is of no use to them. We can see even from this early stage that their ambitious natures give them the potential to carry out terrible acts for their own personal gain.

In Act 4, we see Gloucester having his eyes gouged out of his head by Regan and Cornwall. In this scene the concept of justice is put into relief. Gloucester is guilty of adultery, as we see in the opening lines of the play, or flippant regard for Edmund's feelings as a bastard but he has shown concern for Kent and compassion for Lear. To any decent person, he does not deserve such horrific treatment. Here we see the evil characters being unnatural once again. The same people who cast their king out into tumultuous weather have now committed an act of such repulsion that the audience who would have felt unnerved by their cruel actions before, would now be disgusted by them. The extent to this, one of Shakespeare's most gruesome scenes, is almost too awful to believe. However, what is worse is that this act is at the hand of

Some common words found in the essay are:
King Lear, Goneril Regan, Kent Lear's, Edmund Throughout, Regan Cornwall, Lear Cordelia, Kent Gloucester, king lear, Cordelia Cordelia, goneril regan, , evil sisters, king lear audience, death saddening, tells lear, cordelia's death, theme justice, lear audience, own father, regan cornwall,
Approximate Word count = 1240
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)