The roll of thunder, a flash of light; nature is a force little known to man, yet Shakespeare takes possession of the beast and tames it to his advantage in his work. Nature in Shakespeare's King Lear is not simply one of the many themes to discover and analyze, but can be considered the foundation of the entire work. From kingship to personal human relationships, from representations of the physical world to notions of the celestial realm, or even the representation of human nature to the use of animal images; nature saturates every line of King Lear. In this context I will delve into Shakespeare's King Lear, discovering how nature helps to represent the two extremes of human nature: good and evil. Through the help of nature, Shakespeare tells how humans are neither good nor bad. Elements of the natural world, such as Mother Nature and the animal kingdom, are invoked in the characters' speech, as they use their different ideals about what nature is to rationalize their actions. For example, Lear sees himself as the controller of t...