One of these is Edmunds revenge scheme of him punishing his father and brother of living the life that he should of. Another is the plan by Regan and Goneril of ruling the land and killing their father and out casting their sister Cordelia in the process but ended up killing each other as well in the play something of which they did not foreseen.
This does not show that Lear himself is a bleak and cruel person even if in the play ‘King Lear’, it clearly shows that Regan and Goneril are corrupted by power and greed.
Lear seems slightly arrogant and a proud king, but would never show the type of corruption Regan and Goneril have been introduced to.
In the Elizabethan and Jacobean period the English court was the center for the wealthier citizens, this world was cruel and bleak as it had sexual corruption and financial corruption within the courts. This is an example of the world that King Lear had lived in and despite the corruption it did not affect him as much as you would of expected. This point is mentioned in ‘King Lear’ when Lear exclaims
‘Robes and furred gowns hide all.’ King Lear
There are incidents at the end of the play, which look cruel and bleak, these incidents results in the death of Lear and Cordelia who are fighting for the right cause but get massacred by Regan and Goneril. Consumed by power and the lust of Edmund both of the sisters kill each other, as they are both selfish and want more power than the other of ruling the country.
This leaves Edmund unsuspectingly the King, here Edmund is showing the world that an illegitimate child of Gloucester has become king of a country and has more power than anyone as being known as the king is as being known as god himself in person.
In conclusion after discussing the points of how far does Lear present us with a bleak and cruel world, it shows with the country in control by Edmund it shows a far worse scenario than ever possibly imagined when the country was ruled by Regan and Goneril showing a very bleak and cruel world for the future.
