Well here it is in all its glory or lack of it. Its not as good as some of the others I've read so far but that's alright I've accepted the fact that there are some pretty darn smart people in our class. Without further ado my paper.
Matthew Helm
Literature 300
Professor Sexson
Final Paper
Mything the Point
First off the title of this paper was a genius idea (thank you Professor Sexson) since my paper will probably hit nowhere near the points I try to make within it. King Lear is argued to be Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. I agree, but I think that a major parallel can be drawn between Lear and several other characters in his plays. Othello and Antony are put into equally tragic situations in my opinion. What is it that these three characters share that makes their individual stories so tragic? The common factor that all three men share is their love for the people closest to them. I believe LOVE makes fools and witless neanderthals out the most intelligently passionate individuals in Shakespeare's plays. Let us examine this quotation that has been taken from Northrop Frye's on Shakespeare. “Perhaps the best way of finding our bearings in these mammoth structures is to look for clues in the words that are so constantly repeated that it seems clear they're being deliberately impressed on us. I'd like to look at three of these words in particular: the words, “nature,” “nothing” and “fool”(Frye 104). By close examination of these three words across the different plays and through their characters I will show how the title character in King Lear shares many similar traits in common with some of Shakespeare's other major characters.
Let us start by examining what makes the story of King Lear so sad and unfortunate. As I sat down to write this paper I couldn't help feeling like I'd heard this story somewhere before. I started racking my brain and looking through my book shelf to jog my memory. As my gaze slid across the bible I knew what biblical figure King Lear reminded me of, Lucifer. The reason I believe their similar is because they are both cast out of their original places. Forgive me if I'm making a bit of a leap here but I think it fits with the theme. Much like the Lucifer, Lear was a prominent and well respected figure before his fall from grace. Here is the first place we see Frye's examination of the word come into play. By basing the decision of his succession upon a stupidly designed test of love Lear is setting himself up for failure and heartbreak. Anyone could say they “Love” someone but it is another thing altogether to actually demonstrate it. I'm sure before his fall from grace Lucifer loved god as well. Considering the actions of his children and their “Nature” parallels can be seen between the way Lear's two oldest daughters cast him out and how god casts out Lucifer and all the others who followed him in his rebellion. All in all I can't help but think had Lear concocted a different method of deciding his successor this whole “foolish” situation could have been avoided altogether. Next I'll examine how Othello's trustful “Nature” proves his undoing.
In the story of Othello readers are presented with a faithful and brave protagonist. Othello's nature is to trust those closest to him until they betray that trust or he decides they broken their bonds with him. Admittedly the stories and characters are far different which is one of the reasons why I think King Lear still trumps Othello as Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. Lear's down fall was for the most part his own doing. Othello had in my opinion hands down the greatest villain in all of literature, Iago, to contribute to his deterioration. Iago's cunning, guile, and general ability to be deceptive trumps that of Lear's daughters by leaps and bounds. He takes advantage of these qualities by using them to play on Othello's trust in him. By exploiting Othello's trusting “nature” Iago essentially allows Othello and his friends to tear themselves apart with little to no effort on his own part. This is why I believe Othello and King Lear are very similar characters with a different name in two different stories. Their self indulgent actions allow for those around them to easily take advantage and gain what they want from these two main title characters. Now we'll move on and examine how Antony, the final character in this tragic tripod, is similar to both characters.
In one of the most epic love stories of all time we see the tragic elements of the first two characters in this paper wrapped up and demonstrated to perfection in Mark Antony. To his credit Antony is one of the most prominent figures in all of history. While his fame and fortunes are known to all those who have lived since his time this never prevented him from making the same mistakes we mere “mortals” have fallen victim to over and over again. According to Professor Michael Sexson there were three things that Antony and Cleopatra needed to do to become immortal. They needed to change what they say, see, and do. I believe that because of these things Antony becomes the perfect model to embody the tragic traits that Othello and Lear shared. Because of this Antony's fate was all but sealed when he began his love affair with Cleopatra. Another thing that I believe influenced Antony was his the lack of private time and intimacy with Cleopatra. Their relationship became more of an on stage act than a meaningful relationship which is stressful for any couple. Antony's proud nature and foolish choices left him with nothing at the end of his long and distinguished life besides being part of a story that will live on until the end of time.
The words nature, fool, and nothing are extremely important to all three characters. Its hard to say which characters natures make them bigger fools or which fool is left with nothing due to their own devices. I believe that the natures of all three characters are similar because much of what Shakespeare wrote was similar to something he had already written. Its hard to ignore the similarities between his many characters. I believe these three characters are the most tragic of all his characters that I have read and examined. Their faults only serve to make readers feel more for them when they get whats coming to them. The most glaring similarity I noticed they all seemed to be the architects of the own destruction for the most part. Granted their were extenuating characters and circumstances that played a part in their respective downfalls. Ultimately each character was solely responsible for what happened to him and has no one else to blame for their faults.
In summation I believe Frye says it best in the introduction to his book. “If we study only the historical, or 1564-1616, Shakespeare, we take away all of his relevance to our own time”(Frye 1). The point of this whole paper wass to show that while Lear may have been the most tragic of all Shakespeare's plays all three characters show the same traits and issues that make them memorable in peoples minds. Their actions and decisions left long lasting imprints up the masses of this world never to be forgotten but remembered for eternity.
