摘要：In the play King Lear, Shakespeare uses the words 'nature', 'natural' and 'unnatural' over forty times. It makes an interesting study to know the meanings of the word 'nature'. The article examines the aspects of human nature, namely human greed and human need. It segregates and views very closely the characters that stand for these traits. The present article also studies the two strongly contrasting views of nature of characters. The characters Lear, Gloucester, Albany and Kent exemplify the philosophy of Bacon and Hooker and stand for Reason-in-Madness. The characters Edmund, Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan carry bold rationalism to such extremes that it becomes Madness-in-Reason.
