I appreciate this comparison because there are obvious parallels. It seems that everything that can go wrong with Lear, does. Most of his family tries to force him to curse God and die (Job 2:9). In acts three and four, Lear's emotional pain and suffering are heightened as he wanders around in the awful storm with his fool. His madness culminates as we see him run into Edgar and Gloucester in act four. He is covered in wild flowers and babbles in half-nonsensical mutterings.
I think the one of the primary differences between Job and King Lear is their reactions to the terrible suffering and abandonment that enters into their lives. While Job stays stalwart and unflinching, Lear stumbles further and further along the path of insanity. He has no belief on which to cling, and there is no God to save him. Even Cordelia and the rest of his loyal followers are unfit saviors. Much of the criticism I read on King Lear pronounced this as the most awful tragedy that Shakespeare wrote. It makes sense then, for the main player in this play to be compared to Job.
I know we don't love SparkNotes, but I felt that this link provides interesting information on the stories that may have been the back bone for the story of King Lear. Very interesting!
King Lear.
Job.
Lear does seem to suffer a lot like Job. Everytime he tries to do something things just go from bad to worse. The major difference between Job and Lear is that Lear has reasons that he can blame his problems on and Job is guiltless.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I like this parallel because very often we see Christ figures in literature, but it's more rare to see another type of character. Although I certainly feel worse for Job, I do feel bad for Lear. A few silly and selfish actions don't necessitate complete familial overhaul.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating! I wonder if Job ever went a little crazy like Lear... To be honest, I don't see him as a Job figure just because the whole backstory of Job revolves around the fact that God looked at a perfectly faithful, stalwart man and decided to prove his faithfulness. Job did nothing beside making good decisions in order to become the target of such woes and he handled them admirably. Lear, on the other hand, got old and got loony-- his madness can only excuse so much, especially at the beginning. He definitely made his bed and can't handle lying in it. He wasn't awesome and faultless. So the only parallel I see is the suffering, and even then, the sources of the suffering are different.
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