Transcending the Artifice of Society

Shakespeare’s King Lear is a cautionary tale, serving to warn readers what happens when those in power become corrupted. Families of the kingdom are torn apart to make way for new rulers and dynamics, but in the end, all is lost. Well-meaning protagonists such as Gloucester and Cordelia are banished and slain at the hands of villainous characters like Regan and Edmund, and at the end of the story, the only noble remaining is Edgar. It appears that the pain and suffering showered on this kingdom was a futile attempt to create a better society—that cruelty is but a symptom of the human condition. However, to read King Lear as nothing but a tragedy would be to ignore the humanity of the characters in it. Perceptive readers must dig deeper to discover another, more hopeful lesson of the story. Instead of just being left to die, characters find that is necessary to strip oneself of the artifice of society–the excess of wealth and greed–to discover the truth about their natures, how they ought to act when given only the bare necessities. First, King Lear must rid himself of his power and luxury to understand he ought to act with selflessness and unconditional love. For Edmund, burgeoning power and control must be taken away for him to realize that it is truth, as opposed to his duplicity, and the desire to do good that ought to guide his actions. Finally, Goneril and Regan are ultimately unable to dispose of their hunger for power and control and thus are never able to discover their true natures. However, even though this task proves to be impossible for these sisters, it becomes clear that the pursuit of discovering how one ought to live when left with nothing is essential for a more equitable society. Edgar, the kingdom’s sole survivor, takes the virtues of love, altruism, and truth that the others have learned with him as he begins to rule.

It is only when the artifice of his power and luxury are taken away that King Lear discovers the importance of altruism and unconditional love. Up until this point, Lear had lived a life of superficiality; surrounded by hundreds of knights and the untouchable power that came with being king, Lear assumed that demanding what he believed to be his was a natural and sustainable way to live. However, almost immediately after he gives up his throne and “divide[s] / In three [his] kingdom,” he loses everything (1.1.36-37). Lear requests that his daughters tell him how much they love him so he can parcel the territories of the kingdom properly. Goneril and Regan shower him with praise, but Cordelia laments, “I love you majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less” (1.1.91-92). Lear is appalled and banishes her from the kingdom and as his daughter. Still, Lear believes that obeisance is necessary for love. He turns to Goneril and Regan next, pleading them to let him stay with them with one hundred of his knights. But Goneril thinks this request is absurd: “I’ll not endure it. / His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us / On every trifle” (1.3.6-8). Once again, Lear cannot fathom pushback as a result of not being an ultimate ruler. He disowns both Goneril and Regan, howling, “No, you unnatural hags, / I will have such revenges on you both” (2.2.482-483). Upon being cursed at, Goneril and Regan leave Lear out in the brewing storm to “contend with the fretful elements” alone (3.1.4). It is here, for the first time, that Lear is left with nothing but himself. There is no one to order around, no one to provide him comfort. He must deal with his reality alone. As he sits in the storm, rain pounding on his back, he comes to a startling realization: “Take physic, pomp / Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel / That thou mayst shake the superflux to them / And show the heavens more just” (3.4.36-39). As he experiences for the first time what many of his people of lower status regularly deal with, he realizes he has been cruel. Furthermore, Lear discovers that he must rid himself of the excess he clings to, and, furthermore, share the wealth. He says, “Thou ow’st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume… Thou art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare, forked animal as thou art” (3.4. 97-98, 100-104). Here, it is revealed that part of Lear’s nature is actually selfless, hidden by the “superfluxe” he has surrounded himself with. However, he is wrong about one thing, a key difference between man and animal: love. When Cordelia reunites with Lear in Dover, Lear apologizes to Cordelia for what he has done: “If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me, for your sisters have, as I do remember, done me wrong: You have some cause, they have not” (4.6.76-79). But Cordelia reassures him, saying, “No cause, no cause” (4.6.74-79). Lear has been forgiven. He realizes that despite his wrongdoings, Cordelia still loves him. Lear can finally reconceptualize his idea of unconditional love. When everything is taken away from him, Lear is able to find his true nature, in that he ought to act selflessly and with unconditional love.

Similarly to Lear, Edmund discovers that his true nature lies with truth and not manipulation after his fate ends without artificial social status or power. At the beginning of the play, Edmund expresses resentment for his artificial status in society as an illegitimate child: “Why bastard? Wherefore base? When my dimensions are as well compact, / My mind as generous, and my shape as true” (1.2.6-8). He quickly comes to the conclusion that the only way to make things fair is to take what he believes he deserves: “Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: / Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund / As to th’legitimate” (1.2.6-8, 16-18). Forging a letter that he claims to be his brother’s, he tells Gloucester that Edgar wishes to kill him to seize his territory and power. Edmund expresses no remorse at this trickery, saying, “I do serve you in this business — / A credulous father and a brother noble, / Whose nature is so far from doing harms / That he suspects none: on whos foolish honesty / My practices ride easy” (1.2.156-159). As Edmund continues to manipulate his way to the top, he manages to attract the attention of both Goneril and Regan. Bolstered by his manipulative tactics that have seemingly given him both good standing in the kingdom and two mistresses, Edmund thinks he will have everything he has ever wanted. However, this illusion comes crashing down as Edgar emerges from hiding. When Edgar mercilessly defeats Edmund in disguise, Edmund realizes his attempts to seize power have been futile: “Th’ hast spoken right. ’Tis true. / The wheel is come full circle; I am here” (5.3.186-187). Just as quickly, his affairs with both Goneril and Regan come to an end. Edmund discovers that they have Goneril has poisoned Regan and killed herself. Ending with less than he began with, Edmund is devastated. His manipulation only brought short-lived success. Previously, Edmund had ordered Cordelia to be hanged as punishment for challenging his authority. It was supposed to be one last nail in the coffin, so to speak, for everyone Edmund believed had wronged him. But when Edmund has lost everything, he quickly realizes the error of his ways and races to reverse the order. Unfortunately, it is too late. Cordelia’s death was the ultimate sacrifice, but it solidifies Edmund’s understanding that to better himself, he must do good, not manipulate others; he dies from the wounds inflicted by his own brother shortly thereafter. When stripped of everything that gave him control, it is evident that Edmund didn’t value the truth and do good in spite of his nature: he tried to save Cordelia because of it.

Conversely, Goneril and Regan never get the chance to uncover their true natures because neither of them could fully strip themselves of the corruption of their power as rulers. As Lear falls, their power rises, and they cling to the same authority that he once did. As mentioned above, Goneril and Regan leave their father to the elements after he demands to reside with them accompanies by a hundred knights. This is not an inherently evil act; but as their power rises, so does their cruelty, suggesting their inability to let go of society’s superfluxe. The clearest evidence of this begins when Goneril and Regan seek to punish Gloucester for supporting Lear and betraying them; they both have equally grotesque ideas about how to do so. Regan wants to “hang him instantly,” while Goneril wishes to “pluck out his eyes” (3.7.4-5). This punishment goes beyond Gloucester; when a servant steps in in an attempt to save Gloucester, Regan doesn’t respond kindly: “Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up thus?” (3.7.88-89). She kills the servant, an innocent citizen, to let those around her know who now has power. Their fight for power hurtles past violence and into lust when, as alluded to earlier, they vie for Edmund’s attention. Their competing desires rise to such heights that Goneril poisons Regan to death. As Cordelia is carried away to prison, she resignedly observes, “We are not the first / Who with best meaning have incurred the worst” (5.3.4-5). This statement rings true of Goneril and Regan’s actions, as well. What began as teaching their father a lesson turned into a brawl for control, both of the kingdom and of the people around them. Because neither Regan nor Goneril could find a way to get rid of the desire for power that consumed them, they could never discover their natures.

As it turns out, the fate of this kingdom ends up in Edgar’s hands, with every other contender for power massacred around him. Edgar now seeks to rule this new society with the virtues and natures learned from his sacrificed citizens, such a selflessness, unconditional love, and truth. These virtues could only be revealed after these characters stripped themselves of everything but the barest necessities. Leading only by virtue may be an impossible ideal to obtain, but it is noble and worthwhile to pursue. When readers seek to look at King Lear through a lens other than tragedy, they can find positive lessons that add to their understandings of this play.