According to Aristotle in his book Poetics, the cathartic effects of a tragedy are its objective, which comes through its form. An examination of Shakespeare's King Lear in relation to the Aristotelian elements of tragedy - focusing on its adherence to plot and inversion of thought - will demonstrate how the playwright preserves the cathartic outcome despite the radically altered balance between pity and fear. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Of the three units of time, place, and action, only the last can be directly attributed to Aristotle, who called “principle of organic unity of literature. » In King Lear, Shakespeare adheres to this principle, which states that the plot must have a beginning, a middle and an end, that it must be of an appropriate length for the credible unfolding of the events, and that the main character (since called as the tragic hero) must follow a specific dramatic process. He must be a greater man than us who goes from fortune to misfortune (peripeteia) because of a flaw of character (harmatia). Then comes anagnorisis, the light on one's responsibility for the fall, but the punishment always exceeds the crime. The prologue to King Lear combines exposition and action, giving the audience the background information needed to contextualize the events about to unfold. It depicts King Lear as a virtuous man – above the average citizen – making a terrible error of judgment and displaying his extreme pride, thereby causing the grotesque but necessary downfall that follows. In opening lines 1–30, Gloucester and Kent discuss Lear's intention to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, and the origins of Gloucester's son Edmund are explained. We can see that King Lear's pride motivates his first error of judgment; "Here I renounce all my paternal care," he told the court, while renouncing his only beloved daughter, Cordelia, for refusing to flatter him falsely in his attempt to conquer the greater third of his kingdom. He grants “power, revenue, execution of the rest” (1.1.132) to his two other deceitful daughters and their husbands while hoping to retain “the name and all the additions of a king” (1.1.131 ). Again, hubris led him to unrealistically hope that he would retain his status as king without royal duties. Finally, Lear banishes the faithful Kent for warning him of the danger of bowing to the power of “flattery” (1.1.143). After surrounding himself with dishonest people and mistreating those who sincerely love him, Lear sets the Peripeteia in motion. Lear's anagnorisis is a gradual process that begins in Act 3 Scene 2 as "his mind begins to spin" (3.2.66). He first considers the feelings of the madman and the nature of the “necessities… which can make vile things precious” (3.2.69-70). Lear sees the value of this vision and the necessity of suffering to achieve it. This is followed by recognition of his blind arrogance and its effects on the people of his kingdom: Oh, I have ta'en / Too little attention to this! Take medicine, pump; Expose yourself to feel what the wretched feel, So that you can tremble. the superflux towards them (3,4,32-35). Lear equates his experience of suffering on health with medicine, inferring the awakening it caused. He also prescribes it to all other pompous people, in a plea for a fairer world. He recognizes his negligence and shows remorse. He became drastically more aware, considering for the first time the suffering of others in the midst of his own anguish and burgeoning madness. Because theSuffering coincides with enlightenment, audience admiration for Lear's endurance is abundant and coupled with increasing pity for his situation. He calls his suffering a “judicious punishment!” » (3,4,71) because it was he who fathered the two daughters who seriously mistreated him. Yet there is still no reference to his cruel error of judgment on Cordelia or Kent. In Act 4, Scene 6, Lear finally understands and accepts that he is just a mere mortal "They told me I was everything; it's a lie, I'm not ordeal of fever" (4.6.103-104), and attributes this self-awareness to the loss he suffered during the storm. It is not until Act 4 Scene 7 that Lear's anagnorisis is complete. He wakes to see Cordelia, kneels humbly before her, cannot associate himself with the royal robes he has been put in, and describes himself as a "very foolish and affectionate old man" (4.7.61). He finally accepts responsibility for the final trigger for his downfall: If you have poison for me, I'll drink it. I know you don't love me; for your sisters have, if I remember correctly, wronged me. You have a reason, they don't. (4.7.73-76)If the play ended here, it could be said to conform exactly to the Aristotelian idea of ​​a tragic plot ending on a note of hope and restoration for the future . However, it doesn't stop there; Although Aristotle did not stipulate that a good tragic plot must have a happy ending, he did say that the moral message must be implicit and that evil must never triumph. This brings the discussion into the realm of what Aristotle called "Thought" and it is the element of tragic form with which Shakespeare takes the most liberties. Those who thrive on the conditions of the world – which often include neglect or cruelty – will become hardened and blinded and will therefore be the true fools. This moral message is rooted in King Lear. Cordelia demonstrates an understanding of this concept as she remains honest despite Lear's threat that "nothing will come of nothing" (1.1.86). France reiterates this notion when he describes Cordelia as “the richest, being the poorest…” (1.1.246). Both Lear and Gloucester discover that, ironically, everything comes from nothing, that truth and enlightenment are only achieved when one is stripped of everything, for Lear this includes one's reason, for Gloucester, one's sight. “I stumbled when I saw” (4.1.20). And just as Lear did in Act Three, Scene Two, Gloucester calls for the humbling of the arrogant and the redistribution of wealth: “And every one shall have enough” (4.2.72). A central paradox of the play is that Lear and Gloucester could not have learned this moral message otherwise. Lear's The Fool is crucial in highlighting this paradox. Beneath his seemingly innocent taunts, the Fool clarifies the character's feelings and the events on stage. When Kent claims that the Fool's words are entirely stupid, the Fool responds: “No, faith, lords and great men will not allow me; If I had a monopoly, they would have a share. And ladies too, they're not letting me have all this stupidity to myself; They will tear it away. Give me an egg, uncle, and I will give you two crowns (1.4.137-141). The fool's speech here summarizes the moral message by referring to the folly of all lords and provides a direct commentary on Lear's folly in trying to divide his kingdom between deceitful women. In this way, Shakespeare took the classical device of the chorus and ironically embodied it in the court jester. If the real fools are the cruel and the rich, then justice is an essential factor in representing good versus evil. It is here that Shakespeare injectsambiguity in his drama. Justice, like wisdom, family loyalty, and obedience, are reversed throughout the play. In the third act, justice can be identified in two contrasting scenes. In scene six, Lear judges Goneril and Regan for filial ingratitude in an imaginary trial. The outward appearance of justice is absurd and pathetic. Earthly justice is determined and exercised by a madman, a madman in disguise, and a fool. Yet true justice is presented here. Scene seven contrasts sharply with this, in which Cornwall pretends to put Gloucester on trial for treason. Outwardly, this trial appears correct, as Cornwall possesses the authority to judge the subjects and he goes through the motions of interrogation. However, the outcome was predetermined and there is no trace of true justice in this horrible punishment. The appearance and reality of righteousness have exchanged places (as have wisdom and folly, blindness and sight, poverty and wealth), and evil undoubtedly thrives. All of Shakespeare's value reversals in this play are summed up in the term "natural." Edmund is Gloucester's "natural" son and represents a violation of the traditional moral order. His concept of Nature and what is natural is Darwinian and animalistic, rejecting religion, astrology, social order and morality "You, nature, are my goddess... Why should I find myself in the scourge of custom” (1,2,1-3). For him, "unnatural" means exactly what "natural" means for Lear and Gloucester: the orderly structure and cycles of the natural world and of man on earth are intrinsically linked and astrology is a clear indication of events on earth, for example “Lately”. eclipses..." (1,2,96). Thus, the moral question that permeates the drama is: "Which concept of the natural is true? If the heavens exist and manipulate human lives, Edmund, Goneril and Reagan ask will they come out with their evil or will there be divine punishment The answer to this question is far from implicit, and it certainly challenges Aristotle's idea that evil should never triumph over evil. triumphs in most of King Lear, and acts of kindness are isolated acts of human decency that often come too late to bring any real improvement to the situation, who avenges Gloucester's cruelty in the seventh. scene from act three His intervention fails to improve Gloucester's condition Likewise, Kent and Edgar disguise themselves to guide the old men through their suffering and deliver a letter to Cordelia, but none of this helps. the death or anguish of Gloucester, Lear and his virtuous daughter. Albany decides to return Lear to King and Kent to his honorable position, but this happens far too late as Lear dies and Kent passes away. Finally, Edmund's final wish to save Cordelia from death is a spark of human decency in a predominantly evil character that raises hope in the audience, but this gesture is also too little, too late, and the hopes of the public are quickly disappointed. If the gods are responsible for punishment and justice, then Cordelia's death is inexplicable. If human decency, on the other hand, is attributed to the administration of justice, then it can be argued that human decency has been defeated by negative human emotions such as greed, pride and selfishness, which have leads to acts of cruelty. These few characters of integrity and courage to act accordingly were far too fragmented and late to triumph over evil. The perspective one takes on the ending of King Lear is entirely one's own. Shakespeare asks the Fool to leave the play in act three, scene four, line 80, and the members of the.