Part III: Lies for the Liars

Synge seems to take a similar stance to my own in Playboy of the Western World, in that he appears to think good and evil is relative. If at any point the townspeople believed Christy was wrong in the murder of his father, they immediately changed their minds when he justified the murder. This is where Synge and I differ. Based on Playboy of the Western World, Synge believes that an "evil" act can be manipulated and twisted and contorted into a justified and good act. With enough lying and exaggerating, a scoundrel can become a saint. Even patricide can be justified with a smooth enough tongue. The point is, lying is what makes the world go 'round. Deception makes evil good and good evil. I disagree, but it could just be because I'm a bad liar and I'm bitter about it. Still, didn't Christy's lies kind of blow up in his face? Didn't he end up actually having to try and kill his father again? But before he was found out, the townspeople worshipped him. So maybe good and evil is just a matter of deceit. Maybe the good people in the world are just the best liars. That sounds pretty cynical, doesn't it?

Part II: Dig Out Your Soul

In the end, it seems that King Lear argues that it is up to the individual person to decide whether their actions are good or evil. Lear is the one that makes the final call on whether he'd ruled justly and whether he'd treated his daughters the way he should have, just as Gloucester was the only one who could justly decide if his actions were traitorous or justified, or how Kent was the only one who could judge if his loyalty was earned. In the end, these men were the only ones who could decide if their actions where correct. It may be a small-scale version of the question of "Good vs. Evil," but the basic idea still remains: the outside world can judge a person's actions, but it is ultimately up to the individual that committed whatever act it was to decide if what they do is good or evil. At least, that is the argument that King Lear seems to make. However, there is no real answer to the question of who decides what is good and evil.