The Evil Within King Lear Written by Shakespeare, King Lear is known to be one of the greatest tragedies in the world. It deals with good and evil as a tragedy does. Some even describe it as an ‘evil tragedy. ' In the Renaissance, evil was the opposite of good and was inflected by your actions which could destroy the Great Chain of Being and the natural order. Good and evil can be hard to wrap your head around. This paper will try to shed light on what the origins of evil in King Lear are with the help of historical context, religion, and Paradise Lost by John Milton. Evil is the primary focus, and it has been interpreted differently throughout decades. In the Middle Ages good was deceived from God, while evil came from the Devil. These strong beliefs still existed in the Renaissance, but there was a change in views. This was the period when King Lear was written. It was believed that there was a great chain of being and a specific natural order, which God had created and humankind were allowed to move up or down the chain, as long as the natural order was kept intact. It was the individuals’ choice to use his or her intellect to move along the chain. Society and family became necessary for the people because that determined where you were placed in the hierarchical order. Evil was defined as the opposite of good. It was every action which could disturb the natural order especially regarding society and family (Degünther 2014, 4). Antagonists, known as villains,