William Shakespeare s King Lear - 1852 Words

During the course of the semester, the class was assigned a large sum of works to read. These works varied between different time periods and writer style. Each book, had multiple themes to them, some had a little in common. The books, â€Å"King Lear† by William Shakespeare, â€Å"Oedipus The King† and â€Å"Antigone† both by Sophocles, have many themes throughout the books. While some themes are more prominent than others, it’s not difficult to find the other themes that linger within the texts. In â€Å"King Lear† the king, wants to divide his kingdom up between his three daughters; Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia Before dividing the land, he asks his daughters to profess their love to him. Although it would be wise to split it evenly between the three,†¦show more content†¦This theme shows up when in act four scene one, Gloucester muses, â€Å"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods†. This is a theme of justice because it is rea lized that humankind shouldn’t assume that the â€Å"natural† world works alongside with social or moral convenient notions of justice. Edgar, another character in the play, states that â€Å"the gods are just†, this lets us believe that individuals should and do get what they deserve. Although, by the end of the play, readers are left with an uncertainty. By the ending of the book, all the wicked die, taking the good to die with them, portrayed by the act of King Lear holding his youngest daughter’s, Cordelia, dead body. Although there is goodness throughout the play, there is also death, and this makes it difficult to tell which triumph ends. A second prominent theme is reconciliation. During the last act, darkness and unhappiness pervade in the play, leaving act five to be a tragic ending. Even though the darkness takes over in this act, it centers around the relationship between Lear and Cordelia. The self-sacrificing love that Cordelia has for Lear, without despising him for banishing her, she stays true to him from afar. She returns back to the kingdom with an army from a foreign country to help save Lear from his tormentors. By Lear recognizing the errors in his ways, by learning a cruel lesson, he eventually reunites with Cordelia and experiences her forgiving love. By Lear recognizing the error