King Lear is usually considered Shakespeare's second greatest tragedy just behind Hamlet. It is an extraordinarily moving play and it speaks to a period in one's life that we look to with confused thoughts. For a moment set aside your current concerns on aging which are so caught up in social security reform, retirement planning, medicare, 19th Century drawing of Lear, Fool, Edgar, and Kent and the high cost of nursing home care.

Without being morbid we need to remind ourselves that the net effect of old age is death, but at the same time that grim destination is tempered by other considerations such as retirement, veneration, less responsibility, and much less toil. So old age is looked upon as a time to reap the rewards of a lifetime of work and service. Death is, of course, nearer, but with luck it will be relatively quick and not accompanied by unbearable pain.

In Shakespeare's time a relatively painless death was seen as the reward of a virtuous life. People who suffered long in agonizing death throes were believed great sinners who could now see the jaws of hell opening to receive them. Their cries of pain and anguish were the results of their efforts to hold back and delay death so long as possible. Although Shakespeare is not regarded as a particularly Christian writer, that view of death informs his basic ideas. One lesson we may note from this is that although Lear suffers greatly during the course of the play, his actual death is quick and peaceful. Perhaps his earlier madness led him to a wisdom and understanding that brought him peace in death. ...