Say if I do; the laws are mine, not thine.
Who can arraign me for ‘t?
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. A defiant Goneril says this to Albany, believing that as Queen she is above the law. She has been challenged by Albany about her letter to Edmund implicating her in a plot to kill Albany. Here Goneril displays her father Lear’s authoritarianism. Justice is an important theme in this play and the issue is: does the law of the land apply to the country’s ruler?