Let the great gods
That keep this dreadful pother o’er our heads
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
That hast within thee undivulgèd crimes
Unwhipped of justice. Hide thee, thou bloody hand,
Thou perjured, and thou simular of virtue
That art incestuous. Caitiff, to pieces shake,
That under covert and convenient seeming
Has practiced on man’s life. Close pent-up guilts,
Rive your concealing continents and cry
These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man
More sinned against than sinning.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2. Lear calls on the gods who summoned up the storm to seek out and strike the enemies of good. He calls for justice against all who have committed secret crimes and gone unpunished by justice. He lists out bloody murderers, perjurers and men who practice incest and pretend to be virtuous. Lear believes that the gods will be kinder to him, because the sins against him are worse than the sins he has committed himself. But is that really so? For Lear certainly brought on or contributed to his own suffering by his own foolish pride and blindness to the truth.