The Poetic Justice of Fortune /// by Emory Cooper

 As I read Acts 4 and 5 and experienced the culmination of King Lear, I was compelled to notice how the fates of each flawed character seem to line up with what the characters deserved--in short, each got what was coming to him. Cornwall and Oswald in Act 4, then Regan, Goneril, and Edmund in Act 5: all of these died directly or indirectly on account of their own cruelty, greed, malice, lust for power, or some other vice. Then there's the blindness and death of Gloucester, which might seem to start with the scheming of his son, Edmund, but ultimately finds its beginning with his own sexual sin, which brought the son about. And finally, King Lear himself, though not by any literal sword or poison, was brought to the grave by his sufferings from an earlier choice. Who knows how much longer the king may have endured, had he not allowed his disposition to rashness and desire for flattery to claim power over some better judgement?

A few quotes come to mind as I consider the way Shakespeare made his characters to feel the just consequences of their actions. First, Romans 6:23a: "For the wages of sin is death." Second, the last part of Numbers 32:23: "be sure your sin will find you out." Third, the beginning of Ezekiel 33:11: "As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;" and neither should we. Even though the setting of this play seems more pagan than Christian, Shakespeare would surely have been familiar with these portions of Scripture, and they probably influenced his perception of justice. As a final quote, I will give an excerpt from Edgar and Edmund's dialogue after their duel, (5.3.172-176): [Edgar] "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. | [Edmund] Th' hast spoken right, 'tis true;/ The wheel is come full circle; I am here."

[I commented on the posts of Emily Thullesen and Taylor Vice.]

Comments

  1. IsabelleAugust 31, 2021 at 8:52 AM

    Hey Emory! Interesting observation. I think it applies to some of the characters, but definitely not all of them. If your theory was correct, what punishment did Cordelia deserve? Was her being hung representative of her, basically, shooting herself in the foot with her honesty? Great use of quotes, and fantastic post!

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