Exploring Themes of Responsibility and Fate in Shakespeare's King Lear

This essay delves into William Shakespeare's King Lear, examining the factors that determine a person's fate. It analyzes the interplay of foolishness and morality, highlighting how poor decisions, as exemplified by King Lear's division of his kingdom, can lead to tragic consequences. The essay also explores the impact of family problems, using Gloucester's plight and the treachery of Lear's daughters as examples. Furthermore, it discusses the theme of justice, noting its absence in the play and how characters' actions often result in disproportionate punishments. Ultimately, the essay argues that a combination of flawed judgment, familial strife, and the pursuit of justice shapes the characters' destinies in King Lear, revealing Shakespeare's commentary on power, decision-making, and human nature.

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Who or what ultimately most responsible for what happens in a person's life?
King Lear is believed to be one of the famous tragedies of William Shakespeare’s. The play was
written in 1606 and it's all about the legend Leir of Britain. The overall picture revealed by the
play is how the main character tried to split his kingdom into different portions for his daughters
based on declarations of their love (Bennett, 89). The king wanted to retire from the leadership
and he decided to divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters. Through flattery and praise,
the king gives the largest portion to the daughter whom he loves most. AL the three daughters
use their languages to convince the king. Regan falsely tried to convince the king and she gets a
large share. On another hand, Cordelia truly loves his father and she is not in the position to
convince his father since she is sure of the love she has to his father, unlike other daughters.
Cordelia fails to claim a share and Lear is infuriated and disinherits and he decided to give entire
land to Regan and Goneril (Cavell, 71).
In order to explain the theme of the play on what is responsible for what happens in someone's
life, there are three aspects to appreciate in the play. The aspects which determine what is
responsible for someone's life are; the fools integrity exhibited in the story, the family problems
illustrated in the play and the issue of justice which shows the major theme many characters in
the play are struggling for (Desmet,123).

Generally, King Lear is the play that confuses the issue of foolishness and morality. The issue of
foolish is what determines what is responsible for someone's life. The theme tries to mingle with
the wisdom as shown in the play by different characters. The king is shown as the character that
appears to be foolish when formulating decisions. The king has plenty of money and he is not
giving apt decisions. For example, the king decides not to give a share of his land to her daughter
Cordelia who honestly loves him (Etzold, 67).The trait revealed by Shakespeare shows that
failure to use apt decision is one of the virtues that control different people and this is clearly
illustrated by King Lear. The issue of fool integrity is evident in the first four lines of the play.
The author shows how Lear finds the line that is between wisdom and foolishness. The entire
role played by the fool shows how someone becomes wise through use of humanity. Through the
aspect of humanity, the play tries to indicate the entire concept of how Lear transformed from a
man of pride to ignorance. The shakes sphere tried to reveal the moral foolishness and the issue
of ignorant decisions as revealed by Lear. The virtue of ignorance and poor decision is one of the
virtues which determine what is responsible for what happens in someone's life (Lehnhof, 187).
In addition, the Shake sphere has explained on how family problems can a key factor in
determining what happens in someone's life. In the play, one can trace the elderly nobleman who
is named as the Gloucester. The man experiences family problems and this is observed from his
illegitimate son known as the Edmund in the play. The son is the one who tricks his father by
telling him that Edgar his brother wants to kill him. Due to this flabbergasting life the despairing
Gloucester goes ahead and tries to commit suicide. Gloucester lucky enough didn't commit
suicide because his son Edgar saved him from the havoc (Lehnhof, 197). The play at this time
builds more tragedy since it's the same time Goneril tried to poison Regan for not speaking the
mere truth to his father. Lear is in danger and after a short time he passed away while his

daughter Cordelia is in prison. All the cases are happening through family problems which most
of the time determines what will happen to someone's life. Later on, Shake sphere indicates that
only Kent and Edgar who are left to care for the entire country after King died.
The other issue which shows what determines what happens in someone's life is the aspect of
justice. In the entire play, the concept of justice is the entire theme many characters are looking
for. Basically, the play indicates that there is a prominent moral lesson that every crime done by
someone in the world should have relevant punishment (Moore, 31).In reality, justice is missing
in the play and that's why many characters have punishments which surpass their crimes. The
knowledge and aptitude of accessing justice tend to affect one's life and ultimately makes people
to stay in better standards. For example, there are characters in the play such as the Edmund and
Regan who reveals the issue of justice and their punishments entirely coincide with their crime in
the play. Edgar reveals the concept of disloyalty and that's why he commits a lot of crimes at the
reign of Lear. Also, there is Edmund who is responsible for the death of Cordelia. Most of these
characters are the major results for the grief and injustice experienced in the play. When
someone behaves inhuman the issue of justice should prevail so as to control the crimes which
may be induced. From two daughters of Lear, there is the aspect of selfishness. The two
daughters are believed to take the advantage and they convinced their father thus securing big
portions of the share (Moore, 131).Through the issue of selfishness, the play depicts what
happens to someone's life. The two daughters, later on, suffered because of behaving maliciously
to their father. Different people will tend to forget good things being done to them by other
people. Both Regan and Goneril succeeded in deceiving their father and when the King needs
them, later on, they banish him from their home. Afterward, the aspect of justice prevails and the
death of the two daughters was as a result of their conniving behavior (Worthen, 73).

In conclusion, the play has clearly illustrated who or what ultimately most responsible for what
happens in a person's life. The topic has been clearly illustrated by the issue of justice which is
lacking in many characters, the problems being experienced in different families and the concept
of wisdom and foolishness (Young, 56).William Shakespeare’s ends the play by showing how
leaders can be paralyzed by powers thus not making apt decisions.

Works cited
Bennett, Susan. Performing Nostalgia: Shifting Shakespeare and the contemporary past.
Routledge, 2013.
Cavell, Stanley. Must we mean what we say?: A book of essays. Cambridge University Press,
2015.
Desmet, Christy. "Recognizing Shakespeare, Rethinking Fidelity: A Rhetoric and Ethics of
Appropriation." Shakespeare and the Ethics of Appropriation. Palgrave Macmillan, New York,
2014. 41-57.
Etzold, Veit. "Power plays: What Shakespeare can teach on leadership." Business Strategy Series
13.2 (2012): 63-69.
Lehnhof, Kent R. "Relation and Responsibility: A Levinasian Reading of King Lear." Modern
Philology111.3 (2014): 485-509.
Moore, Tiffany Ann Conroy. Kozintsev's Shakespeare Films: Russian Political Protest in Hamlet
and King Lear. McFarland, 2012.
Worthen, W. B. "The written troubles of the brain":" Sleep No More" and the Space of
Character." Theatre Journal (2012): 79-97.
Young, Bruce W. "Shakespearean Characters and Early Modern Subjectivity: The Case of King
Lear." Shakespeare's Sense of Character. Routledge, 2016. 51-68.