The play King Lear uses a combination that combines irony, reversal in fortune and circumstance, and paradox to convey its themes and message. It also highlights the absurdity of human existence. This technique is very effective, as it shows the fickleness of the events. It depends on whether you believe that gods exist. If they do, then Gloucester’s lines “Like insects to lusty boys are we,/They kill us for sport” are true. And if this is the case, it reduces the grimness of the end result because at least there’s some sense of meaning in events. Many characters, including Edmund, do not believe that the gods exist. They see Gloucester’s faith as weak and a reason to not be able to trust in them.
It is a wonderful evasion by the whoremaster to blame a star for his goatish disposition.
If you believe this, and it’s a convincing argument, then the punishment for mankind is severe. Lear’s tirade in Act IV Scene vi against sex is true if there are no gods to guide events. Lear claims that it’s not the adultery but the act itself that’s the problem. “Gloucester’s Bastard Son / Was Kinder to His Father Than My Daughters / Got Between the Lawful Sheets” (lines 53-55). The very act of sexual activity is bad because it ensures the continuation and evil nature of humanity. The act of procreation perpetuates the futility of human life.
This is supported by Edgar’s line, “The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices / Make instruments to plague us” (V.iii.170-1). Edgar’s statement, “The Gods are Just, and our Pleasant Vices Make Instruments to Plague Us” (V.iii.170-1), supports this view. This line can be interpreted as meaning that “just” means not interfering. Our suffering is solely due to human sins. This view is similar to the second: the belief that a god has ultimate control of events allows us to excuse the actions of an evil species. This willingness to accept the play’s events as fated or predetermined is what allows so many atrocities. This is the only time that anyone has ever said, “stop”. It is the first time anyone has stood up and said “stop” before.
The power of any play depends on the answer to this question. The play is a world without gods, and I think that the irony, reversal and fortune of situations and paradoxes are more powerful because they are the result of human action. The irony is often partially the fault of those who are ironic, and paradoxes reveal the true nature of existence. Reversals also result from human actions. There is irony in the play whenever characters ask the gods for help. In reality, their prayers are not answered. The best example is the last scene in which Albany says to Cordelia “The gods protect her!”. However, the stage directions that follow read “Reenter Lear and Cordelia dead, in his arms.” The gods are not defending her at all! This is the most depressing moment of the play and of all literature. Not least due to the irony.
Irony is revealed in the transformation of Lear into a man of wisdom, and Gloucester to a “foolish” old fool. It is ironic that, by the time Lear and Gloucester have gained their insight, neither of them can use it to change the outcome. Irony has a paradox at its core: power is only useful if one can use it with clarity and without corruption. However, power itself clouds and corrupts the ability to do so. Lear can only gain insight after he’s been “unaccommodated”, but he still cannot make good use of it. Gloucester “sees” only after having his eyeballs removed.
This ironic discord between insight, power and the fool is once again shown in Kent and the Fool. Both are highly intelligent and shrewd yet cannot use their intelligence because they do not have power. Lear gives the fool sole authority to correct him when he’s wrong. Lear is never able to listen to the advice of his fool because he’s a jokester. Lear has a special bond with his fool. However, he is not able to help him.
Kent is also a courageous, honorable, and righteous man who loves his king unconditionally. However, Lear is not a true listener to Kent because of anger, wounded pride, or because he has a servant’s heart. Kent is unable to make Lear see, even after he puts himself in the stocks in order to expose Lear’s daughters. He never reconciles with Lear as he dies without realising that Kent had taken on the persona of Caius and was so dedicated and “good”. Lear’s confusion about Caius (V.iii.285) adds to Kent’s tragedy, but also that of Lear. Kent is the only one to act in the play. He only talks to Cordelia. She would not be in the kingdom otherwise. The roles of both the fool and Kent are therefore essentially unfulfilled. Kent and fool both disappear after their services are no long needed. Kent does not have anything to live for after Lear’s death, as Lear has no need for the fool’s commentary.
Lear dies tragically without ever having been able to resolve this. He wonders why all this suffering and waste has occurred, but dies without finding an answer. The final irony is that all the suffering was for nothing. It’s just suffering for its own sake. The series of fortune reversals that occur in the final scene make this even worse. Edmund has recanted his words and Cordelia may still be saved after Edgar kills Lear. Lear’s entry with Cordelia in his “dead arms” immediately destroys any hope of a happy ending and highlights the horrifying injustice of the play. Edmund is not reversing his decision, but rather he remains true to his destructive nature. This was done to buy time for him to carry out the order to kill Cordelia. Edgar and Albany were convinced by Edgar’s act. Edgar also gave two very long speeches that are unnecessary and complicated. We already know the story because it was played on stage. Edmund has done his job. Edgar and Albany have forgotten about Lear’s and Cordelia’s story completely, until Kent reminded them. Albany then says, “Great! We forgot!”.
Lear’s painful reminder that there’s been no justice, that “[his] [poor fool] is hanging!” amplifies the tragedy by removing hope. Lear laments the fickleness of fate and asks, “Why should Cordelia die, when a horse, dog or rat can live?/And thou have no breath?”. However, the absence of any gods in the play means that the blame is placed on the human characters. Lear, who divided the kingdom by banishing Cordelia, is partially responsible for her death. The suffering that Lear endures is, however, disproportionate to the amount of blame he bears. It is no surprise that he becomes a tragic character.
Regan says in Lear’s V.iii that “Jesters often prove profits”. Regan, for example, says that the injuries that men cause themselves must be their teachers. She believes that Lear can only find his self-knowledge by looking inside himself. Regan’s assertion is vilified later, but hearing it from her after she refuses to give Lear shelter and, according to her, sentences him to death in the heath, is uncomfortable. This is ironic, since the moral message is delivered the opposite way. It is not the first time this happens in the play. Goneril, in I.iv, says, “As old and reverend you should be wise.” Lear, of course, is not at all wise. The line’s purpose is to eject Lear from the castle. It’s a repeat of Goneril saying, “Old fools will be babes once again” (I.iii.19).
It seems paradoxical that Macbeth’s statement “better with the dead” (III.ii.21) is true. The play has been a dark one, and the only way to survive it would be to die. In this case, Lear’s death is less harsh than that of other characters, even though it was tragic. He died without finding a resolution to his confusion. The play shows the futility of life.
