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Violence : Best Reaction to Violence ? Throughout Bond’s plays there is an analysis, sometimes implicit, of the nature of violence, its causes and its consequences. Each of the plays takes the analysis a step further. I have chosen to concentrate on Lear because it is one of the most representative pieces of work about violence in our society. In this play Bond’s humanistic philosophy is clear : “aggression is an ability but not a necessity”. He condemns our society which uses violence supposedly for the wellbeing of people, but without worrying about the disastrous consequences. In this paper, I shall argue that violence is not the best reaction to aggression. And I shall describe its causes and its consequences throughout Lear; though giving some examples from The Sea and Narrow Road to the Deep North to demonstrate all the facets of this aggressivity. The violence that Bond condemns is not violence in general but specifically social injustice and war. It is present from the very beginning of the play in the summary execution of a worker accused of sabotage. This already sets the tragic mood of the play. One of the great debates of Lear is the question: “do the ends justify the means?” This is one of