Jacobean Reading of King Lear

King Lear was written around 1603-06. A contextualised political reading interprets King Lear as a drama that gives expression to crucial political and social issues of its time: the hierarchy of the Jacobean state, King James' belief in his divine right to rule, and the political anxieties that characterised the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign: fears of civil war and division of the kingdom triggered by growth of conflicting fractions and a threatening underclass. Like …

…in Jacobeans. Their self-destruction is expected repercussion of their double felony against the natural order. A Jacobean reading interprets King Lear as a vivid social portrait, featuring aspects of social conditions, depicting social change, and voicing the beliefs of its contemporary audience. Its story teaches a moral lesson against the shirking of responsibility and division of one's state. Its characters represent social groups- their actions and interactions parallel the ebb and flow of social forces.