William Shakespeare s King Lear - 1306 Words

â€Å"All...shall taste the wages of their virtue...the cup of their deservings. (5.3.317-320)† King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor â€Å"poetic†) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this†¦show more content†¦The â€Å"gods† are indifferent to the suffering because humans, not gods, are the main perpetrators of the profound cruelty found in this play. Because man has the power to both undermine societal â€Å"nature† and restore it, whether through Edmund’s Machiavellian mora l transgressions in his quest for power or Edgar’s actions to combat them, these characters take the place of their respective, self-created deities. Pagan Gods King Lear is set in a time where even though swords and kings existed, and knights still roamed the land, people still believed in the pagan gods. This is elucidated by the various mentions of the gods (plural) throughout the play, and the lack of a single entity (God). When King Lear disowns Cordelia, he does so by invoking â€Å"the sacred radiance of the sun† and â€Å"the mysteries of Hecate and the night.† (I.i.110-111) He later swears â€Å"by Apollo† to warn Kent, in which Kent rebukes by saying â€Å"Thou swear’st thy gods in vain.† (I.i.164) Lastly, when France proclaims his love for Cordelia he blames the â€Å"Gods† for possessing in him a quality that allows him to be so attracted Cordelia’s virtues. (I.i.263) However, this Pagan world contains the same â€Å"Slave morality† that Judean metaphysics claims, that Nietzche himself criticizes. As Wilson Knight states, the frequent pleas to the gods show at most an insistent need in humanity to cry for justification to something beyond its horizon (188). In fact he extrapolate, These