The Christian kings of England could assume a "divine right" imposed by the "natural order" in order to legitimize their place in the feudal hierarchy, a vision reinforced by the idea of ​​Christ. the admonition to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21) and various other biblical depictions and endorsements of world leaders. In a pre-Christian society, the legitimacy of rulers could not be so easily based on this concept of an ordered nature of the world, with a metaphysical Lord at the top and a secular Lord at the top of Man. Yet in such a society, “Nature” retains its value as a term connoting “order,” the way things simply are. The qualities of Nature are thus induced by experience and the sense of propriety: filial duty is "Nature", kinship is "Nature", moral behavior is "Nature", stability is "Nature", Nature", mental health is "Nature" and the physical world itself is simply "Nature". The problem is that in the absence of a scriptural definition, these are all subjective notions, each representing a part of a certain dialectic of human society. Depending on the viewer's experiences, "Nature" can equally evoke betrayal, disloyalty, immorality, instability, madness, and a violent physical world. If a leader's rule is based on a tradition of Nature representing the feudal order, then competing definitions and evaluations of Nature would inevitably throw that society into disorder. In King Lear, this disorder plays out between two competing visions of Nature, with each spectator professing loyalty to their individual conception of Nature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “You, nature, are my goddess; to your law / My services are bound” (1.2.1-2). Edmond's "nature" is an unregulated and uncivilized force, a prehuman world contrasting with the "scourge of custom" and the laws of man. Ironically, this conception of nature emanates from Edmund's life experience as a "natural" (i.e. a bastard): Edmund is doomed by what he sees as a custom of inheritance unreasonable, which he finds unintuitive and illogical. An illegitimate son deemed ignoble by the social norms that he does not accept, Edmond is thus led to condemn all forms of legitimacy: the legitimacy of kings, the legitimacy of fathers, the legitimacy of morality. He continues to defy all of these forms over the course of the play as he disrupts this natural order and helps to plunge Britain into chaos. The Earl of Gloucester has a different view of nature than his illegitimate son. He regards an eclipse – a disorder or interruption in the natural sky – as a sign of disorder, using "nature" to explicitly represent order and stability: "nature finds itself scourged by sequential effects" (1.2. 98-9). This scourge disrupts social bonds considered natural: friends, lovers, citizens, fathers and sons. This connotation is then linked to the reign of King Lear, because he "falls because of the prejudices of nature" (1.2.103): the king departing from his nature (wise rule) is therefore not natural (causes l 'instability). Edmund later insults his father's loyalty to "natural" omens such as the "escape" of those whose behavior caused their own misfortune. As a warrior-king who ruled Britain for decades, Lear has a view of nature that is also antithetical to Edmund's view. . Like Gloucester, Lear is in harmony with naturephysics and the divinity of the stars. Lear disinherits Cordelia with an appeal to the celestial bodies, in a way "naturalizing" Lear's decision and attributing his wishes to the stars which condemn men to their fate: For by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate and the night ; By the whole operation of the orbs From whom we exist and cease to be (1.1.109-12) Lear curses Goneril by the “goddess Nature” also: “Listen, Nature, listen! dear goddess, listen! / Suspend your design, if you intended / To do this fertile creature! (1.4.253-4) Here, as in other cases, Lear uses "Nature" to represent a divine "creator," an ambiguous personification of the process by which a person's personality is formed. In this vein, Lear calls Cordelia “a wretch whom nature is ashamed / almost to recognize [as] her own” (1.1.214). Lear’s faithful Earl of Kent would later repeat this usage, telling a servant disrespectful to the king that “nature denies in thee; a tailor made you” (2.2.48). In this case, the “unnaturalness” is artificiality, an inhumane separation from natural elements. This usage considers “nature” as a creative force that deserves respect. Consequently, “unnaturalness,” in the sense of being rejected by nature, is akin to exile or disinheritance. By postulating a superior creative force of Nature, Lear implicitly suggests an intuitive hierarchy, the elements of nature being the very reason for humanity's existence: “Nothing will come from nothing” (1.1.89). There is a clear human parallel in the family hierarchy, whereby a father deserves the respect of his children. Lear presupposes this filial duty by referring to familial love as "nature", because it would be fitting or "natural" for one to love those who bore him (the word "nature" actually goes back to the Latin verb for birth, "nascor, nasci"). In dividing his kingdom, Lear declares: "That we may extend our greater bounty / Where nature [filial love] meritoriously defies [action]" (1.1.50-1). Lear's love for his daughters is also his "nature", as he states after cursing Goneril: "I will forget my nature." Such a kind father! (1.5.27). Gloucester also echoes this usage, playing on the term in approval of Edmund, beaming: "Loyal and natural boy, I will work the means / To make you capable", playing with the meanings "devoted/loving" and "illegitimate" . (2.1.85-6). Lack of naturalness is therefore filial disloyalty. When Gloucester believes his legitimate son, Edgar, is plotting against him, he declares: "Unnatural wicked, hated and brutal!" (1.2.72). Edmund repeats this hypocritically, warning Edgar of the "unnaturalness between child and parent" (1.2.132). This sense of loyalty to a creator or creative force should be familiar to a Christian audience, but it is not necessarily a given. (e.g., dictated by Scripture) in a pre-Christian society. Instead, it emanates from a familial gratitude and an inherent moral tendency toward loyalty, held by the plain-spoken Cordelia and Kent and expressed in the play as simply the traits of these characters. Cordelia simply insists: “I love Your Majesty / According to my bond” and “You begat me, raised me, loved me; I / I render these duties to you as appropriate, / You obey, I love and honor you most. " (1.1.91-2.95-7). Kent offers no specific reason for persevering in serving Lear, except out of duty to a feudal lord: "Royal Lear, / Whom I have always honored as my king, / Loved as my father, as my master followed, / As my great boss” (1.1.139-142 However, Kent goes further than basic service, defying Lear's order of exile and himself). dressing up for..