Religion

In composing King Lear, Shakespeare deliberately cast off the Christian setting of one of his sources, The True Chronicle History of King Leir, and chose the pre-Christian environment of primitive, pagan Britain. This had the very practical effect that it meant Shakespeare could be more free to explore what he wanted in the play because he was not making aspersions on Jacobean society directly. For example, exploring where unknown pagan gods are just would be easier to get away with than exploring whether the God of Classical Theism is just. 

Divine Justice

'King Lear' inspires many philosophical questions; chief among them is the existence of divine justice. The issue of this is because good does not triumph without honourable characters suffering terrible loss. In fact, at the play's conclusion, many of the good characters lie dead on the stage — Lear, Gloucester, and Cordelia. In addition, the audience hears that Kent will soon die and the Fool has earlier disappeared. Of course, the evil characters are also dead, but their punishment is to be expected according to the laws of divine justice. But how then does the audience account for the punishment and, finally, the death of the good characters in 'King Lear'?

Throughout the play, the audience has witnessed Edmund's growing success as a reward for his evil machinations. But when Edgar and Edmund meet in Act V, the duel between these two brothers is very different from the traditional match for sport. Christian tradition recalls several biblical battles between good and evil, as divine justice is an important component of trial by combat. The duel between Edgar and Edmund is really a conflict that replays this ongoing battle between good and evil, with Edgar's defeat of Edmund obviously signalling the triumph of righteousness over corruption. Edgar's victory, as well as his succession of Lear, as king of Britain, points to an intervention of divine justice.

And yet, when Lear enters with Cordelia's body, any immediate ideas about divine justice vanish. The deaths of Cornwall, Edmund, Regan, and Goneril have lulled the audience into a belief that the gods would restore order to this chaotic world. But Cordelia's death creates new questions about the role of divine justice; a just god could not account for the death of this faithful and loving daughter. Whist it could be argued that her death is ordered on political terms, she is the invading Queen of France, it can be very difficult to justify Cordelia's death.

In spite of the seemingly senseless death of this young woman, Shakespeare never intended for his audience to escape the painful questions that Cordelia's death creates. Instead, the audience is expected to struggle with the question of why such tragedies occur. The deaths of Gloucester and Lear are acceptable. Both have made serious errors in judgment, and although both came to recognize their complicity in the destruction that they caused, the natural resolution of this change was an acceptance of their future, whatever it held. But Cordelia is young…