Discuss the storm in 'King Lear' and its symbolism.

At the time Shakespeare was writing, disturbances within nature were often thought to mirror terrible events within the human world and thus when the natural order was disturbed through revolutions or other supposedly unnatural events, nature would respond accordingly. This tradition is reflected in King Lear with the storm occurring after the climax of Lear’s anger towards his daughters who disrupt the natural order by attempting to claim all of the king’s power. Furthermore, the fact that “there is division…’twixt Albany and Cornwall” hints at a future civil war in the country, meaning that not only personal relationships but also the structure of authority within the country has broken down. This natural disturbance can be considered to be the work of the Gods that Lear and other characters often appeal to in the play, an idea at odds with the way Lear often presents himself as a kind of holy or priest-king. That the Gods may be responsible for the storm means little to Lear as he seemingly accepts their power, yet the fact that he can do nothing to prevent or combat the tempest undermines his own idea of self-importance. From the powerful king at the beginning who controlled a kingdom and its subject, he has diminished hugely to a raving old man shouting impotently at the elements to “singe” his “white head” and “crack nature’s moulds”. The fact that Lear does not seem to realise the futility of his actions in screaming at the Gods like some kind of recalcitrant child only accentuates his madness and highlights his fall from grace and eventual lack of power. This may have been a confusing image for Shakespeare’s audiences as the divine right of kings (the idea that the monarch was in some way holy) was commonly accepted and a monarch powerless to the elements seems pathetic in the face of this theory.

The fool perceptively comments that “here’s a night pities neither wise men nor fools”, emphasising the idea that the storm is not selective in its wrath, and power ultimately means nothing next to nature. Following the line of thought that the storm is of divine origin, the Biblical phrase “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” is brought to mind, highlighting perhaps the idea that wealth and power means nothing next to divine judgement. Although King Lear has many pagan references and seems to be set in a pre-Christian era, Shakespeare was writing at a religious time, and audiences may have seen the Christian symbols in the storm. To extend this idea further, the storm can also be seen as a kind of apocalypse or judgement day: Lear is sent out (effectively into the hands of God) to be dealt with as he deserves. Furthermore, although he has companions, he must face this judgement ultimately alone and respond to the questions running through his internal monologue that blur into madness. On the other hand, it could be said that the storm is a purgatory or form of redemption for Lear as it changes him from a mostly vengeful if weak old man raging at his daughters to one who can accept his daughter back with open arms and realise his mistakes.