King Lear Redemption Essay

In the play King Lear, the idea of redemption is predominant throughout as we watch as the King moves from a state of moral blindness to one of clear vision. At the beginning of the play we see how ignorant he his towards how Goneril, Regan and Cordelia really think of him. As the play progresses however he begins to see and understand the truth. Lears childlike, immaturity that later turns to insanity is brought about by the other characters around him, and by the end of the play we see the aftermath of all the characters mistakes including Lear.

The fact that King Lear is a play of redemption where, the King is crazy, but moves to a state of clear vision is based heavily around the characters that mold him into the man he is. For example
In King Lear we see characters punished for human faults such as arrogance, ignorance and pride, these characters include Lear, and Goneril, however some characters have have done no such thing and yet are still punished, such as Cordelia. Cordelia's death in the play shows us as the audience how the world and how life isn’t fair. Lear's mistakes have horrific consequences that he, in the end has to answer for. But unintentionally, Cordelia has to answer for them also. Cordelia's death can been seen for punishment for Lear's mistakes. In the beginning of the play Lear shows Cordelia an extremely unreasonable punishment for disappointing him. In the process Goneril and Regan were put in control of Lear's kingdom. This foolish mistake means that as well as Lear suffering, Cordelia also suffers as a result, even though she was the only one who really loved Lear. “gentle and low an excellent thing in a woman”-Lear ( Act V, Scene III, Line 275)- These are Lear's words as he looks down upon Cordelia's dead body. He finally realizes that she was the one who loved him. After all the pain and suffering they have both endured Lear finally realizes and accepts the truth. In Natural Justice and King Lear by Paul M. Shupack, he highlights how audiences were left shocked with Cordelia's death because of it was unbelievable to take in the of all people, Cordelia, the daughter that had nothing but love for her father suffered and died for his mistakes. Paul M. Shupack states “The horror of Cordelia's death struck 18th century sensibilities as a violation of the naturally just moral order, much as the gratuitous pain the wasps caused violated that principle. Her death goes beyond tragedy because it is gratuitous. It denies the necessity of a just natural order.”- pg. 68. He tells us of the shock that audiences faced that a character such as Cordelia must suffer, especially