King Lear-Justice

Throughout the play characters judge and put each other on trial: Gloucester and Lear both misjudge their children It is in fact the children who seem to possess better judgement: Goneril and Regan are able, through good judgement, to perform in the ‘love-test’ Edmund is able to take in his more gullible relatives

The ‘Trials’ The trials that occur in the play are flawed. The ‘love-test’ is ill-conceived and it’s consequences are disastrous The trial of Kent in Act II is just an excuse for Cornwall and Regan to exercise their power

Lear’s ‘mock’ trial Lear’s ‘mock’ trial is a parody of the ‘love-test’. It serves to highlight the absurdity of Lear’s actions in Act I It is presided over by a lunatic Attended by a fake madmen and a court jester The defendant is a stool

Poetic Justice There are many examples of natural or poetic justice in the play: Edgar takes the law into his own hands when he challenges Edmund Cornwall is killed by his own servant Goneril and Regan are destroyed by their jealous lust

Social Justice The play is concerned also with social justice: Gloucester calls on the heavens to distribute wealth more evenly Lear considers the lives of the ‘Poor naked wretches’ he paid so little attention to In Act IV Lear rages against corrupt members of the judiciary He sneers at himself and all those who presume rule and judge others when he says, ‘a dog’s obeyed in office’

Do Gloucester and Lear deserve to die Do Gloucester and Lear deserve to die? There is a ‘harsh’ kind of justice at work here: “The dark and vicious place where thee he got/Cost him his eyes” (Edgar V3) Gloucester pays heavily for his sins (although some Elizabethans believed that blinding was the correct punishment for adultery) Lear also pays for sins. Cordelia is taken from him immediately after he recognises her merits