The presence of morality and power constructs have existed since the dawn of the human race, from the early Homo sapiens to the storylines in Shakespeare’s tragedies. King Lear began the play at the height of his power, while committing unkind actions that conveyed a lack of morality. After the king loses his power, his morality begins to grow as he realizes his tragic mistake, he regains a small amount of power but never achieves the kingly level of power he once had. The King’s low morality and ignorance influence his decisions at the beginning of the play, causing his tragic downfall. He realizes the mistakes he’s made after losing all of his power and his character's morality begins to grow greater throughout the acts. His moral actions at the end of the play form a perfect contrast to the beginning as he tries to make up for what he has done.
The King’s high power and low morality at the beginning of the play causes him to make poor decisions which lead to his tragic downfall. Shakespeare enhances Lear’s ignorance and low morality through a variety of methods in the first act. In the first scene Lear says “Come not between the dragon and his wrath.” (1, 1, 122) In this metaphor he describes himself as a ‘dragon’ which is a creature typically observed as possessing significant amounts of power, this relation symbolizes Lear’s high quantity of power at the beginning of the play. Lear’s most prominent immoral action in the first act was his disownment of Cordelia, which led to his eventual downfall: “Here I disclaim all my paternal care… and as a stranger to my heart and me. “ (1, 1, 111-115) Goneril and Regan have convinced Lear’s powerful, yet immoral character into dividing the kingdom between them which leads to his disownment of Cordelia, even though he “loved her most and thought to set my rest on her kind nursery”, (1, 1, 125-126) further proving his lack of morality. Arthur Kirsch, a renowned academic whose work was published by Oxford University in the Shakespeare Quarterly, has a supporting view of what caused Lear’s downfall. He stated in his essay, The Emotional Landscape of King Lear, that “It is Lear’s rejection of her that initiates the tragic action”, (Kirsch, 164) ‘her’ meaning Cordelia. The King is seen being very ignorant about what other characters say even if their statements describe him in a positive light, his most loyal servant Kent being the primary example: “Whom I have ever honored as my king, Loved as my father, as my master followed, As my great patron thought on in my prayers- The bow is bent and drawn. Make from the shaft.” (1, 1, 140-143) Shakespeare even uses a hyphen after the word ‘prayers’ to ensure the actors understand that Lear is interrupting Kent’s line. It is also evident in this quotation that Kent was attempting to calm him down with kind remarks but Lear, in his ignorance, chose to threaten Kent by metaphorically stating he was about to shoot him. Soon after Lear loses his power the Fool says to him “Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise”(1, 5, 38). The Fool is taunting the King for his lack of morality in making the decision to give the kingdom away to Goneril and Regan. It is key to acknowledge that King Lear was written during the time period in which King James V was king of England. King James was aware of the betrayals which caused the downfall of Sir Brian Annesley and William Allen, (their daughters betrayed them in order to steal their power) whereas Lear has no knowledge of the dangers of giving away power, creating a dramatic irony for the audience. This allows Shakespeare to make Lear’s downfall appear even more tragic as the audience knows the dangers of what can happen to him while he doesn’t.
After the loss of Lear’s power, he begins to realize the tragic mistake he made which is conveyed to the audience through hateful remarks about his corrupted daughters. Lear also begins to regain power over the decisions of specific characters as he becomes more moral towards them. Shakespeare portrays Lear’s realization of his tragic mistake through a variety of methods between the second and fourth act. Lear employs a metaphor to express his anger towards Goneril after realizing the tragic mistake he has made: “Thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter - or rather a disease that’s in my flesh.” (2, 4, 213-214) He describes Goneril as being a ‘disease’ that is infecting him which can simply be interpreted as a negative remark directed towards her. Under further analysis however, the use of this metaphor divulges Lear's acceptance that his previous tragic mistakes became the underlying motivator for the immoral and sinister actions that Goneril bestowed upon him. Albany is an excellent external source of evidence that while Lear has been driven into madness, his hateful thoughts directed at his daughters are justified: “Tigers not daughters, what have you performed? A father and a gracious aged man… Most barbarous, most degenerate, have you madded.” Similarly to how Lear describes them as ‘diseases’, Albany describes them as ‘Tigers’ which carries a similar negative connotation. He also describes Lear as a ‘gracious aged man’ which is much more positive than many remarks directed towards him previously, conveying his moral growth. Another possible reasoning for his anger towards Goneril could be the societal norms of the time period. King Lear was written during the Tudor Era in which it was seen as very disrespectful for a woman to speak up against her father/husband. Dr. Francis Gordon Schoff, another author who was published in the Shakespeare Quarterly, pushes Albany and Lear’s views even further:
The king, from Goneril’s first attack, finds himself in a psychological straitjacket established by his powerlessness before his daughters’ treachery and cold-heartedness. It is drawn tighter and tighter as the full import of his situation is driven home, and the internal tensions thus set up drive him to the edges of madness. It needs no inherent wrathfulness of character to account for an explosion of fury (Schoff, 160-161)
Francis uses the metaphor of a ‘psychological straitjacket’ to describe the sinister actions of Goneril and also discusses the King’s powerlessness caused by his daughter’s treachery and cold-heartedness. More importantly he mentions that Lear’s character does not require any ‘inherent wrathfulness’ to be acting this way towards Goneril and his hateful thoughts are justified as part of his realization. Late in act 2 a stage direction signifies that there is “Storm and tempest” (2, 4, 274) informing the reader of the weather affecting Lear and his acquaintances. More importantly, King Lear says to Edgar in act 3: “(To Fool) In, boy. Go first. You houseless poverty - Nay, get thee in.”(3, 4, 26-27) Even though there is a storm raging outside he still places the Fool’s life before his which conveys to the reader that his immorality and ignorance has now diminished. Furthermore, the Fool is one of the first characters we see Lear regain power over. As mentioned previously, the Fool ridiculed Lear for being old yet unwise, however, in the third act the Fool’s opinion is rather contrary to the first: “Marry here’s grace and a codpiece - that’s a wise man and a fool.” (3, 2, 37-38) Instead of describing him as being unwise, he uses the word ‘grace’ which he clarifies as meaning ‘a wise man’. Though the Fool is not a powerful character himself, Lear has still regained his respect; having one’s respect is crucial to having power over them.
At the end of the play it is evident that Lear’s morality has grown dramatically while his power still remains relatively low, he also decides to take action on his fatal flaw by apologizing to Cordelia. These moments are enhanced through multiple methods in the last acts. At the beginning of act 4, Kent speaks on behalf of Lear for his reasoning to not talk with Cordelia:
A sovereign shame so elbows him. His own unkindness That stripped her from his benediction turned her To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights to his dog-hearted daughters. These things sting his mind so venomously that burning shame Detains him from Cordelia. (4, 3, 42-47)
This is one of the most significant pieces of evidence that greatly contrasts Lear’s feelings towards Cordelia in the beginning of the play. Instead of disliking her to such a level that he disowns her, his own shame ‘so elbows’ him to the extent that he can’t bear to look at her. After Lear wakes up next to Cordelia he has a very significant line that indirectly apologizes for his actions: “You do me wrong to take me out o’th’grave. Thou art a soul in bliss, but I am bound Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead.” (4, 7, 43-46) In the beginning of the quotation he makes it clear how terrible he feels about his tragic mistake, stating Cordelia should’ve left him for dead as a result of disowning her. He then uses a metaphor describing her as an angelic, heavenly soul and him as an individual so evil that even his own tears ‘scald’ him. Furthermore, in act 5, Lear’s final line in the play proves just how much his character has changed: “And my poor fool is hanged… Look on her. Look, her lips. Look there, look there. O, O, O, O. (dies)” (5, 3, 313-320) He is so heartbroken by her death that he dies himself. He doesn’t act as if he is dead, the stage direction signifies that Lear’s character is truly dead. Fredson Bowers, another author published in the Shakespeare Quarterly also discusses Lear’s contrasting actions at the beginning and end of the play:
It is consistent with this new recognition that Lear can kneel to Cordelia for her pardon, a most striking contrast with the blindness of his choleric pride when he had banished her from his throne at the beginning of the action. (Bowers, 12)
Bowers mentions Lear’s ‘choleric pride’ (his immorality) at the beginning of the play and how it greatly contrasts his moral act of kneeling down to ask for Cordelia’s pardon. In the ending of King Lear the readers are intended to side with the Catholicism of the French, rather than the Protestantism of the English. This aligns with King James V’s views that English citizens should not be restricted to one religion and can follow whatever they choose. This religious liberty provided by the King allows Shakespeare to coerce the audience’s mind into siding with the French Catholics. An allegiance with the French instead of the English makes Lear appear a protagonist rather than an antagonist, enhancing Lear's moral image to the audience.
It has now been made evident that Lear grows throughout the play to become a much better person before he dies in the final scene, acting in a way which greatly contrasts his immoral actions in the beginning. Lear’s disownment of Cordelia and banishment of Kent conveys to the audience his great power and lack of morality at the beginning of the play, causing his downfall. Lear’s anger towards his corrupted daughters and feelings of remorse towards Cordelia reveal to the audience Lear’s realization of his tragic mistake. His apology and eventual death at the end of the play form a perfect contrast to the beginning, enhancing the audience’s perception of how much Lear’s character has grown in morality. Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, provides a deeper level of understanding in the relationship between power and morality to the audience that often goes unnoticed in other works.
Works Cited
Bowers, Fredson. “The Structure of King Lear.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 31,
no. 1, 1980, pp. 7–20. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2869365. Accessed 19 Dec. 2022.
Kirsch, Arthur. “The Emotional Landscape of King Lear.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol.
39, no. 2, 1988, pp. 154–70. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870627. Accessed 15 Dec.
2022.
Schoff, Francis G. “King Lear: Moral Example or Tragic Protagonist?” Shakespeare
Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 2, 1962, pp. 157–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2866785.
Accessed 14 Dec. 2022.
Shakespeare, William. No Fear Shakespeare: King Lear. Toronto, Sterling Publishing
Co, 2003.
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