King Lear Justice and Fate

Definition of Justice The quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause. The moral principle determining just conduct

Justice in ‘King Lear’ King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and awful, seemingly meaningless disasters. The play’s succession of terrible events raises an obvious question for the characters—namely, whether there is any possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is fundamentally indifferent or even hostile to humankind. Different characters have differing views on the idea of justice.

Quotes Edgar, on the other hand, insists that “the gods are just,” believing that individuals get what they deserve Act 5 Scene 3 Line 169

LEAR: Rumble thy bellyful. Spit, fire. spout, rain LEAR: Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, You owe me no subscription: then let fall Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man: But yet I call you servile ministers, That have with two pernicious daughters join'd Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul! Act 3 scene 2 line 14

EDMUND: ‘Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true; The wheel is come full circle: I am here.’ Act 5 Scene 3 line 12

Definition of Fate the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed. that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate

Fate: In the play ‘King Lear’, fate decides where people will go, how they live and how they die. In the play individuals believe that god or a higher power, controls the good and unfortunate events in their lives. Characters blame their misfortune and complicated lives on the gods. When characters are guided by someone in their life they feel more confident, knowing someone is watching them. In Act 2, Scene 4, the imagery of the wheel and its relationship to fate and destiny continues to be prevalent.

It is fate that brings the characters in this play to commit the acts and make the decisions that decide their destiny. In the play ‘King Lear’ fate plays a big role in all the lives of the characters. Fate makes Lear, a mad man which causes him to lose sight of what is real and what is fake in the world. It was fate that made Edmund the evil illegitimate son and Edgar the good legitimate son. Its was fate that brought them together in the end to fight the battle of good vs evil. Each character contributed the events in their lives to the gods and the fate that was decided for them.

Quotes: The audience is first exposed to Lear speaking to the gods at the beginning of the play: ‘For, by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate, and the night; By all the operation of the orbs From whom we do exist, and cease to be.’ Act 1 scene 1 line 112

Lear: ‘No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison: We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage: When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too, Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take upon's the mystery of things, As if we were God's spies: and we'll wear out, In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebb and flow by the moon.’ Act 5 scene 3 line 9-20

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