An Analysis Of Divine Justice In King Lear

An Analysis of Divine Justice in King Lear: What the Character’s Deaths revealed about Justice

In the period that King Lear was written, the concept of Divine Justice was a source of heated political debate. Blurred lines existed between church and government and political and religious power. Religious based laws were prominent in the government system. The intertwining of government and religion caused society to question who, or what truly held power. (Heinemann, 2008) The concept of Divine Justice suggested that a greater being held the master plan and determines a person’s fate based on an analysis of their life actions. If Divine Justice was the true power logic would suggest that evil characters would receive all punishments or deaths. However, King Lear dispelled that thought showing that the good characters are often punished and killed alongside their evil

counterparts.

There is an aspect of action and punishment within the plot of King Lear. Characters who look for external control may attribute their punishment to the work of Divine Justice. The tragic fates of the “just” characters in King Lear show that fatal power comes from human choice, not Divine Justice.

In King Lear, Gloucester internally struggles between his legitimate son, Edgar, and his illegitimate son, Edmund. He is unable to appropriately place trust in his sons and this leads to Gloucester’s punishments. Gloucester banishes Edgar despite that Edgar remained loyal to his father. Shortly after Edgar’s banishment, Cornwall blinds Gloucester while revealing to him that Edmund

actually the son who betrayed him. The blinding of Gloucester serves as punishment for his infidelity that led to Edmund’s birth. If natural justice was truly in the hands of Divine Justice Gloucester’s blinding would be the end of his suffering. However, Gloucester’s blinding was also his moral suffering for his misplaced trust in Edmund. It is at this point that Gloucester believes he is able to control his fate since he has both reconciled the mistreating of his sons and having an affair. Gloucester claims that “As flies to wanton boys are we to th’gods;/ They kill us for their sport”. (4.1.37-38) He believes that the natural world does not follow the period’s preconceived ideas of Natural Justice. His punishments which are never-ending and excessively harsh while his treasonous son, Edmund, continues life without any repercussions. This new-found realization leads to his attempted suicide. Before “jumping”, Gloucester makes a claim that his death will be just if there are gods. While Gloucester has determined that the gods’ actions do not follow natural justice, he does not abandon faith in his gods. His attempt to commit suicide is his way of trying to avoid future conflicts. Gloucester believes future conflicts are inevitable because he cannot leave a cycle of suffering. His suicide is unsuccessful and Edgar cares for him from this point until his death. Gloucester’s actual death is a result of shock after he finds that his banished son, Edgar, was the man who had cared for him. Ironically, this unexpected death occurs shortly after Gloucester begins to contemplate suicide again. Upon hearing the news that Lear’s troops have fallen Gloucester calls to the gods to finally end his suffering. Edgar, upon seeing the death of his father, believes that is father’s and brother’s death are just since “The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices/ Make instruments to plague us./ The dark and vicious place where thee he got/ Cost him his eyes”. (5.3.170-174) Though this reflects Edgar’s belief that human punishment for justice is under the gods’ control, it is based on his assumption that Gloucester’s punishment is because of his treason and fathering of a wicked child. However, Gloucester earlier receives proper punishment for both his treason and affair. The actual death of Gloucester, and his several attempted suicides highlight the fact that his continued misfortunes were a result of his own actions and power. He chose and affair, he chose to attempt suicide and he chose to place his trust in Edmund rather than Edgar. Though he says that the gods do not follow natural justice he continues to call on them for approval and relief. The constant call to an external power is the root of Gloucester’s suffering. The fatal flaw of many characters, including Gloucester, is that they lack to “judge for themselves of matters usually considered ‘mysteries of state’”. (Heinemann, 2008) Gloucester does not attempt to reconcile his actions and thus continues to suffer through the poor choices he has made in life.
Lear’s suffering stems from his “rash haste, his violent impetuosity, (and) his blindness to everything but the dictates of his passions”. (Hazlitt, 2008) He treated his daughters unjustly in attempts to reach success and power. He is abandoned and left to die because of his actions of hatred towards his daughters. Turned away by his daughters, Lear calls to the gods to fix his problems and cast punishment on them. “O heavens,/ If you do love old men, if your sweet sway/ Show obedience, if you yourselves are old,/ Make it your cause. Send down, and take my part”. (2.4.185-188) It is at this point that Lear places his faith in the natural forces rather than taking responsibility for his own actions. This choice to turn to Divine Justice leads to an irreversible course of actions which caused betrayal within Lear’s family. This human choice ultimately causes his and his daughter’s death. Rather than punishment being cast on his daughters, as Lear would hope, a massive storm occurs with Lear in its midst. Lear elects to stay in the storm and “does not merely observe that the storm mirrors his own turmoil; on the contrary, he calls upon the storm to reflect it”. (Lawrence, 2005) The storm serves as a pivotal point in which Lear begins his path of redemption for his unjust actions. He becomes aware that his rashness and blindness to everything, other that his personal pursuits, have placed him in this situation. At this point, Lear begins to work on acting more refined and just to those around him. He particularly focuses on his loyal daughter, Cordelia. After Lear has reconciled with Cordelia and those in his court, he meets his death. His death seems particularly painful as he dies of a broken heart from the image of his daughter’s corpse. Divine Justice would suggest that his suffering would end after his journey in the storm and his attempts to reach out to the people around him. However, after Lear’s realization, he is still treated poorly and ultimately has to face the dead body of his most loved daughter. This excessive punishment points to the idea that social and natural justice are non-existent. Instead, suffering is the result of “human conflicts, not ordained as fate”, and that a person’s actions and choices are the driving force in fate. (Heinemann, 2008)
The lack of Divine Justice is most evident the death of Cordelia. Her death is a direct reflection of the “horror of a society divided between extremes of…the powerful and the powerless…and the impossibility of real justice and security in such a world”. (Heinemann, 2008) Cordelia remained loyal to her father despite his brutish acts against her and the king of France. She is hanged in prison by Edmund because of her loyalty to Lear. Cordelia in no way acted unjustly and did not “parish in a just cause, contrary to the natural ideas of justice”. (Lawrence, 2005) Albany furthers the tragedy with a call for “the gods (to) defend her!-Bear him hence a while”. (5.3.256) Immediately after the call to the gods, Lear enters carrying the body of Cordelia. This external call to the gods is immediately met with the confirmation that the gods hold no power. Cordelia’s death is the cause of human choice. She chose to stay loyal to Lear and Lear did not choose to reconcile with his daughters. These choices, while having good intentions, show indefinitely that there is no Divine Justice presiding over human action.
Goneril, Lear’s traitorous daughter, serves as an example of a character who assumes responsibility for their death. She never called to an external power and “say if I do, the laws are mine, not thine./ Who can arraign me for’t?”. (5.3.158-159) Goneril recognized that her feelings and punishments were the results of the choices she made throughout her life. This self-assumed responsibility makes Goneril able to commit suicide. “For every other character, death seems strangely unattainable. Most die, but not if they’re trying”. (Lawrence, 2005) The successful control over her own death shows that Divine Justice is a human construct devised to give comfort to those who do not assume responsibility for their actions.
Throughout King Lear, there is a constant “tug of war of elements of our being and faith”. (Hazlitt, 2008) The calls to a higher power by Lear and Gloucester serve to show that faith reduces the perception of human control and power since there is a lack of personal accountability for actions committed. Divine Justice causes humans to attribute their misfortunes to judgments made on them by gods for their improper actions. By partaking in this external power they give their power to the gods. This construct makes it easier to say that suffering is caused by gods rather than by the result of one’s choice. King Lear showed the success of the wicked characters in either avoiding death or receiving death at the time and manner in which they wish. Despite their life actions, the success of the evil characters with the continued misfortunes of the good characters does not follow the principle of Divine Justice. There is no external power in King Lear which maintains the balance of right and wrong. Rather, justice is executed through the human judgment of right versus wrong with perceived injustice persecuted. The play King Lear could have only concluded justly if all characters would have been just in their actions.