Much of this scene focuses on Lear's mental disintegration. Once again, Lear deals with his personal tragedy in a variety of ways. For the first time, Lear focuses his attention on others' lives, those who are as wretched as the king himself:
Poor naked wretches, wherso'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your loo'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these? (III.4.28–32).
These words are regretful, remorseful, empathetic, and compassionate for the poor, a population that Lear has not noticed before. Lear recognizes the parallels between their lives and his current situation. In a real sense, his pity for the poor is also a reflection of the pity he feels for his own situation. He finally feels compassion for the poor, only because he has become one of them.
With this extension of pity comes a new social awareness. Lear realizes that he has done nothing to aid the poor people in his kingdom. Instead, he has contributed their demise. He chastises himself saying:
O! I have ta'en
Too little care of this. Take physic, Pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
And show the heavens more just. (III.4.32–36).
Lear acknowledges that justice comes from man and heaven. Lear is the anointed king, God's representative, and thus, shares the responsibility for dispensing justice on earth. He recognizes that he bears responsibility for both his own problems and for those of others, who suffer equally. Once again, Lear is revealed as a complex and sympathetic figure, one who defies easy definition.
