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justice and corruption King lear - Coggle Diagram
justice and corruption King lear
context
Shakespeare takes inspiration from Sir Philip Sidney 'Arcadia' in which an illegitimate son blinds his father but is eventually forgiven however this is not the case in King Lear
King James I believed in divine right which Lear gives up
scene echoes that of elizabethan society in its hierarchal structure - chains of being
Lears sin is that he disputed this divine right of kings and so the natural order was disturbed
"hear nature hear! dear goddess, hear! suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend to make this creature fruitful" - puts himself above the gods and disturbs the chain of being
unjustly punishes cordelia and misinterprets his role by assuming to be the lord of creation leading to him being punished by general and Regan and Cordelia dying
'punishing those who disrupted the order' Cedric watts
"I have recieved a hurt. Follow me, lady and turn out that eyeless villain"
justice has been established with the torture of Gloucester
Gloucester supports the king and the old feudal order representing the hate for the old for keeping power to themselves
"h'hast spoken right. 'tis true. The wheel is come full circle; I am here" edmund
he will be punished for crimes, retribution
at the bottom of wheel of fortune when he is stabbed just like he is at the beginning being born illegitimate
has received justice for his crimes
"which of you shall we say doth love us most"
Lears views of love and affection corrupt from the very beginning
sisters confess love to gain power and control not because of real affection
lear and gloucester
"I am a man more sinned against than sinning" doesnt believe he deserves punishment
lear punished by being banished, losing his loved ones and experiencing madness
those who prosper on the worlds terms (neglect and cruelty will become hardened and blinded becoming true fools
death becomes their final punishment
lear and Gloucester forced to endure punishment to become better people and to return the natural order of the world
lear and Gloucester discover ironically that everything comes from nothing and once everything is stripped away only then can truth and enlightenment be attained
"as flies to wanton boys are we to the gods/ they kill us for their sport"
"I stumbled when I saw" Gloucester eventually recognises his mistakes and it perhaps is suggested that without him having his eyes gouged out he would never had seen clearly
"poor naked wretches" Lear recognises the unjust nature of the world only after he himself has lost everything and become nothing
goneril and Regan
corrupted by the power lear gives them
'the two who speak are monstered' carol rutter - when women speak out their wishes they are condemned by the patriarchy and presented as greedy and manipluative
G and Rs rebellion against father is not motivated by authentic desire for self realisation and fufilment but instead a selfish quest for status and power
completely power mad, malicious and turn to violence lacking any firm of remorse
A05
'absolute power corrupts absolutely' Lord Acton
'a play in which the wicked prosper and the virtuous miscarry' Samuel Johnson
'there is no supernatural justice - only human natural justice' S.L Goldberg
'Edmund is presented in a black suit whilst Kent is in a white one' Munby on the 2018 production of king lear
'the voices of the good are distorted by pain, those of the bad by the coarse excess of their wickedness' Kermode
'the overwhelming sense of injustice breaks through the even balancing of good and evil' o'toole
justice
justice is not served as the evil and innocent die the same
chaos and disorder
England resembles a apocalyptic state where power and social order has become corrupted resulting in its diminishment and power is no longer desired by those left
nothing and nihilism
cordelias nothing at the beginning of the play is a catalyst for the rage of events that follow and Lears abdication of responsibility naively onto his evil daughters
it is cordelias nothing that perhaps is the cause of Lears epiphany of the social corruption that has plagued the kingdom and by Lear becoming nothing he becomes redeemed
'nothing' corrupts the play but also allows for the development of previously 'blind' characters to become seeing of their wrongdoings
cordelias 'nothing' shows her true love and affection towards lear whereas Edmunds malice and manipulative "nothing, my lord" is his calculated attempt to anger Gloucester's curiosity and acts as a catalyst to the banishment of his brother and Gloucesters downfall