The present invention provides a liquid crystal display that can have both sufficient front contrast ratio and front white brightness. The present invention is a liquid crystal display including: a front polarizing plate; a liquid crystal cell; a back polarizing plate; and an optical element providing a polarizing effect, the components being arranged in the stated order, wherein the back polarizing plate has a higher transmittance than the front polarizing plate, the back polarizing plate has a lower contrast than the front polarizing plate, and the optical element providing a polarizing effect has a principal transmittance k1 of 80 to 86%, and a principal transmittance k2 of 2 to 8%.