King Lear Themeatic Essay

In the play “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, there are two main thematic ideas; hope/despair and justice/injustice.

In this extract Lear has been cast out into the wind and rain of the storm by his two daughters Goneril and Regan, with only the Fool at his side. He is soon joined by Kent, who tries to persuade Lear to take shelter in a nearby hovel. Lear however is on the brink of madness and agrees to go with Kent only after feeling sympathy for his Fool and “knave”.

In this play the theme of hope and despair is highly illustrated by Shakespeare. The very structure of the work lends itself to creating suspense and uncertainty in the minds of the audience. In this scene, Lear and the Fool are in danger of dieing from the extreme conditions and lack of shelter; Lear is an old man, and a King whom is not suited to surviving in the conditions. However, hope surfaces when he is joined by “Caius” (the disguised Kent), who leads his master to shelter and in effect saves his life. There are many

“We may not pass upon [Gloucester’s] life without the form of justice, yet our oath shall do a courtesy to our wrath”

“I am a man, more sinned against than sinning”

Many have argued that Cordelia is a type of Christ; and if it were so the end result should be resurrection and hope through it. But in this case there is no resurrection and no hope. It is therefore evident that in this play bleakness abounds, despair prospers and any semblance of hope is shattered like ashes.

Some topics in this essay:
Goneril Regan, Lear King, Lear Cordelia, I” Maybe, Regan Cornwall, Regan Lear, King Lear, Regan Fool, Edmund Edgar, Tom Edmunds, justice injustice, daughters goneril regan, daughters goneril, goneril regan, hope despair, king lear, resurrection hope, motive disguise, parody trial, hope surfaces, thematic ideas,