In King Lear, William Shakespeare mainly uses the two main parameters. These are the outer world and the inner world. Inside the walls, it is Lear who holds the power to do as he pleases, but outside the boundaries of brick and mortar, the same man is at the mercy of nature. Human hearts react harshly and devalue themselves when they are not given love. Lear is one of those characters who, due to family circumstances, relies on his daughters to provide him with love, but when he discovers that this love for him is no longer what it used to be, he reacts damaging not only the lives of the people around him, but himself as well. Shakespeare makes this clear to the reader through the contrasting settings of the palace and the moor. The composition of Lear's house and the events that take place there are used by Shakespeare to show the greed of man. Lear's family consists of him and his three daughters. From the beginning, it becomes clear to the reader that there is no mother figure in the family. This fact forces the reader to infer that it is from his daughters that Lear receives love. The first scene shows both the division of the kingdom and a marriage proposal for Cordelia. This juxtaposition of events shows that Lear is pursuing a “darker purpose” (1.1.35) for doing this. Cordelia is Lear's "last" daughter (1.1.82), who will soon be married either to the "vines of France...[or] to the milk of Burgundy." This foreshadows that after the events that unfold that night, there will be no reason for the three girls to stay at home with the king. Lear uses the metonymy of "vines... [and] milk", two symbols of the power of the two lands, to show that only good awaits her if she is married to one of these gentlemen... . middle of paper...... this oxymoron that he now only feels through pain. By placing Lear in a setting where his need for love and affection is not satisfied, Shakespeare shows how far man can go to feel a certain form of love. Love is like a double edged sword, Shakespeare is able to show this through the settings created of the palace and the moor. In the palace where Lear is in control, the lack of affection he feels is channeled into vain acts of evil against others; while, in Heath's setting, Lear is at the mercy of nature and turns to self-affliction as a means of filling the void within himself. Shakespeare shows the audience that in certain contexts, love is a tool that harms others through the vanity it brings out, but at the same time, it also harms itself by trying to replace the lack of love felt.Works CitedKing Lear