King Lear no Higeki (King Lear’s tragedy)

When referring to Shakespeare’s tragedies, several concepts come and crush into our minds: envy, betrayal, rebellion, revenge, death. The story follows the worst possible course of action, leading the reader into an understanding of a no-going-back point. Surprisingly, there is another vision and interpretation for this situation. According to Coversi, L. (2014), “the word TRAGEDY cannot only be used to loosely describe any sort of disaster or misfortune, but also to refer to a work of art that probes with high seriousness questions concerning the role of man in the universe”. In that sense, it is quite common among readers to associate the personification of that branch of Shakespearean Drama with Hamlet, but the prince of Denmark is not the only character who actually plays a role in a gruesome murder-like story.

King Lear tells the story and tragedy of a king who decided to step aside and “confer to the younger strengths” (his three daughters) the duty of rule the kingdom of Britain. However, the dominion would be divided by considering how much the women love his father. The consequences of his decision led Britain into a state of anarchy and chaos where love is what seems to be triggering the course actions from the beginning to the end of the play.

Surprinsingly, the story can be also found in the 1985-Japanese-French epic film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa: Ran. The mighty Hidetora Ichimonji, an elderly Segoku-era warlord, has decided to abdicate as a ruler and to let his three sons: Taro, Jiro, and Saburo (direct analogy with Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia) to govern. Stepping aside was the first step to led the kingdom fall into a strife, destroying not only the authority Ichimonji once had but also the familiar connection as two of the brothers indulge for greed, lust of power and revenge.      

As Lear’s only wish lies on what could be defined as a succession for his future incapacity to take care of his dominion:  

Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.

Give me the map there. Know that we have divided

In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent

To shake all cares and business from our age;

Conferring them on younger strengths, while we

Unburthen'd crawl toward death.

(Act I. Scene I.)

Hidetora only wants to spend the rest of his life as an honored guest in any of his son’s castle. Unfortunately, the two older sons -blinded by envy and greed- attempt to conspire against the monarch and everything he possesses.   

Apart from the ones mentioned, there are also lots of similar aspects that establish a direct connection with the Shakespeare’s play, but what makes this film interesting and worth watching is its adaptation of the tragedy to modern times, integrating different elements of the oriental art.

Work Cited

·         tragedy (Encyclopedia Britannica)

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/601884/tragedy

·         King Lear: Entire Play (King Lear: Entire Play)

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/lear/full.html