Wednesday, April 10, 2013
"Fortune . . . Turn Thy Wheel"
King Lear is a play in which many of the major characters undergo suffering -- everything from exile, imprisonment, madness, filial ingratitude, madness, mutilation, despair, to extreme physical deprivation. Yet , at the same time, many of these same characters have ideas about the purpose and limits of suffering. What are some of the those ideas? How are they related to the idea of a cosmic moral order, that idea that the world is just if we could only discover its deeper meaning? How is it related to the ideas about moral order expressed in other plays, such as Richard III or the Merchant of Venice? Do the events of the play endorse or undermine these ideas? What is this play telling us about suffering?
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It seems as if most, if not all, of the characters endure some type of suffering in this play. Lear loses his daughters to greed and mistrust, Gloucester is deceived by his own illegitimate son, and Kent is banished from the kingdom he has served for his entire life. But it seems that it is Gloucester who learns the most about their misfortune. After he is banished from the kingdom and having his eyes torn out, he somehow wanders into his son, Edgar, who he thinks is Poor Tom. Gloucester in the beginning of their interaction starts to comment on how he is at the gods will saying, "As to flies wanton boys are we to th' gods; / They kill us for sport," (4.I.41-42). Gloucester believes that his suffering is in the hands of the gods and that they like to play with the lives of mortals for fun. He does not believe that he is control. To Gloucester, there is no moral order or wheel of fortune. The gods choose what his life and all of his punishments will be. He continues to comment on the absurdity of his situation by saying, " 'Tis the time's plague when madmen lead the blind," (4.I.54). Gloucester does not believe that "karma" will come around to harm those that harmed him. He ultimately tells Edgar to bring him to the edge of a cliff and he will "repair the misery thou dost bear / With something rich about me. From that place / I shall need no leading," (4.I.86-88). Gloucester intends to commit suicide. In his self-believed last words he exclaims, "O you mighty Gods! / This world I do renounce, and in your sights / Shake patiently my great affliction off," (4.VI.44-46). He truly believes that this is the only way to make his life of suffering go away. He does not want to live on anymore in the world that abused him. There is no cosmic or moral order in regards to Gloucester. This play tells us that suffering is an inevitable part of life that one must learn to deal with it. If one doesn't, he or she will end up feeling hopeless and suicidal just like Gloucester. People must endure suffering in order to live and appreciate life.
ReplyDeleteBecause this play is classified as a tragedy, it is obvious that bad things and suffering will occur. In King Lear suffering is seen throughout the whole play, and the concepts of moral order and the wheel of fortune go hand in hand with suffering. There is one statement that can summarize all of these points; just when things get so bad, they can always get worse. This is scene many times throughout the play. Most of the characters experience this rollercoaster of suffering in which something bad happens which causes suffering, then the wheel of fortune turns and things start to look up and the moral order is restored; however the wheel takes another turn and things go bad again, even worse than the first time thus proving that things can and will be even worse. In Acts 1-3 many bad things happen for example, Cordelia, Kent, and Edgar are exiled, Lear is abandoned, Gloucester is blinded, and a servant dies. Every attempt to fix the bad things seems to fail; however, in Act 4, the wheel turns yet again. In Act 4 most of the bad things are cured as the wheel of fortune turns and the moral order is restored. For example, Cordelia returns and is reconciled with Lear, Lear is cured of his madness, Gloucester and Edgar are reunited and Gloucester is cured of his despair. Then just when the characters are in good places, Act 5 happens and the wheel turns for the worse yet again. In Act 5, the final act of the play, the worse happens; death. All the characters thought their previous suffering was bad, this is the part where it gets even worse, confirming that things will always get worse. Act 5 consists of Lear, Cordelia, Gloucester, Goneril, Regan, and Edmund die, and Kent basically dies. The only people that are left are Albany and Edgar. Overall this book has a lot about moral order being destroyed and restored, the wheel of fortune turning for good and bad, and suffering not having a limit.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that in "King Lear," the wheel of fortune actually does exist, with the result that, just as in "Richard III," the moral order ultimately triumphs. As we've noted, "Lear" has a pretty high death rate: out of twenty-three speaking characters, ten (counting the Fool) die or disappear entirely, all of them major characters. Strangely enough, however, those left at the end of the play, namely Kent, Albany, and Edgar, are all "good" characters - each one supports Lear and the "old order" in the end. Take, for example Albany: although he is married to Goneril, he stands up to her, decrying the way she treats her father:
ReplyDeleteWhat have you done?
Tigers, not daughters, what have you performed?
A father, and a gracious aged man..
If that the heavens do not their visible spirits
Send quickly down to tame these vile offenses,
It will come:
Humanity must perforce prey on itself,
Like monsters of the deep (4.2.48-50, 57-61)
Albany, clearly, is on the side of Lear. Interestingly, he also believes in a moral order, enforced by the gods. Likewise, Edgar and Kent are also on the side of Lear: Kent stays with Lear to fulfill his duty, while Edgar is, from the very beginning of the play, the "good" son. Their presence at the end of the play, and the absence of all the "bad" characters, indicates that the moral order is back on track, preserved through them, just like Richmond at the end of "Richard III." Albany's words confirm this:
All friends shall taste
The wages of their virtue, and all foes
The cup of their deserving. (5.3.366-8)
Although Albany's words are meant to be about Lear's (supposed) return to the throne, they could apply equally well to his own upcoming reign. Nonetheless, the intent is obvious: the moral order has been restored, and the guilty shall be punished while the good are rewarded.
One problem does exist with this view: throughout the play, characters, expecting that they have reached the bottom, suddenly find that things can get worse, making them question the existence of a wheel of fortune and divine justice. As Edgar complains, "The worst is not / So long as we can say 'This is the worst'" (4.1.30-1). However, perhaps the wheel of fortune does still exist: it is simply bigger than most characters expect. As seen from the end of the play, ultimately, wrongs are righted; as Edmund notes once Edgar reveals himself, "The wheel is come full circle" (5.3.209). Edmund is where he began: down on the ground and despised by almost everyone. Based on this, I would argue that the wheel of fortune does exist; again, it is simply bigger than most characters expect it to be.