William Shakespeare’s “King Lear”, Essay Example

Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and its Relation to Machiavelli’s “The Prince.”

Shakespeare’s King Lear is a tragedy play that was set some centuries ago in ancient Britain when there was no Christianity. It was written in the year 1605 and published by 1608 (Bevington, 1999 p.1). The play was written at the time when King James I reigned over both Scotland and England and had the intention to reunite the two kingdoms. This play seems to support James’ decision as Lear is used to showing how the separation of the two kingdoms is subject to tragedy and disaster. “King Lear”, like any other Shakespeare’s tragedy, is quite a complicated play that people can understand on various perspectives and different levels. As a result, it is hard to conclude that it has one specific message. It is a play that centres on a King-Lear and his three daughters, one of whom is known as Cordelia and is full of hunger for power at the expense of her father and family (Shakespeare, 2012, p. 115). Add to that a few noblemen both treasonous and loyal and the conflict is endless. The play is therefore replete with characters that exhibit Machiavellian qualities in their roles such as Edmund, Regan, Goneril, and Lear-just to mention but a few. Consequently, this essay focuses on the conflict, themes, and other literary devices in “King Lear” and how the play relates to Machiavelli’s “The Prince”.

There are many Machiavellian theories within William Shakespeare’s play “King Lear”. This is quite apparent when examining the characters of Lear, Regan, Goneril and Edmund. However, it is the last three characters namely Regan, Goneril and Edmund who Shakespeare used to exemplify the Machiavellian principles about virtue, ethics, and politics. The politics of Machiavelli entailed the acquisition of power to form an authoritarian government (Machiavelli 1984). In Machiavelli’s “The Prince” power means politics. Hence these three characters demonstrate the themes of ethics, morality and virtue based on their position of power in the kingdom. For instance, Edmund was the bastard son of Gloucester and had an elder brother called Edgar who was Gloucester’s legitimate son and beloved heir. However, due to Edmund’s envy, greed and avarice he kills his brother and father and seizes power. He blames nature for being a bastard when he says “Thou Nature art my goddess; to thy law…gods stand up for bastards” (Shakespeare 2012, Act 1: ii-22).

In his work “The Prince” Niccolo Machiavelli stated that “men ought either to be well treated or crushed because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries” (Machiavelli 2008, p.19). This principle is demonstrated well by Goneril and Regan with regards to their treatment of Lear. Although Lear has some Machiavellian traits, his qualities are often bound to disrupt his relationship with his daughters and members of the public. It is such weak qualities that define his tragic flaws and Regan and Goneril are quick to take advantage of them. In case Lear did not have such qualities, his relationship with his daughters and the society would have remained preserved. Lear’s situation is comparable to Machiavelli’s “The Prince” when the latter says “Men generally judge more by the eye than by the hand, for all can see, but few can feel” (Machiavelli 2008, p.71). Generally, “King Lear” focuses on Blindness in people like Lear for he was blind to others’ motivation and blind his true nature. He was also blind to the emptiness of privilege and power as well as blind to the significance of selfless love.

Symbolism provides meaning beyond what is being talked about. Shakespeare has used this art in the play “King Lear” to address some of the burning issues in the play. While drawing examples from the play, symbolism is illustrated by the following. The storm is one of the symbols used by William Shakespeare in this play. King Lear is roaming around the deserted grasslands in Act 3; a raging storm hovers overhead. The storm reflects on how much agitation that the king is going through. This is a physical reflection of his confusion; his inner self is not at peace. He has been in fighting with his daughters and now the old man is homeless. From this scene, Lear is powerless and can come to terms with his human mortality and for the first time embrace humility. From the events in the play, nature is furious with everything that is going on and the storm serves as some justice. The country is torn in a civil war, and the storm perfectly describes the political state in King Lear’s Britain (“Tragedy of King Lear: Plot Summary,” n.d.).

Blindness is another symbol that is evident in “King Lear”. Two men in the play are blind to the truth, Gloucester and Lear. Both have loyal and disloyal children, and they end up choosing the unfaithful children over the loyal ones. They make bad choices by making faithful children their heirs. They are blind from the truth, but their bad decisions later catch up with them. The truth dawns on Gloucester when he loses his physical sight and after Lear runs mad the consequences of his choices are now clear to him. He can see the truth, but evidently, it is too late. In Act 4 they come together near Dover as they reckon with their acts and how they have costed them dearly.

Some of the main themes that define this particular play include self-knowledge, justice, and authority with chaos. The lack of self-knowledge can be tragic to one’s life but the pain to achieve it may not be worth it. Regan, Lear’s daughter, identifies that her father lacks self-knowledge and this is seen in the opening scene: “he hath ever but slightly known himself” (I.i). At the expense of his sanity, wealth and power Lear comes to his self-knowledge. He learns something about himself: “I am a very foolish fond old man” (IV.VII.). Despite achieving self-discovery, Lear has to deal with his tragic fate. His daughter Cordelia still loves him, and her death is such a blow to Lear. Through Edmund who has self-knowledge from the beginning, it is essential to note that self-knowledge is of limited value, he dies before Lear.

The play has all forms of social injustice from the civil war too terrible disasters. From the sequence of events, the obvious question among the characters is, does the world have an ounce of justice? Is the world cruel to humankind? “As flies to the wanton are we to the gods: They kill us for their sport” (“King Lear: Entire Play,” n.d. 4.1.37-38). Gloucester realizes if foolish for humankind to assume that the natural world works in parallel with socially or morally convenient notions of justice. Edgar thinks that “The gods are just and individuals get what they deserve (Shakespeare 2012, 5.3.169).” As the wicked die, the good also dies along with them, and as Lear cradles the body of his daughter Cordelia, it is difficult to know what triumphs in the end, is it goodness or madness and death. Not only was Lear a king but also a father. He delivers power to his disloyal children Reagan and Goneril, and as a result, Britain is ushered into war and cruelty. As the power-hungry sister quench their thirst for power, Edmund begins his revolt, and the whole of Britain is torn into civil war. Not only has Lear destroyed his authority but the whole of Britain. As a result, the order is lost, and mayhem draws in.

In Conclusion, this play was based on quite a bleak, cruel, and unforgiving world as the characters literary denounced their morals and virtues in search of political power. There are many brutal killings across the entire play like the case of Edmund and his brother Edgar. Lear is also about to retire from his dominant position as the king and therefore decides to divide his kingdom into three sections based on his love for each of his daughters. However, Goneril and Regan spot their father’s weakness and use flowery yet fake praises to deceive him and gain power (“King Lear by William Shakespeare,” n.d.). Even though several aspects contribute to the impairment of their rapport, the main contributing factor to the dysfunction is the existence of Machiavelli’s theories as outlined in “The Prince”.

References

Bevington, D. (1999, May 4). King Lear. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/King-Lear

King Lear by William Shakespeare. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.williamshakespeare.net/king-lear.jsp

King Lear: Entire Play. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://shakespeare.mit.edu/lear/full.html

Machiavelli, N., 1984. The prince (1513). New York: Bantam.

Machiavelli, N., 2008. The prince. Hackett Publishing.

Shakespeare, W. (2012). King Lear. North Chelmsford, MA: Courier Corporation.

The Tragedy of King Lear: Plot Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/kinglear/kinglearps.html