Discuss the theme of justice in the play

Categories: Justice

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We may feel that the outcome of King Lear is not entirely just, but it is in ways appropriate. All those who have sinned have certainly been punished.

The play starts from the first scene with distributive justice. Originally it should have been distributive justice equally, as Lear announces that he has divided his kingdom in three and intends to distribute it among his daughters. But it ends up to be a justice based on merit as the daughter who says will love him most will get the greatest share.

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King Lear divides his kingdom where natural affection deserves it most and one can see this from the phrase, 'Which of you shall we say doth love us most?' Lear is supposed to be just but abuses of his justice as he banishes Cordelia and Kent as he fails to recognise Cordelia's and Kent's honesty and due to his misjudgement he loses power as has to face the ingratitude of his daughters.

In Act four scene six, when Lear is in his madness, he is obsessed with social and moral justice. King Lear sees in his madness. He shows that the magistrate himself can be a thief. He is against social and sexual hypocrites and very often he says that people who judge are criminal themselves. Basically he is talking on the corruption of law and of how normally justice is unfair to people who cannot fight it. Lear wants to defend the poor and give them power seen for instance when he slanders rich sinners who are able to break the 'strong lance of justice' while beggars cannot escape punishment for their crimes, because due to a lack of money cannot bribe the authorities.

Justice comes from actions and decisions being balanced, in that when someone does a good thing, they are rewarded, and when they do something bad, they are punished. It is the gods' primary role to hand out justice and make sure everybody is treated fairly. This theme appears immediately in the Odyssey, as Zeus is considering the story of Aegisthus, who courted Agamemnon's wife and then killed Agamemnon. Aegisthus was killed for this treacherous act. This story of justice shows us instantly that the Odyssey will be strongly structured around it. "May all who act as he did share his fate!

" says Athene. This shows how openly the gods in the Odyssey despised the works of those who went against the will of the gods. Both Nestor and Menelaus repeat this story of Aegisthus, and as god fearing men, they know how important it is to stay on their right side because they know what happens as a result of an imbalance in terms of justice. The Aeneid opens however and we're told that the poem is based on the founding of Rome and the main string of 'justice' seems to be coming from one scorned goddess, who simply doesn't want her favourite city to be destroyed.

Lear shows that authority is worth nothing, he attacks the hypocrisy of the law, as he points out that only the poor get punished. Lears seems that he has reached radical conclusions about human justice. When Gloucester suffers, he too is preoccupied by the thoughts of justice. He addresses the rich man who has too much and 'will not see/ because he does not feel', and wishes that he will have the eyes opened by the Gods. He addresses the heavens to let the people who have too much, feel the necessity. Gloucester is prepared to give money to poor Tom.

When Lear puts up a mock trial, he puts himself as a judge as there is the notion of the daughters getting what they deserve. King Lear in his madness, still wants a sense of order. He wants justice. Lear is lost as he starts to talk to himself and starts having hallucinations. He imagines a joint-stool is Goneril and accuses 'her' of kicking him. In his madness Lear thinks his eldest daughter has escaped from the 'courtroom' and screams for her to be apprehended. The sense of justice is seen when Lear tries to find out why Regan has such a cruel heart.

The balance she tries to restore is simply an act of revenge rather than actual justice, and rather than convincing the other gods it's the right thing to do, she simply bribes Aeolus. Justice is however looked upon a little while later as Venus goes to Jupiter and asks why the Trojans are being made to suffer after doing nothing wrong. Jupiter tells her not to fear as justice will be done and Rome will be founded. Such behaviour seems to recur constantly throughout the Aeneid. For example, in book 8 we learn of the betrayal that a Tuscan tribe suffered at the hands of Mezentius, and in book 9 he continues his evil ways killing Trojans.

The Gods have decided to stay out of the battle and so the following events have nothing to do with the justice that is familiar in epic poems. Both Mezentius and his son Lausus are killed, by Aeneid. I see these deaths as acts of revenge rather than justice, although Lausus' death is more deserving. The death of his son is Mezentius' true punishment. I see these deaths as acts of revenge because Mezentius tried to kill Aeneid, as well as all the other innocent people and the treachery he brought upon the aforementioned Tuscan tribe, and so Aeneas kills them.

The gods are just with Goneril and Regan as they deceive their father and treat him cruelly and finally they get what they deserve . Goneril and Regan are the personification of hypocrisy. Goneril exaggerates, by trying to deceive her father and say that her love is inadequate compared to his. The phrase 'A love that makes breath poor and speech unable' prove it. She tries to make her love seem priceless. On the other hand, Regan is no less. Regan tells her father that her own pleasure lies solely in the enjoyment of his love. The sister's love is a means to an end. The ingratitude of Goneril and Regan make Lear go mad. Read also dmund and Edgar essay

Goneril tells her steward Oswald and his servants to treat the king with the 'weary negligence'. Goneril is sick and tired of her father as she accuses him that due to his character the knights are behaving in an intolerable way, and suggests that disciplinary measures have to be taken. She shows no respect to his father addressing him as 'old'. Lear is shocked when he finds that Regan sides with her sister as she tells him that if Goneril checks his knights and she has good reasons. Regan tells Lear to follow Goneril with half of his knights, to beg her pardon and then he can stay in her house. From all those inflated speeches, Lear expected kindness and respect but Regan does not want, not even the fifty knights. Goneril and Regan do a lot of cruel deeds and at the end justice will be done.

Cornwall and Regan take out their horrible revenge on Gloucester as his eyes are plcked out. Regan turns out to be a sadist. The phrase said by Regan to Gloucester, 'To hose hands/ You have sent the lunatic king:' show the way Regan reciprocates her love towards her father, as she shows no sympathy whatsoever. We understand the sister's true nature when Regan says that Gloucester should be hanged immediately, while Goneril prefers a more malicious form of torture - the plucking out of his eyes. Edmund is an instrument of retributive justice. He brings justice on Goneril and Regan and divine retribution on himself. Edmund brings about a rift between the two sisters as they are both in love with him and this element of jealousy is destructive for both. Goneril is suspicious of her sister and she is concerned that Regan will seek to marry Edmund. We learn that Goneril poisoned Regan, who complains that feels unwell. Regan eventually dies and Goneril kills herself.

The fact that the innocent Lausus dies shows that the 'justice' portrayed in the Aeneid is much more malicious, and it doesn't just affect the culprit. There's also the case of the unfortunate people in the underworld that must wait 100 years to cross the river, through no fault of their own. Justice really does seem obscure in the Aeneid. Another instance of this is when the people of Carthage feel Dido's death was just, simply because she fell in love with the wrong man, and through no fault of her own.

I believe Turnus' death to be the best example of the incomprehensible justice served in the Aeneid. His justice only prevails once they see fit, once it fits in with their plans. In the end, it becomes obvious that while justice is a powerful motivator and regulator in the lives of mortals, it is the will of the immortals that truly controls their lives, and their disfigured system of justice On the other hand, there are moments when actual justice is served. Examples include the groups beyond the river in the underworld and the story of Hercules and the giant for example.

Cornwall gets what he deserves as he treats Gloucester badly. He is responsible for the most shocking act of physical violence- the blinding of Gloucester. At the end he gets what he deserves as he is killed by his own servant. Even with Oswald, justice is done. He is delighted to receive a reward from Goneril that he is ready to kill Gloucester when he comes across him in act four. At the end, the gods are just as he is challenged by Edgar and dies.

Edmund is such an evil character that at the end he deserves what he gets. The Gods are just. One can say that Edmund is responsible for the deaths of he whole royal family : Goneril, Regan, Cordelia Lear and of his father's fate. Edmund is the one responsible for Gloucester's blindness and suffering and betrays his father to Cornwall. His own death is, as Edgar seems to suggest at the end, richly deserved. Edmund is not only satisfied with his brothers inheritance and father's title, but wants to become king too and so Edmund gives instruction to the captain to kill Lear and Cordelia. In Act five scene one in a soliloquy, where Edgar reveals his latest schemes, one comprehends much more Edmund's Machiavellian character. He has sworn his love to both Goneril and Regan, and cannot decide which one to take. He knows the sisters are so jealous that one will have to die in order for him to 'enjoy' the other. Edmund is only loyal to himself and at the end he gets what he deserves. At the end, Edmund's character is responsible for his destiny. In act five scene 3, it is Edmund himself who is impressed by Edgar's 'fair and warlike' exterior, and agrees to fight and consequently he is wounded by his own brother and finally dies.

While reading the play one can say that the gods in a way, are just with Cordelia as after she suffers the banishment she finds her love, marries the king of France and becomes queen. But at the end of the play, no justice has been with Cordelia. At first Cordelia is truthful and lost her half of the kingdom, simply because she did not flatter her father. Added too this, she accepts her banishment with great humility showing no rancour to her father. When Cordelia and Lear are reconciled together they are happy. But this moment doe not last long as Cordelia and Lear are away from each other for a long time and the moment they are reconciled, both die. She is a loving daughter, does her best to restore her father to sanity and at the end she is hanged in prison.

Edgar commits no crime against the enemy and the state and right through the play he makes a journey of self discovery, has to disguise himself as a mad beggar, live and face the hardships of life, like a poor individual. At the end, the gods are just with Edgar as he becomes a king. Edgar prevents Gloucester's suicide. Throughout act four, Edgar guides Gloucester. Edgar is a loving son too, as he does not reveal himself to his father, to make him suffer as he sees his father, guilty and ashamed for what he has done tohim. While the battle between France and the British is on, Edgar leads Gloucester to a safe place. Although Edgar at the end, becomes a king, and so one thinks that there is justice to this world, one has to bring the fact that Edgar meets his father only when he is blind and so one can argue that Edgar does not get what he deserves from life.

In the Odyssey however, deaths and misfortunes seem to come about through the idea of justice, and nothing else- no malicious or unfair punishments seem to prevail i. e. there seems to be a point behind them, rather than them just being malicious acts of immortals. For example, Zeus becomes angered at Odysseus because his men eat the sun god's cattle, despite being warned not to; however he doesn't let Odysseus die, because the sun god only asks that the crew be punished, because after all, Odysseus did warn them. However he does unavoidably get caught in the cross fire and this is how he winds up on Calypso's island in the first place.

Another example is Poseidon. He makes Odysseus' aqua adventures a nightmare because he impairs Poseidon's son Polyphemus' vision, which goes against the rules of Xenia really. It is of course, Odysseus' own fault because he becomes arrogant about what he did to Polyphemus, by telling him his name, after he's left. Therefore it's just and fair to punish him. Even though he's such a great hero, he does a wrong act and is punished as any other man would be. Then of course, there is the case of the suitors; the epic conclusion to the Odyssey.

The most difficult question about justice concerns Gloucester and Lear. Do they deserve to suffer and die? Does Lear has to suffer for his vanity and misjudgement and Gloucester deserves to die for adultery?

Gloucester pays very dearly for his adultery. One can see this, when Edgar says to Edmund, 'The dark and vicious place where thee he got/ Cost him his eyes'. This shows that Gloucester committed adultery (his vice) and in the play he is deceived by the adulterous affair, that is Edmund. The reader does not accept Edgar's verdict, when he believes that the gods are just. The saying 'justice is blind' appeals exactly to Gloucester as when he is blind he sees. The phrase said by Gloucester, ' I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw' confirms that when he was seeing he is blind and Gloucester realises his mistake and wishes to be reconciled to Edgar.

Some could argue that the gods are just with Lear and Gloucester because the two have made mistakes and consequently they have received their punishment. But ultimately the, gods are unjust. There is no justice with Gloucester as his eyes are plucked out. Add to this Edgar waits to leave it till the very late to reveal himself to Gloucester.

There is no justice with Lear as after he suffers violently and intensely, he has to face a cruel destiny. Lear suffers a lot due to the ingratitude of his daughters. Lear is most concerned with his own mental state as he fears he is becoming hysterical with sorrow. He is affected physically, as if his daughters are attacking him for the inside. For Lear, his daughters are 'a disease that's in my flesh... a boil/ A plague -sore, or embossed carbucle, / In my corrupted blood.' This shows as if Goneril and Regan have wounded Lear and now are eating away his flesh. Lear's heart breaks 'into a hundred thousand flaw' and his mind disintegrates. When Lear regains some of his senses he still suffers as he says that his brain has been ,'cut to the brains'. The moment Lear reconciles himself together with Cordelia he is happy with her. Lear is away from Cordelia for such a long period and the moment he reconciles himself with her, Cordelia dies. One could say that there is some form of justice with Lear as in his imagination he dies with the idea that Cordelia still breathes.

The ending is realistic as it shows that things in life do not turn out as we want, as sometimes life is unjust. Add to this, Shakespeare wants to bring out the notion of a tragedy, and generally in a literary work, the protagonist meets an unhappy and disastrous end.