Part one of term paper
Shakespeare's dynamic use of irony in King Lear aids the microcosmic illustration of not only 16th century Britain, but of all times and places. The theme that best develops this illustration is the discussion of fools and their foolishness. This discussion allows Shakespeare not only to portray human nature, but also to illicit a sort of ...

Part two of term paper
... with an untimely, ironic death. He discusses this as his father, Gloucester, leaves to ponder the "plotting" of his son Edgar. Edmund soliloquizes, "This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in fortune... ...we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars, as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion." (I. ii. 32) for the sole purpose of illustrating his wickedness. Edmund realizes that his evil is self-taught. This soliloquy sho ...