King Lear as a Tragedy by Bradley Shakespeare's King Lear meets the criteria established by Bradley for a Shakespearean tragedy. King Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of a man's decisions. This fictitious man is Lear, King of England, whose decisions greatly alter his life and the lives of those around him. Since Lear holds the status of king, he is, as expected, a man of great power but sinfully gives up all this power to his daughters as a reward for their display of love towards him. This premature abdication of the throne sets off a chain reaction of events that sends him through a hellish journey. King Lear is a metaphorical description of a man's journey through hell to atone for his sin. At the beginning of the play you can almost immediately see that Lear begins to make mistakes that will ultimately result in his downfall. The very first words he utters in the play are: -"...Give me the map there. Know that we have divided our kingdom into three, and it is our intention to shake all worries and affairs from our age, empowering them with the most young while we, burdenless, crawl to death..." (Act I, Sc. I, Ln 38-41) This gives the reader the first indication of Lear's intention to abdicate his throne. He also goes on to offer pieces of his kingdom to his daughters as a form of reward for his proof of love. "Great rivals in the love of our youngest daughter, long in our court they have made their amorous sojourn, and here they must have an answer. Tell me, my daughters (from now we will both deprive ourselves of the government, of the interests of the territory, of the worries of the state), Who among you will we say loves us more? So that our greatest generosity may extend where nature challenges with merit." (Act I, Sc. I, Ln 47-53) This is the first and most significant of the many sins he commits in this play. By abdicating his throne to feed his ego, he breaks the great chain of being that the King must not challenge the position God has given him. This weakening of God's authority results in the chaos that tears Lear's world apart. Leaving him, in the end, with nothing. Lear later begins to banish those around him who truly care for him as at this stage he cannot see beyond the mask that evil wears. He banishes Kent, a faithful servant of Lear, and his youngest and previously beloved daughter, Cordelia. This results in Lear surrounding himself with people who only wish to use him, which leaves him very vulnerable to attack. This is exactly what happens and it is through this that he discovers his mistakes and corrects them. After committing his sins, Lear is abandoned and estranged from his kingdom, which causes him to lose his madness. While lost in his grief and self-pity, the fool is introduced to guide Lear into the sane world and to help find the Lear who had been a little lost behind a hundred knights but who is now out in the open and scared as a child. The fact that Lear has now been pushed out from behind his Knights is dramatically represented by the fact that he is actually standing on the lawns of his castle. The terrified child who is now without shelter is dramatically represented by Lear's sudden madness and his rage and anger are seen through the thunderous time that is being experienced. All of this contributes to Lear's suffering due to the gross sins he has committed. The climax of this hell experienced by Lear to repay his sins is found at the end of the play, when Cordelia is killed. Lear says this before he dies because he cannot live without his daughter. "Scream, scream, scream! Oh, you are. 1988.