Lear makes several poor choices, most importantly in misjudging the sincerity of his daughters' words; but when he flees out into the open heath during a storm, his madness seems a painful and excessive punishment to witness. Parallel to Lear's punishment is that which Gloucester suffers. The plucking of Gloucester's eyes can be perceived as another instance in which divine justice is lacking. Gloucester has made several errors in judgment, as has Lear; but the brutal nature of Gloucester's blinding--the plucking out of his eyes and the crushing of them under Cornwall's boots--is surely in excess of any errors he might have made.
Both Lear and Gloucester endure terrible physical and mental suffering as punishment for their misjudgment, but before dying, both men are reunited with the child each earlier rejected. This resolution of the child-parent conflict, which earlier tore apart both families, may be seen as an element of divine justice, although it offers little gratification for the audience.