Editing King Lear (section)

===Christianity===
[[File:King Lear and Cordelia (West, 1793).jpg|thumb|A 1793 painting of King Lear and Cordelia by [[Benjamin West]]]]
Critics are divided on the question of whether ''King Lear'' represents an affirmation of a particular Christian doctrine.{{sfn|Peat|1982|p=43}} Those who think it does posit different arguments, which include the significance of Lear's self-divestment.{{sfn|Kronenfeld|1998|p=181}} For some critics, this reflects the Christian concepts of the fall of the mighty and the inevitable loss of worldly possessions. By 1569, sermons delivered at court such as those at Windsor declared how "rich men are rich dust, wise men wise dust... From him that weareth purple, and beareth the crown down to him that is clad with meanest apparel, there is nothing but garboil, and ruffle, and hoisting, and lingering wrath, and fear of death and death itself, and hunger, and many a whip of God."{{sfn|Kronenfeld|1998|p=181}} Some see this in Cordelia and what she symbolised—that the material body are mere husks that would eventually be discarded so that the fruit can be reached.{{sfn|Peat|1982|p=43}}

Among those who argue that Lear is redeemed in the Christian sense through suffering are [[A.C. Bradley]]{{sfn|Bradley|1905|p=285}} and John Reibetanz, who has written: "through his sufferings, Lear has won an enlightened soul".{{sfn|Reibetanz|1977|p=108}} Other critics who find no evidence of redemption and emphasise the horrors of the final act include [[John Holloway (poet)|John Holloway]]{{sfn|Holloway|1961|p=}}{{page needed|date=November 2018}} and Marvin Rosenberg.{{sfn|Rosenberg|1992|p=}}{{page needed|date=November 2018}} William R. Elton stresses the pre-Christian setting of the play, writing that, "Lear fulfills the criteria for pagan behavior in life," falling "into total blasphemy at the moment of his irredeemable loss".{{sfn|Elton|1988|p=260}} This is related to the way some sources cite that at the end of the narrative, King Lear raged against heaven before eventually dying in despair with the death of Cordelia.{{sfn|Pierce|2008|p=xx}}

Harold Bloom argues that ''King Lear'' transcends a morality system entirely, and thus is one of the major triumphs of the play. Bloom writes that in the play there is, "... no theology, no metaphysics, no ethics".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Iannone|first=Carol|author-link=Carol Iannone|date=1997|title=[[Harold Bloom]] and ''King Lear'': Tragic Misreading |journal=[[The Hudson Review]]|doi=10.2307/3852392|volume=50|issue=1|pages=83–94|jstor=3852392}}</ref>