‘Let the great Gods,
That keep this dreadful pudder o’er our heads,
Find out their enemies now.’
All these quotes therefore demonstrate that King Lear is deliberately set in a pre-Christian era.
However, this is not conclusive evidence that can be used to define King Lear as a pagan play as there are also many echoes of the Old Testament tradition featured. One form of this is the repetition of reference and request to the gods as disciplinary beings. Critics have commented particularly on the similarity of Lear’s sufferings to those experienced by Job in the Bible. There are also some quotes that have biblical connotations such as Coredlia’s,
‘O dear father
It is thy business that I go about’.
There are other devices used in the play that may not have overt doctrinal messages but can be deduced as relating to the Bible. Such as the storm seeming somewhat apocalyptic and Lear wearing a crown of thorns and thus resembling Jesus.
Another theme which once explored can help with understanding the religious qualities of King Lear is that of divine justice. It is clear that sinning is punished in the play. Evil may triumph for a time and cause immense suffering but within itself it carries the seeds of its own destruction and therefore will eventually fail. This point is most obviously shown through the actions of the two sisters. Goneril and Regan use their wicked ways to gain power over the land and their father but in the end their intense suspicion of each other results their demise. Gloucester is another excellent example of this punishment for sin as Edgar uses in his conversation with the dying Edmund as an instance of God’s justice,
‘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’
This therefore highlights a Christian moralistic trend running through the play, as sinning is punished where no repentance is shown. However, there is one case which does not fit the pattern of suffering due to sinful behaviour; that of Cordelia. She endures much in the play, ranging from expulsion and rejection from her father to her own execution. She is portrayed as the purest character of all and is even given semi divine status when the Gentleman describes,
‘The holy water from her heavenly eyes’
Ironically, she makes the point that we should not expect the good to be rewarded and that often they suffer the worst,
‘We are not the first
Who, with best meaning, have incurr’d the worst’
The fact that her death is pointless leads us away from the assumption of the play being entirely Christian. Lear’s entrance with her lifeless body demonstrates that there is no plan of sanctions and rewards, whether divine or earthly. This irony is emphasised through his line,
‘Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all?’
Another character which has particular importance to the discussion of religious issues is Edgar. It is important to notice that when Edgar is forced to disguise himself in protection from his father, he throws himself into the deprivation of a Bedlam beggar rather than just lowering his rank to a servant, as Kent did. There are no definite explanations for this but one is that Shakespeare is portraying him as a Christ-like figure. He has various functions in the play, he undergoes unfair torment which in some ways can be seen as atoning for the sins of others, also supporting the assertion that redemption is achieved through suffering.. He is the inspiration for moral behaviour in his father and Lear, who both take pity on him and show this through acts of kindness. Perhaps the most significant role of Edgar, in terms of this discussion, is his trust in God and philosophy of endurance which encourages others to follow his example. Lear does this when he carries out his own order to,
‘Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel’
The fact that it is a embodiment of God who aids Lear with his redemption points towards the Christian doctrine but the fact that it is an entirely human occurrence counters this.
The context of this play is perhaps the key to understanding its religious significance. Early modern England was an extremely religious place. Whether Protestant or Catholic, Christianity was ultimately the doctrine which shaped the lives of Shakespeare’s audiences. Therefore, it is almost impossible to think that King Lear could be completely pagan and not abide by the basic rules of Christianity. It is also feasible that Shakespeare would not have realised the essentially Christian elements of his play as religion was ever-present and pervaded almost every aspect of life in Jacobean England. A plausible reason for Shakespeare setting the play in a pre-Christian time is in order to include things such as Gloucester’s attempted suicide and the implication of Kent’s without arousing shock and disapproval from the paying audience, as it was believed that such behaviour prevailed in this ‘unnatural’ era.
In conclusion, the view that King Lear is ‘a Christian play about a pagan world’ is entirely plausible. The characters openly speak to and appeal to non-Christian gods and they doubt divine justice, suggesting that, ‘They kill us for their sport.’ This therefore creates a pagan setting for the play. However, there are definite Christian ideas running throughout the play which manifest themselves mainly in Edgar and Lear. Therefore, there is an inclination to agree with J C Maxwell, as despite the setting of the King Lear being Christian, its morals and concepts of atonement and redemption, lean towards Christian theology.
