Social injustices in King Lear

Authors Avatar

To what extent are the perceived injustices in Lear’s society the ultimate cause of tragedy?

To understand why tragedy was caused in ‘King Lear’ we must understand the root of the words ‘Social Injustices’ and how each character perceived them. ‘Social’ could be defined as an individual living in companionship with others or in a community rather than in isolation, and an ‘injustice’ could be defined as the rights of others being overlooked as they are treated unfairly and there is a violation of their rights and is a cause for their behaviour. Thus the social injustices in Lear’s society were the fuel for the tragic momentum and were met by the majority of characters in “King Lear”. These perceived ‘social injustices’ had led to the frustration and resentment characters bred. Lear created a society where the birth of a child and how it was conceived defined its social position, characters such as Edmond were branded as ‘bastards’ as they grew up feeling isolated and faced injustices society had condemned on them breeding frustration and resentment a cause for their behaviour and tragedy. Edmond’s status in society inevitably led him to resent the status that was awarded to him at birth, consequently the tragedy being heightened due to his undying enthusiasm to overturn the injustices that were casted upon him. The injustices in Lear’s society epitomized the frustration and resentment and drove the characters to take action into their own hands, leading the play to its tragic ending.  

Edmond had sought to overcome the ‘social injustices’ in Lear’s society as his obsession with being a bastard became the primary defence of his actions. His obsession is evident when in his soliloquy he says “why they brand us/ with ‘base’ with ‘baseness’? ‘bastardy’? ‘base, base’?”.  Edmond repeats both ‘base’ and ‘bastardy’ fourteen times, it is evident to the audience that he is obsessed with being a bastard and this ultimately defines his character, it is therefore unfair to judge him as he simply wants justice which does not make him evil on a causer of tragedy. His obvious obsession with being bastard catalyses his frustration with society as Harold Bloom (1) clearly says “Edmond paradoxically sees himself as over determined by his bastardy, even as he fiercely affirms his freedom”. Edmond’s mania with his bastardy could not be dissolved by only attaining freedom as Bloom supports the idea that Edmond will never be wholly satisfied, however Edmond indicates that he might when he says ‘I grow; I prosper’ representing his willingness to climb up the social hierarchy to achieve his goals of attaining status, uncontrollable power and wealth which to him is he birth-right. When he says ‘Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land’, he calls Edgar ‘legitimate’ and even though of the same blood he refers to himself as ‘illegitimate’ illuminating his endless hatred of his bastardy. Edmond grasping his goals would inevitably lead to the tragedy of ‘King Lear’ as the nobles/royalty at the top of the social hierarchy would have to defend their divine right. Edmonds illegitimacy deprived him of his father Gloucester’s inheritance and his position in the social hierarchy, he was placed just above the animals, and Edmond’s perceived this as unjust and the latter bred resentment thus leading Lear’s society being a cause of tragedy. Edmond says ‘If this letter speed/ and my invention thrive’ this depicts his intention to undo his perceived injustices, as his plan evolves throughout the ‘King Lear’ creating the pathway for tragedy. Shakespeare Illustrates Edmond as a character that is fuelled by the social injustices he faces and wishes to overturn. However Edmond’s personality slightly changes at the end of the play only when he is dying, he says ‘some good I mean to do’ showing that he is reproachful and wants to undo his doings through simple words like attempting to save Cordelia’s life, however he says ‘despite mine own nature’, Edmond doesn’t change his ‘nature’ he dies believing what he grew up believing, nevertheless, Edmond acceptance of his vile nature cause the audience to sympathise with him on a small-scale but our attitude towards him may be the same Bloom states that ‘Everyone either loves him or hates him too much’. This could also be a close reference to Goneril, Cordelia and Regan’s characters because Shakespeare over-dramatizes his female characters as well as his villain Edmond therefore Bloom is accurate as there is no cross-boundary to our feelings towards Edmond.  Edmond’s small shift of personality increases the tragedy in ‘King Lear’; however, Lear’s fixed society of inequality was the main reason that led to Edmond’s resentment and hatred that ultimately led to the tragedy of ‘King Lear’.

Join now!

Shakespeare’s brilliant sub-plot of Gloucester-Edgar, Lear-Cordelia illuminates how different characters accept social injustices, Bloom (1) also conjures the idea that only tragedy is amongst these four characters ‘yet there is tragedy, and only tragedy amongst them’, however Bloom neglects the idea that there is also tragedy amongst the villains of the play, as Edmond, Goneril and Regan ultimately face death. The tragedy of the villains is that they are entrapped by their perceived social injustices and their inability to cleanse themselves of it, affecting not only themselves, but those around them creating the pathway for tragedy. Gloucester and Lear’s ...

This is a preview of the whole essay