Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" puts across an episode involving a king, his three daughters, and various important members of their kingdom as they come across events that put their humanity to test and that provide each of them with circumstances where they have to demonstrate their ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The play presents audiences with cruelty, suffering and the general feeling that divine powers are uninterested in the well-being of people. One of the principal elements in the play is related to morality and to whether it can be considered to exist in a world where evil and righteous people are provided with a similar treatment. The theme of justice dominates the play and influences audiences in acknowledging the fact that people are mainly responsible for making the world a reasonable place.
Most readers of "King Lear" are likely to agree that the play exaggerates the concepts of brutality and pain with the purpose of presenting audiences with the fact that the world is not just. Many characters in the play are provided with the opportunity to do justice and are either unable to put it into practice or have difficulties as they take on moral attitudes. Similarly, other characters suffer greatly because they constantly come across conditions that emphasize the fact that it is impossible for society to be impartial.
Shakespeare wanted to introduce the concept of human frailty into this play in an attempt to have people realize that anyone is predisposed to employ unfair judgment, regardless of the respective person's character. While individuals are apparently to employ complex thinking in decision-making processes, it is very difficult for them to perform correct choices. Even if a person appears to differentiate himself or herself from the masses through the positive feelings that he or she puts across, he or she is not exempted from committing transgressions. Justice is generally absent from "King Lear," considering that while some characters receive correct punishments for their crimes, other are provided with harsh treatments in spite of the fact that their actions did not have a particularly negative effect on their foes.
It is very probable that Shakespeare concentrated on thinking contemporary to him at the time when he wrote "King Lear," as he knew that audiences would have to identify with character in the play in order to gain a better understanding of it. Religion was especially important in the 17th century, thus meaning that people would have less trouble comprehending the message that a play was going to convey as long as it addressed a religious topic. Religious leaders promoted the belief that people who commit evil acts are punished by a divine authority. As a result, it is very probable that people living contemporary to Shakespeare believed that "King Lear" would end with evil characters being punished for their sins and with good prevailing. However, the matter is divisive, as it is difficult to determine whether good actually triumphs over evil at the end of the play, considering that many good characters are punished throughout the play and receive little to no compensation for their suffering. It would be absurd for someone to consider that good triumphed over evil provided that it only did so after great sacrifices. From Shakespeare's opinion, there are a lot of intervening factors influencing the way that justice is delivered, as it is impossible for it to be implemented correctly for all individuals.
At the time when good initially triumphs, audiences see King Lear as he reunites with his daughter and as they both come to control an impressive army that they can use against Edmund's men. This makes it possible for people to consider that good is always more powerful than evil. Conversely, the future of Britain is...
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