King Lear The Great Chain Of Being

King Lear, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that was originally published in the year 1608. It begins with King Lear, the King of Britain, wanting to retire which resulted in dividing his kingdom according to who of his three daughters loves him most. Goneril and Regan, the two eldest daughters, wore masks preventing King Lear from seeing their evil intentions while Cordelia stays true to herself by being honest. Lear ended up banishing those who cared about him resulting in him going mad before dying. As the plot occurs, so does the subplot which pertains conflict between the Earl of Gloucester's sons, as Edmund tries to deceive his father into giving him his brothers inheritance. The consequence of the evil nature of Goneril and Regan were Gloucester going blind and the vast majority of the characters dying, leaving Edgar, Gloucester's legitimate son, to become the ruler of Britain. Various characters break the Great Chain of Being throughout the play which causes the tragedies to occur. The Great Chain of Being is a hierarchical order of domains, with God in the highest position. It is composed of various hierarchies including angels, humanity, beasts, plants and stones (Doede). The basis behind the Great Chain of Being is that when all of the chains are linked together, everything will be orderly and peaceful; therefore, suffering and distress enter when the chain is
God is at the top of the hierarchy and rules over all other creatures in the Great Chain. Lear breaks the chain of being by disregarding the Divine Right of Kings. Gonoril, Cordelia, and Reagan disobey their father. Edmund attempts to advance his position in the Chain and consequently is overcome by misfortune. On the whole, several servants defy the king. In short, King Lear teaches the audience that no matter how hard one tries, they will not be able to change the order of the