reaking off her connections to his family. Here I disclaim all my paternal care, and property of blood. (1.1.125-6). Lear looks at the love between a father and daughter as an immutable legal bond rather than a natural bond of love. At a later point in the play, Lear finds that all that he has conceived to be natural is becoming unnatural; specifially, his daughter no longer acknowledge the filia duty and respect. Lear himself realizes that his sufferings is due to the fact that he has mistreated Cordelia, and by that, broke that codes of nature: O most small fault/How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show/Which, like an engine, wrenched my frame of nature from the fixed place. (1.4.278-81) Lear is basically admitting to the fact that he has distorted and twisted his fate by breaking the natural family bonds between him and Cordelia. Lear’s rashed actions represent a great violation of the law of nature, which from that point will lead to disrder and disaster throughout the entire play, and eventually the destruction and death of Lear’s family. The second family that is discussed in King Lear is Gloucester’s family. In this family it is Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate son who commits actions that disturb nature, and as a consequence, ruin himself and his entire family. Edmund’s self-revealing soliloquy at that beginning of 1.2 reflects his views and opinions about the accepted laws of nature. Edmund rejects moral law and endorses the law of the jungle. This is pointed out by the fact that Edmund starts his solilquy by invoking the goddess of nature: Thou, Nature, art my goddess. (1.2.1) but Edmund’s final words are Now, gods, stand up for bastards! (1.2.23) It is a well known fact that at the time King Lear was written, bastards were not considered to acepted under the natural laws of society, hence, one can conclude that the goddess of nature whom he invokes does not represent the traditiona...
