By the time Shakespeare was writing King Lear, the English had survived years of civil war and political and religious upheaval. Considerable turmoil followed the death of Henry VIII, and under his oldest daughter's rule (Mary I), the country experienced both civil and religious chaos, with the conflict between Catholicism and the Church of England resulting in much bloodshed.
After Mary's death, Elizabeth I assumed the throne, leading to a period of extended peace. In spite of their contentment with Elizabeth's rule, the populace worried significantly about England's future because Elizabeth was unmarried, and she refused to select a possible heir. No citizen wanted a repeat of the events that marked the earlier transfer of power. Thus, the lack of an heir created fears about a possible successor to her throne, which were finally resolved in 1603 when Elizabeth appointed James IV of Scotland to be her heir, and eventually, the new king of England.
The English understood that a strong country needed an effective leader to protect it from potential invasion. Elizabeth's powerful leadership had saved England when the Spanish attempted an invasion in 1588, and much of the credit for her success was attributed to her earlier efforts to unite England and to end the dissention that was destroying the country. No ruler would have deliberately chosen to divide a kingdom, not after having witnessed the conflicts that had marked England's recent history. The division of a country would have weakened it, leading to squabbles between petty lords and the absence of an effective central government, and thus, the absence of an effective defense. After this long period of uncertainty, Shakespeare's Elizabethan audience would have been horrified at Lear's choice to divide his kingdom and so, create disunity.
