Nature
It is vital to note during the course of the play that certain words are repeated in numerous different contexts and form themes of their own. Of these, the most important is "nature" which can also be found in a number of other Shakespearean tragedies as the basis for life and actions. Lear himself refers repeatedly to the "offices of nature", Edmund declares nature his "goddess" before the king mirrors this with "Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!" Gloucester speaks of "the wisdom of nature" and banishes the "unnatural" Edgar, Cornwall speaks of "Natures of such deep trust", Goneril and Regan are "unnatural hags", and so on. Nature may be seen in this play as the superhuman force that drive the action, and it is certainly (as Edmund suggests in I.ii) pagan in its origins and implications. Nature is, on one level, just another way of describing Fortune's Wheel. However, it is also crucial due to the sense of having "natural" and "unnatural" children: bastards literal or otherwise. Nature defines what is right but it is also the cause of all that goes wrong.
Two other key words to note in the way they hold the disparate elements of the play together are:
- Service: consider the selfless servitude offered by Kent, the Fool and Cordelia that transcends wealth and does not demand favour and the way it is juxtaposed with the actions of nominal service of the 'evil' characters. This form of service is not lasting: thus the servant who will not blind Gloucester is murdered.
- Nothing: Act I has the mantra of "Nothing" running all through it pronounced by all the central characters. Consider its various purposes and meanings. When Cordelia says "Nothing", she means "Nothing that I can put into words". Lear, however, means "No money" and "No flattery" when he responds, "Nothing will come of nothing". Edmund uses "Nothing" as bait for Gloucester which works since in the context "The quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself" as the father observes. Finally in Scene IV there is a whole dialogue about "nothing" between Kent, Fool and Lear. Kent dismisses Fool's song as meaningless "nothing", the Fool defends the concept while punning on the word's various meanings and Lear concludes "nothing can be made out of nothing". Of course, as the play proves, nothing is what one must be reduced to in removing oneself from base foolishness and greed.
The Presentation of Women
SEXUALITY
It should first be noted that lust causes the downfall of Regan, Goneril and Edmund: the two sisters use their sexuality as a bargaining tool with both Edmund and Oswald. Edmund actually appeals to the "natural" appetites that begot him to help him fight against his naïve father and trusting brother. As a result Gloucester is symbolically punished for this through his blindness.
REGAN
It could be argued that Regan is slightly softer in her words to Lear. She also speaks of "gorgeous apparel", she is vain and extravagant and this contrasts with Goneril who almost entirely lacks femininity. She is slightly subordinate to her sister and her husband - she is mocking (in the situation with Gloucester where she plucks a hair from his beard) yet she does not seem to instigate the cruelty to such a large extent. This is illustrated by the fact she tried to activate a trick to keep Edmund but she is outwitted by her sister who punishes her with death.
GONERIL
It is a mistake to see Goneril and Regan as an identical duo, united against their father. There obviously are a number of similarities: Regan even admits she is of the 'self-same metal" as her sister. They are also referred to as "pelican daughters" and "unnatural hags." They both thrust aside their husbands and father and indeed each other in order to further themselves. Nonetheless Goneril seems to be more independently evil than her sister. She doesn't need any bolstering from her husband and this increases the polarity that exists between her and Albany who is much more cautious than her. She is the first sister in all actions: in deceiving and denying her father, deciding Gloucester's punishment, the poisoning of her sister and furthermore she was the first to be 'seen' with Edmund and Oswald. She is referred to in wholly unflattering terms such as "marble-hearted kite", compared to a snake, a fiend and a hag. Lear denies her femininity, calling her unnatural and cursing her womb so that it becomes barren. Goneril can also be compared to Lady Macbeth. She emasculates her husband in rhetoric, denies her own femininity and is childless. She attempts to devalue the males that surround her. It is she who woos Edmund. She attempts to emasculate her father who is too old to fight. She diminishes his entourage which is a sign of his power and kingship and in turn this removes any traces of filial love therefore she instigates the loss of his visible power. Goneril refers to her husband as "Milk-livered….lily white", she cuckolds him with Edmund and perhaps Oswald, and she has the intention to kill him.
CORDELIA
She is in a sense alienated by the play - she is absent for the majority of it, is disinherited, married without a dowry and has an ignoble death. Her main motivation is love and a sense of right rather than of practicality. It is certainly questionable whether or not she is the "ideal woman" because she is too perfect and forgiving to be believed or liked. She has no grit, wit or purpose but as a foil for the other sisters and as a corpse (perhaps more comparable to Hero in Much Ado About Nothing rather than Beatrice). Cordelia is too good for the world that Lear is set in. When she is actually present she is largely ineffectual; she commands the French army but is captured. It should also be noted that her undiplomatic self-righteousness sets in motion a whole train of events it seems that in the world of Lear and her integrity thwarts her survival. For Shakespeare, Cordelia is a plot device and a wholly unconvincing female. She is a Virgin Mary- styled figure who cannot appear in the play because she is merely a symbol of righteousness and what Lear has lost. In this sense she is as purposeless a heroine as Ophelia in Hamlet and is more evidence as if evidence were needed that Shakespeare portrayed women as extremes of good or evil in his later serious plays
FORTUNE
This is portrayed as a female figure - an "arrant whore" which is wholly unpredictable and faithless. This is a tradition, Fortune being the female in charge of the wheel of fate and in this play is referred to more than in any other famous work of literature except perhaps Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde. Lear and others fail to realise for much of the play that Fortune is without fault and is machine of the gods.
Types of Madness
LEAR
We never see the King in a fully sane state. Even at the beginning he is irrational and incensed by his youngest daughter's reaction to him. As the play progresses his rage and madness are intensified by his reduction in circumstances. Lear's costume mirrors his change: as he becomes less and less lucid his clothes and the vestiges of the world he used to belong to are stripped from him. He fights against his madness, he becomes almost schizophrenic before he descends into fragmentary disjointed sanity while his language is reduced on occasion to foul and delusory phraseology. Nonetheless at times he does show moments of lucidity - an understanding of humanity and social justice - particularly in his deep concern for the Fool and Poor Tom.
EDGAR
It can be argued that Edgar only uses madness as a way of indulging those that surround him - Lear relates to his mad persona. This is illustrated by the fact that the King can find meaning within Edgar's madness. Edgar takes on a role (of Poor Tom) but his insanity is superficial, he has two selves (as Lear does). The madness Edgar uses is one of convenience: it is a disguise when his father has disowned him; and it is a way of reaching Lear's true nature. For the purpose of the play it also serves as a cocoon from which the butterfly of the heroic Edgar of the final scenes can emerge.
FOOL
To a certain extent the Fool should be considered one of the saner characters within the play: he is compos mentis but by the traditions of the court is a comical loon. This gives him a great influence: he represents the wisdom in madness that becomes during the storm scenes the basis of the play's message and Lear's healing. He speaks in riddles that endorse sanity (Poor Tom does this too) and is very quick- witted. The Fool is fully aware of the events that surround him and continually tries to stress the mistake that Lear has made with his daughters. His exit from the play is well timed and oft discussed: just as Lear falls into the hands of those who truly care about him his Fool does not appear again. Where we might ask does the Fool go? He disappears completely and is unnoticed. He is like the plane that takes a glider into the air only to leave it to its own journey in servitude to the whims of the air itself and therefore "nature". The Fool leaves Lear to his fate and is no longer required as a conscience for his master.
ABSENCE OF REASON
There is a great deal of this within the play. There are the most obvious examples such as Lear's behaviour towards his daughters but there is also a more subtle variety. For example Kent remaining with Lear even when the Fool warns him it is not safe - he uses the image of a wheel running down a hill, knocking over those who get in its way. Gloucester shows no reason in his belief in Edgar's trick: he is punished for this through his misery and blindness rather than madness. Cordelia also shows a remarkable lack of practicality and thus absence of reason. She is not reasonable but she is "true", and it is the very practicality of the other sisters that fires their greed and makes them the villains they are. Absence of reason creates the dilemmas of the play but also its solution in the healing madness of the storm scenes.
MEGALOMANIA
As a couple Cornwall and Regan are hugely power hungry. She encourages him to take out Gloucester's eyes and together they devise pointless humiliation and pain for both Gloucester and Kent - they are almost perverse. In killing her sister and arranging for the death of her husband Goneril proves what little regard she has for humanity. Edmund is an opportunist: he arranges Cordelia's death, leaves his father to be punished and discredits his brother. All these characters are driven by ambition and are to a large extent choked by it. They are unbalanced and obsessive. They have little or no compassion and no respect for the family unit.
Ideology
It is questionable as to whether or not there is a pervading ideology within the play.
SELF
This is the only dependable force within the play. Gloucester is failed by a superstitious dependence rather than a belief in self-knowledge. Lear by a need for loyalty, love and lip-service. Good forces such as Cordelia and Kent are also undermined when they act for others rather than the self. The Fool preserves himself when he perceives when he is no longer useful and leaves. Edmund who is the ultimate self- server actually achieves the most within the play - he resorts to other systems of interpretation such as fortune when he dies. Regan, Goneril and Cornwall all prosper in acting for selves but are corrupted by a desire to turn in on each other (i.e. in wanting Edmund.)
JUSTICE
There is no moral system or reliable social system within the play - it is realistically erratic. For Gloucester there is an inverted justice: his eyes are pulled out for disobedience whereas in reality it was a punishment for lust and infidelity (Edmund is an illegitimate son). The characters suffer according to their capacity for suffering as opposed to what they deserve.
POLITICAL
Lear mixes up various systems, demanding filial love in court situation. He wants truth in lip-service. He does not have clearly delineated property to give away. He gives away the crown and property yet at the same time expects the respect due to a king. Edmund has his own political agenda. Characters such as Regan, Goneril and Cornwall represent a new regime which is traditional whilst simultaneously self-seeking. Within the play there is no real King, no court and no formal justice. Furthermore the ending is wholly dissolute with no promising ideology emerging.
REDEMPTION
There is no promise for a future court or family reunion. We are left with the futility of Cordelia's death and Edmund's sudden integrity and understanding come too late to both Lear and Gloucester. Only the heroism of the pure-hearted Edgar and the possibility for redemption of the soul are heartening. However, we must not forget that we refer to earthly hope. Lear, Gloucester and Edmund have all redeemed themselves in the sight of a Christian god at least and their deaths are less tragic than Macbeth's, Othello's and Coriolanus's because they are complete: all is understood and self-knowledge heals them.
FORTUNE
She seems predictable towards Edgar, Kent, the Fool and Edmund at his death ("The wheel has turned full circle"). When the Fool calls her an "arrant whore" in implies that it is totally random. There are images of Fortune's wheel - Edgar thinks that in being Tom and placing himself at the very bottom of the wheel he is protecting himself as his situation will not be able to get any worse.
The Storm
Different characters interpret this differently at different times. There is the idea that it is linked with pleas to the gods and therefore invoked by Lear as an illustration of the power of the gods. Its personification ties up with the identification of Lear with the gods and their anger.
It can also be linked with the great flood in The Bible: Lear believes that it will cleanse the world of all the wrong doers and their corruption. It seems to be a reflection of the state of Lear's mind ("I will not weep") and of the natural elements. It is also a reflection of the turmoil and confusion within the society which is the macrocosm it reflects as opposed to the microcosm of Lear's mind.
It is also a very strong dramatic device which enables Shakespeare to show the extent to which Lear has been rejected. It dramatises the extent of hostility of the whole world towards Lear. Furthermore violence, tension and increased pace are added on a dramatic level.
The storm also makes Lear more aware of the suffering of others. He realises that he is not the only one to endure difficulties and thus it makes him think about the nature of necessity. He recognises his Fool's weakness before he sees his own. It dominates so greatly that it puts everything else in perspective: it acts as leveller.