In Leviathan of 1651, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes reflected on "the age when men live with no other security than that which their own strength and their own invention will furnish them.. .the life of a lonely, poor, mean, brutal and small man” (“Hobbes”). Although Shakespeare's King Lear was probably written a good half century earlier, between 1604 and 1605, the beliefs in brutal and wicked living, as described by Hobbes, are clearly reflected throughout the play, in especially in the tragic final scene. In act 5, scene 3, Shakespeare depicts a scene of painful injustice and thus illustrates a world where everyone's destiny is not always linked to their integrity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayIn the final scene of King Lear, Shakespeare initially seems to set up the action in almost a commentary on morality; “the good ending fortunately and the bad ending unhappy”, as Oscar Wilde would joke centuries later. Now in the room, Cornwall is dead, Regan and Gonoril have killed each other, and Edgar has finally defeated Edmund. All that remains is for the men of Albany to save Lear and Cordelia, and the just and honorable can live until the end of the play. playing in harmony. However, by the time Lear "enters the last scene carrying Cordelia's corpse in his arms and tries, against all hope, to find proof that she is still alive", King Lear becomes a play that does not has nothing to do with poetic justice (Brown 233). ). The characters themselves are shocked by this turn of events, with Kent asking "Is this the promised ending?" » as he looks at the corpse of Cordelia and her mad and crying father (Act 5, scene 3, 263). The promise of an “apocalyptic dream of the final judgment” where the “bad” goats are separated from the “good” sheep is “forever postponed” with the inclusion of Cordelia's death (Greenblatt 2314). Lear himself highlights this deference to justice by crying: “Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, / And you, no breath at all? (5.3, 305-6). This directly refutes Albany's claim that "[a]ll friends shall taste / The wages of their virtue, and all foes / The cup of their merits" (5, 3, 299-303). Certainly, it is clear that Cordelia in no way “deserves” to die, and yet that is still her outcome. Lear and the audience are asked to question the fairness of this situation, but unlike most plays of the period, Shakespeare "refuses to offer any of the conventional answers" and leaves these questions open and unresolved. response (Greenblatt 2314). In the play, when speaking to Gloucester, Lear states: “When we are all born, we cry that we have arrived / At that great stage of fools” (4, 6, 176-7). In the final scene, Lear's devastating anger at his fellow survivors fits the image of the world as a sorrowful realm where justice is not respected. When he enters, carrying the dead Cordelia, Lear sobs and refuses to directly acknowledge anyone except his daughter's corpse. When Kent tries to console his master, Lear lashes out at him and refuses to respond to Edgar's direction: EDGAR: “This is the noble Kent, your friend. LEAR: A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I could have saved her; now she's gone forever! (5, 3, 267-269) Lear calling his companions "murderers", when they did not actually participate in Cordelia's death, is more metaphorical than serious. He cannot trust anyone in this "dark and deadly" world (5, 3, 299), and only believes in his own ability to saveand to save a certain form of decency from the universe. However, Lear soon moves away from this view. as he softens his tone, acknowledges his friends, and recognizes Kent for who he truly is. From this point on, Lear "no longer prays to the gods for help nor curses them...his final efforts are to bring others to share what he holds to be true and to plead for understanding as sincerely as he had insisted on his orders. " (Brown 254). He explains, explicitly details the circumstances of Cordelia's death and regularly asks those around him to "search" for evidence of the life of his youngest daughter. The most remarkable moment occurs in the text folio from 1623, but not in the second quarto, when Lear says just before dying: “Do you see that, look at her lips, / Look there, look there! ). This is one of the most ambiguous lines in the play. These passionate words “could be spoken either to share his joy in the illusory belief that Cordelia is alive, or, quite the contrary, to insist on the fact that. 'special attention be paid to Cordelia's death and that others share [the] distress' (Brown 235). Another reading is much less literal, focusing more on the emotions of the scene throughout. play, Cordelia is the only girl who truly loves Lear unconditionally. In Act 4, Scene 7, Cordelia and Lear truly make peace and express their parent-child love for each other. The emphasis on her lips at the end may be a reference to the girl's kiss she gives him in the final act. This symbol of Cordelia's unconditional love provides a fitting closure in the context of the play's opening. After denying Cordelia as his daughter because she refused to falsely express her love, Lear finally shows full recognition of her devotion in these final lines. However, if the "lips" are in fact a symbol of Lear's love and recognition of his daughter's, then Cordelia's death is even more tragic and a fervent illustration of the injustice of the world. After Lear dies, mourning Cordelia, the play becomes even more ambiguous. in some places, and yet clearer in others. The image of the universe as inherently cruel and unjust is reiterated, as Edgar attempts to revive the dead Lear; Kent stops him by saying: “Do not vex his ghost: O, let him pass! He hates it / It would make him struggle with this difficult world / Would stretch him out longer” (5, 3, 311-313). In the final lines of the play, comparing the world to a torture device makes a clear and strong statement. There is no chance for rational justice on earth; it's a cruel and harsh place, no matter who you are or how you've lived; Some may get "the cut they deserve", but the overall brutality of the world is impartial and not based on morality. The fact that the play ends without answering important political questions also reinforces the image of a "hard world" filled with uncertainty and chaos. In two different versions of King Lear, the folio and the second quarto, the character changes who delivers the final speech; in the quarto, it is Albany, while in the folio, it is Edgar. When Albany asks Kent and Edgar to rule Lear's kingdom and Kent politely refuses, it is assumed that Edgar will take the helm and become king of England. However, in the quarto, the audience never receives a response from Edgar, so it is unclear whether he is ready to take on the role or whether he will undertake his own "journey", in the same way as Kent (5, 3, 320-5). In the folio, however, it is Edgar who delivers the royal and mourning speech: "The oldest has borne the most: we. 1997.