Position:Home>Books & Authors> King Lear has often been called Shakespeare's greatest work. . .?

King Lear is not my favorite play (my favorite is Hamlet), but I can see its power!. The politics and insanity rival and perhaps surpass the contents in Hamlet!.

However, there is the problem of plausibility!. Can this really old man really be thundering around, jumping on tables, disowning children, and breaking up the country!? Could a king really just divide the country and expect everything to be peachy!? Was he just looking for a reason to validate a jaunt to bedlam!?

I have heard both sides on the King Lear issue!. So many times I hear it touted as the best play--but though it has all the technical elements of "the best," I don't FEEL like it is the best!. Maybe I have a hard time identifying with the characters, or maybe I'm just not that thrilled with the plot--whatever it is, Hamlet stirs and lives within me, while I barely hear King Lear shouting in the storm!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Honestly, Hamlet and King Lear are Shakespeare's greatest works!. If you're interested in a well-rounded approach to these plays (as well as the rest of Shakespeare's canon) check out Harold Bloom's "Shakespeare: Invention of the Human!."

Anyways, King Lear is such a powerful play for many reasons!. One being that, to quote Bloom, it "announce[s] the beginning and end of human nature and destiny!." King Lear is modeled after King Solomon!. His tragedy based on generational strife is central to all of us!.

The play's double plot between Lear/Cordelia and Gloucester/Edgar makes it extremely demanding as we see the redemptive power of love for one's father!.

The play is also extremely nihilistic!. At one point, Lear reflects on the nature of man by saying that stripped of all the refineries of society and status, we are nothing more than animals crawling through the dirt!. Lear went from the paramount of power and wealth to one reduced to begging in the storm!. In the end, is Lear really mad!? This debate still goes on, only adding to the fascination of the play!.

Not to mention that Edmund is one of Shakespeare's greatest villains, second only to Iago (but not by much)!.

Like I said, check out Bloom's wonderful book!. This is my favorite Shakespearean plays!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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While Hamlet is often considered Shakespeare's quintessential masterpiece, King Lear, while not as beloved and having fewer well-known quotable speeches and lines also ranks with most Shakespeare fans as among the best!. One reason why both these plays stand the test of time is that, like much of Shakespeare's work, the characters' human flaws and the themes of these plays are as relevant today as they were at the time of the plays' creation!. Who has not experienced the paralysis Hamlet does when confronted with two equally unpalatable choices, or the temptation to procrastination and endless weighing of options!? In the case of King Lear, his daughter Cordelia's choice to speak the truth about their relationship rather than say what is politically correct, and the insatiable ego of her father that punishes her for not sucking up enough -- who has not witnessed these kind of mind games going on in families or offices!? In both cases the folly of the title characters points a knowing finger at our own neuroses and sends a warning!. Don't take too long to make up your mind, because there comes a point when action becomes impossible through your own wishy-washiness, and your hesitation may have disastrous consequences!. And don't get hooked on the false praise of false friends, believe their hype about you and turn your back on your true friends who tell you the truth, or one day you'll end up out in the cold!. The "realism" of these plays is not to be looked for in the action, which --like in opera-- I don't believe is even intended to be literally plausible, but in these themes, relationships and character flaws!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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