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King Lear: Bribery, Corruption, And The Trial

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Bribery, Corruption, and Death. Oh, My!
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, William Shakespeare’s King Lear, and Franz Kafka’s The Trial, corruption plays a central role. In the first, European greed for ivory leads to the corruption of individuals like Kurtz and the abuse of the native population. In the second, King Lear’s devolution of power to his corrupt daughters leads to a war and the deaths of ten characters. In the third, a corrupt organization upends Josef K.’s life. In all, power leads to corruption, which in turn leads to ruin.
In Heart of Darkness, the “precious trickle of ivory” from the Congo begets and corrupts everything (Conrad, 18). Kurtz, in his pursuit of ivory, becomes distorted. He changes from a “universal genius” to a barbaric figure that places the heads of decapitated natives on spikes facing him in worship and sick veneration (Conrad, 72). …show more content…

King Lear devolves his power to Regan and Goneril, two corrupt daughters greedy for power, who lie about loving him. Immediately upon receiving half of the kingdom, they plot against King Lear, with Goneril urging immediate action, arguing to “do something, and i’th’heat” (Shakespeare, 1.1.304). To ensure their control, they rid King Lear of his knights, entreating him “to bring but five-and-twenty” and refusing to house more, thus making him completely dependent on them (Shakespeare, 2.4.245). Through their nefarious actions, the sisters not only demonstrate their lack of love for King Lear, but also their own corruption and power-lust, which lead to King Lear’s mistreatment and war with France, as Cordelia returns to care for her father and restore him to the throne. Many, including King Lear and all his daughters, die. Ultimately, a potentially corrupt act gave power to two definitely corrupt individuals and resulted in a chain of events that claimed the lives of ten characters, again proving the destructive power of

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