Suffering The story of King Lear follows the metamorphosis of a King into a man. It is a journey wrought with both physical and moral suffering which develops the character of Lear from “sanity to petulance to sanity” (Billington). Cordelia’s death reflects the inconsistency of moral justice in the world; Shakespeare acknowledges that wisdom is only attained by suffering. He reveals however that this wisdom does not protect the individual against future suffering “bound …showed first 75 words of 727 total…

…showed last 75 words of 727 total…self and the world. Life itself seems a process of struggle rather than achievement. The play “tends towards a conclusion that does not occur (Kermode)” The hope in Lear is not the world might prove to be just but it’s too late the world might be changed. It seems that the whole play is to reveal how the world is unjust; a place of justice for Lear and Cordelia seems unable to be possible.