"The theme of King Lear may be stated in psychological as well as
biological terms. So put, it is the destructive, the ultimately
suicidal character of unregulated passion, its power to carry
human nature back to chaos....
The predestined end of unmastered passion is the suicide of the
species. That is the gospel according to King Lear. The play
is in no small measure an actual representation of that process.
The murder-suicide of Regan-Goneril is an example. But it is
more than a picture of chaos and impending doom. What is the
remedy for chaos? it asks. What can avert the doom? The
characters who have mastered their passions give us a glimpse of
the answer to those questions."
…
