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King Lear Act 3 Scene 2 Lear: Let the great gods… Lear: That’s sorry yet for thee. (Pages 71-72 Signet Classic) Examine this extract and relate it to any two thematic ideas in the play as a whole. In the play “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, there are two main thematic ideas; hope/despair and justice/injustice. In this extract Lear has been cast out into the wind and rain of the storm by his two daughters Goneril and Regan, with only the Fool at his side. He is soon joined by Kent, who tries to persuade Lear to take shelter in a nearby hovel. Lear however is on the brink of madness and agrees to go with Kent only after feeling sympathy for his Fool and “knave”. In this play the theme of hope and despair is highly illustrated by Shakespeare. The very structure of the work lends itself to creating suspense and uncertainty in the minds of the audience. In this scene, Lear and the Fool are in danger of dieing from the extreme conditions and lack of shelter; Lear is an old man, and a King whom is not suited to surviving in the conditions. However, hope surfaces when he is joined by “Caius” (the disguised Kent), who leads his master to shelter and in effect saves his life. There are many