Transgression Of Identities

King Lear has been often regarded as one of the most tragic stories among Shakespeare's plays.This thesis attempts to offer an ethical explanation for this tragedy,revealing that the tragic nature of this play is caused by the characters'transgression of their ethical identities in the family and in the state.This thesis analyzes the main characters' transgression of identities through four pairs of ethical relationships in King Lear,namely the father-daughter relationship,the father-son relationship,the siblings' relationship and the couples'relationship.By analyzing these relationships,the author argues that the characters have transgressed against their identities as fathers,sons and daughters,rulers,subjects,sisters,brothers,wives,husbands,lovers and even ethical human beings in their various situations.All these cases of transgression result in the conflicts among these characters;they turn against each other and hurt each other for their own interests without caring about the ethical rules and their obligations toward each other which finally lead to the ruin of all the main characters involved except Edgar.Nevertheless,this does not suggest that King Lear is a completely dark play in that some characters show their abidance by their ethical identities,providing a trace of hope of redemption and restoration at the very end of the play,thus brightening a bit the stage and the audience's heart when the curtain finally falls.