Introduction
The works by William Shakespeare are characterized by tragic humanism and both internal and external conflicts. His plays can be considered the pinnacle of the evolution of English drama that significantly influenced the development of world literature and culture. In this regard, Shakespeare’s King Lear embodies the main attributes of the Shakespearean tragedy. This work not only represents the king’s family issues but also reflects the global political and social challenges of the era. According to Baysal, “King Lear (1608) exhibits how the error of judgement, the interference of fate, and the presence of evil brings one’s downfall” (26). Shakespeare’s King Lear is characterized by several distinctive tragic elements such as a tragic hero, tragic villains, disorder, fate, revenge, and death.
Summary
The plot of Shakespeare’s play King Lear is based on the story of the legendary King Lear, who had three daughters and decided to retire and divide his kingdom and power among them. He asked them to demonstrate their love for him to determine who should receive the most of the king’s land. The two older daughters, Goneril and Regan, lavished praise on him, while the youngest one, Cordelia, was unable to express her deep love with words. The king, enraged with her silence, banished his youngest daughter and gave her land to his older children (Shakespeare 1.1.114). The King of France married Cordelia nonetheless, while the tension between the daughters and the king began to exacerbate the political situation in the kingdom.
Eventually, King Lear’s older daughters began to plot against him. Soon after the division of the kingdom, Goneril and Regan showed their true colors and forced King Lear to flee (Shakespeare 2.4.87). Earl of Kent and Fool joined him, and in the end, the king’s youngest daughter learned about the misfortune that had happened to him. She initiated a war against her sisters, where Cordelia’s soldiers fought the armies of Regan and Goneril. However, she lost the battle and was captured and imprisoned along with King Lear. In turn, Regan was poisoned by Goneril out of envy, who eventually killed herself. Cordelia was executed for treason, and King Lear died of sorrow, unable to accept his youngest daughter’s tragic death. In his play, Shakespeare weaved a storyline of the Earl of Gloucester and his illegitimate son Edmund, who did not want to accept his inferior position. Edmond decided to slander Gloucester’s legitimate son, Edgar, and eventually killed him in a duel.
Elements of Tragedy
A Tragic Hero
As can be seen, the tragic hero, King Lear, suffers the consequences of his rash and arrogant behavior displayed at the beginning of the play. Overall, the division of his kingdom is based on blinded judgment and lack of responsibility. The king wants to keep his authority while giving away his property, which demonstrates a lack of understanding of power. Moreover, he measures his daughters’ love by their words and not by actions. As noted by Al Jawad et al., the main character’s “willingness to believe his older daughters’ empty flattery leads to the deaths of many people” (36). He is unable to notice and appreciate Cordelia’s love and loyalty, which eventually results in her death. King Lear’s fate, suffering, and death are the attributes that characterize him as a tragic hero as a string of poor decisions led the king to his inevitable fall.
Another prominent characteristic of King Lear that portrays him as a tragic hero is his ability to recognize errors and learn from mistakes. As King Lear describes himself as “a poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man,” he begins to see his status more clearly (Shakespeare 3.2.19-20). He becomes aware of the needs of the poor and regrets not caring for them properly during his time as a king. Such a transformation and the display of empathy show King Lear’s evolution as a tragic hero, who initially was a prideful and selfish ruler but realized his mistakes. He recognized the value of Cordelia’s “nothing,” which meant more than her sisters’ praise (Shakespeare 1.1.96). Overall, the tragedy of King Lear lies in the fact that his severe punishment and ill fate are too cruel compared to the mistakes he made.
Tragic Villains
Another element that characterizes Shakespeare’s play as a tragedy is the presence of tragic villains. The playwright introduces evil characters who have malicious intents to According to oppose positive characters. According to Al Jawad et al., “Edmund, Regan, and Goneril embody avarice, envy, anger, lust, and pride, while Edgar and Cordelia embody faithfulness and unconditional love” (35). Edmund describes himself as a villain as he states, “I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing” (Shakespeare 1.2.138-140). At the same time, while Edmund is depicted as an antagonist, he is attractive and intelligent. Edmund’s wit is obvious from the way he manipulates his brother and father. Furthermore, the readers sympathize with him due to his status as the illegitimate child, which deprives him of equal rights with his brother and makes him a tragic antihero.
Similarly, Goneril and Regan display harsh and selfish behavior that reveals their true nature. For instance, Regan is cruel towards Gloucester as she demands to “hang him instantly” (Shakespeare 3.7.3). However, they can be considered victims of their father’s irresponsibility and hot temper. Moreover, King Lear’s preference for Cordelia over the other two daughters contributes to their suffering and eventual death. Therefore, the older sisters are two other tragic antiheroes in Shakespeare’s work.
Disorder
Another tragic component of Shakespeare’s King Lear is a disorder that can be observed in various aspects of this play. The disastrous events begin with the king’s decision to divide his kingdom and develop as his rage intensifies after Cordelia’s unsatisfactory reply to his request to demonstrate her love. King Lear’s words “nothing will come of nothing” embody the essence of this play (Shakespeare 1.1.96). The unreasonable and chaotic actions of the main character lead to his own banishment and loss of power. Baysal notes that “the climax happens with Cordelia’s death as Lear holds her lifeless body in his arms” (28). As a result of the king’s mistakes, the whole kingdom nearly collapses into chaos and disorder. As argued by Baysal, “this is the humane condition the play conveyed through the tragic ending mainly caused by Lear’s faulty judgement, which bears similarity to Shakespeare’s another great tragedy, Othello” (28). Furthermore, the weather is a reflection of the devastating events as a storm accompanies King Lear in his fleeing. Overall, the play’s world is characterized by an opposition between children and parents, sisters and brothers.
Fate
Justice does not prevail, and punishments often exceed the wrongdoings in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Therefore, it can be concluded that fate does not favor either evil or good characters, which emphasizes the tragic element of this play. There are different viewpoints on the role of destiny in King Lear. For instance, Edmund believes in being the creator of his own fate, while Earl of Kent suggests that stars determine the events that occur in the human world. As Albany exclaims, “the gods defend her” in the hope that Cordelia will avoid ill fate, Lear carries her dead body, which emphasizes the lack of divine interference in human affairs (Shakespeare 3.5.306). While some characters believe in gods, the disorder and chaos suggest that there is little interest in human lives as killings and bloodshed occur in the kingdom. Therefore, fate is a complicated element of the tragedy in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Human errors rather than divine interference affect the outcomes for the play’s characters.
Revenge
The theme of revenge is another crucial element that is central to the plot and characterizes Shakespeare’s King Lear as a tragedy. In particular, it can be noted that social injustices and lack of fairness affected the development of several characters. Edmund was labeled by society as a bastard, which contributed to his desire to bring justice and kill his brother, who was more privileged. Similarly, Goneril and Regan were not treated equally since King Lear favored his youngest daughter, which filled his older children with envy and resulted in the king’s tragic end. Furthermore, social rules and stereotypes played an essential role in Shakespeare’s play at another level. A patriarchal order in the kingdom contributed to Regan and Goneril’s desire for power and control over their own lives. Overall, the vengeful behavior of the play’s characters is both the cause and effect of the tragic events.
Death
Finally, death is another tragic element of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Most of the characters die throughout the play, which creates a gloomy atmosphere on the stage. In this regard, Vikramsinh emphasizes the resemblance between Shakespeare’s and Greek plays’ characters, where “the end of all their suffering is death” (23). Both noble and malicious people die in the play, which emphasizes that no one is immune to a tragic end, regardless of their actions. It can be seen that both heroes and antiheroes suffer and eventually die in King Lear, which determines the tragic nature of Shakespeare’s plays.
Finally, death is another tragic element of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Most of the characters die throughout the play, which creates a gloomy atmosphere on the stage. In this regard, Vikramsinh emphasizes the resemblance between Shakespeare’s and Greek plays’ characters, where “the end of all their suffering is death” (23). Both noble and malicious people die in the play, which emphasizes that no one is immune to a tragic end, regardless of their actions. It can be seen that both heroes and antiheroes suffer and eventually die in King Lear, which determines the tragic nature of Shakespeare’s plays.
Conclusion
To conclude, King Lear by Shakespeare includes such tragic elements as a tragic hero, tragic villains, disorder, fate, revenge, and death. Throughout the play, the reader observes how the king’s poor decisions change the dynamics of his whole life and affect the people around him. Shakespeare’s work demonstrates how human errors can lead to disorder and chaos. The analysis of this literary work can help explore the core aspects of a Shakespearean tragedy.
Works Cited
Al Jawad, Ahmed. S. H., et al. “Shakespearean’s Tragedy: A Descriptive Study on King Lear by William Shakespeare.” Journal of World Englishes and Educational Practices, vol. 3, no. 5, 2021, pp. 28-38. JWEEP, doi:10.32996/jweep.2021.3.5.3.
Baysal, Kübra. “The Role of Erroneous Judgement, Providence and Evil in Shakespeare’s King Lear.” The Journal of International Social Research, vol. 13, no. 74, 2020, pp. 26-32.
Shakespeare, William. The History of King Lear: The Oxford Shakespeare. Edited by Stanley Wells, Oxford UP, 2008.
Vikramsinh, Jadeja D. “‘King Lear’: The Exposition of not only the Tragedy of Lear but also The Tragedy of Human Life.” International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews, vol. 5, no. 1, 2018, pp. 23-24.