Three Themes in "King Lear"

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
Justice - King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and awful, seemingly meaningless disasters. The play's succession of terrible events raises an obvious question for the characters--namely, whether there is any possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is fundamentally indifferent or even hostile to humankind. Various characters offer their opinions: "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport," Gloucester muses, realizing it foolish for humankind to assume that the natural world works in parallel with socially or morally convenient notions of justice . Edgar, on the other hand, insists that "the gods are just," believing that individuals get what they deserve. …