Blood pouring from stabbed eyes. Sipping the poison slipped by his own sister. Fathers turning against their children. These are the horrible outcomes of the characters in King Lear. Shakespeare wrote one of the greatest tragedies of all time with this play and from the beginning it provided no cushion of happiness to its viewers. They find themselves immediately thrown into a world of turmoil: Lear's favorite daughter is banished from him, Gloucester is deceived by his younger son, Lear is sent into a storm by his ungrateful heirs... and the list goes on. Yet, what causes these terrible consequences? Is it because there are many evil personalities in the play? Many mistakes made by fathers in not believing their trusted children? No. The answer is that the company is ultimately responsible for the final results of the show. The world of King Lear demonstrates to the audience, by illustrating with its various characters and their actions, that a society built around a social hierarchy and material wealth will always be a place of unhappiness, full of people who commit evil deeds. Shakespeare scribbled King Lear away between the years 1603 and 1606. It was a tumultuous time because Queen Elizabeth I had died but left no heirs or husband to take over her monarchy. Therefore the citizens were worried and the competition for his regency was strong. In writing the play, Shakespeare addressed this difficult topic by creating the character of King Lear, who is unsure who to pass on his power to. Thus, Shakespeare constructs a setting with many of the current concerns and problems of his Elizabethan world (yet they are addressed in a disguised manner). This period in England was when... middle of paper... I was blind while if the sisters had never stolen their father's trust, he would never have gone mad, Goneril would never have poisoned Regan and committed suicide and Cordelia would not have died. Therefore, the tragic parts of the tragedy would not exist just as a world without unhappiness would be happy. Works Cited “King Lear: Background on Shakespeare.” PBS. PBS and Web. January 20, 2014..Signet Classic Edition Teacher's Guide. Hern, Leigh Ann; Ellis, W. Gieger; Reed, Aretha JS (ed.), Penguin. WebShakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The tragedy of King Lear. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperback, 2009. Print. "The Structure of Elizabethan Society". Walter Nelson. Np, nd Web. January 20. 2014..