Suffering in King Lear
The story of King Lear follows the metamorphosis of a King into a man. It is a journey wrought with both physical and moral suffering which develops the character of Lear from “sanity to petulance to sanity” (Billington). Cordelia’s death reflects the inconsistency of moral justice in the world; Shakespeare acknowledges that wisdom is only attained by suffering. He reveals however that this wisdom does not protect the individual against future suffering “bound upon a wheel of fire”. “Cordelia’s death is gratuitous but dramatically necessary” (O’Toole). It represents the hostility of the gods in relation to humanity, exposing the unjust world in which each human is connected to humanity. The play itself is a “spectacle of violence, ferocity and pain” suffering, disorder, madness, cruelty on mass scale. It is in itself, a tragedy, invoking woe and wonder, pity and fear. Edgar as Tom O Bedlam comments "Basest and poorest shape that ever penury, in contempt of man, brought near to beast." It also raises the issue of the problem of evil,
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Tom Bedlam, Billington Cordelias, King Lear, Lear Glouster, Ignatious Lears, cordelias death, , Lear Cordelia, king lear,
Approximate Word count = 710
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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