To a contemporary audience, harmony and structure in society are strongly shaped by the moral exercise of authority. Kozintser's 1969 Koral Lir represents power relevant to the post-Stalinist, Khrushchev era. Lear's conceited perception of power is shown through animal imagery as he walks past falcons, dogs which are symbolic of servants and Lear's power over them. The wide-angled long-shot of the poor as they emerge on screen as silent but powerful characters highlights Lear's responsibility for his people is equally as important as his own needs. Abuse of power holds negative implications to social structure in all contexts, even to the modern democratic society which depends on its leaders to make wise decisions. Lear's irresponsible governance leads him to ask an anguished rhetorical question, "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life/ and thou no breath at all?" where he realises during his downfall, the chaos he has left behind. The tattered and dirty costumes of the peasants coupled with violent and conflicting images foreshadow the suffering and decay of the entire nation as a consequence of Lear's wrongly wielded power. Although the notions of power change over time, the issue of responsible leadership continues to hold relevance to all audiences. .
The domestic values of the play lay heavy emphasis on the significance and value of family ties and the patriarch's awareness of their parental roles. Following both the major plot of King Lear's family, and the parallel plot of Gloucester's family, the parental flaws of the patriarch's King Lear and Gloucester become evident, becoming the catalysts to the domestic anarchy to follow. Within the original context, most Jacobeans had regarded the preservation of family unity and ties highly, prioritising the idea as one of the dominant values in society. Through the opening scene of Gloucester talking to Kent on the matter of Edmund, Shakespeare's use of diction in "yet was his mother fair, there was good sport at his making" highlights the inappropriateness of the statement he had endured to his son.
