Multiple Motifs In Shakespeare's King Lear

In his play “King Lear”, William Shakespeare uses multiple motifs over the course of the play to bring these profound ideas to the forefront of the reader’s mind, and create a deeper connection between the reader and the characters. Through the motifs of Eyes/blindness, Fortune/Destiny, and Nature/animals, Shakespeare sparks internal dialogue in readers and characters alike.
One recurring image in “King Lear” is Nature, both as an untamed force and under the control of characters. When Lear disowns Cordelia, he vows by the sun, the moon and the planets, to ‘disclaim all [his] paternal care. This shows that Lear sees himself as the commander of nature and tries to use it to achieve his own goals. Nature also appears in the play as an uncontrollable elemental force. Lear, Kent, Gloucester and
There are many examples of cyclic imagery. Good people are abused and wronged regardless of their own noble deeds or intentions. Strapped to a wheel of fire, humans suffer and endure, prosper and decline, existing only to come and go. There are references to fortune whose wheel spins humans downward even as it lifts, Just as the stars in their courses are fixed in the skies, so do the characters view their lives as caught in a pattern they have no power to change.Gloucester finds himself disillusioned about fate, deciding that there is no divine justice in the world, no higher power, and therefore no point in human actions. After Regan and Cornwall torture Gloucester, two servants remark that if they aren’t punished for their actions, there can’t be a higher justice in the universe. This is another recurring theme in “King Lear” , punishment or reward for human behavior. Characters are confronted by this idea, and delve into the amount of control we cait. Lear and Gloucester spend the most time wondering how much control we can have over the universe and if there is point to human life at