A Work of Literary Art

Although King Lear is the least popular of the four great tragedies, it contains an element of unclearness that causes an audience to further question the author's decision to end on such an inconclusive note.  Similar to a great piece of artwork, King Lear forces its audience to delve somewhere to obtain a greater understanding of the meaning within the words.  Although delving into a personal experience is effective when connecting to a complex situation within literature, it's not always conclusive.  Some situations are so far fetched that they will not directly connect with experiences that are less extravagent.  But the lack of dramatic extravagence in an experience does not make it any less monumental, as a simple experience can unlock the iron gate guarding a truth.  Practically every person knows of a time in their life when a dispute with a parent created that feeling of distance and internal regret.  Take an argument about staying out past curfew.  This argument maybe lasted ten of fifteen minutes, and certainly did not involve any banishment from the household.  Although this argument seems miniscule, it allows the teenager to step into the place of the parent and see the situation from another side.  What separates Cordelia from her sisters is her ability to step into the place of her father and understand the emotions he experiences upon their reunion.  The nugatory argument over curfew is still very distant from the emotional battle between Lear and his daughters, but the emotions are very similar.  And that's the wonderful think about literary works of art.  They are open to a great amount of interpretation and allow the audience to search through emotions and relate emotionally to the characters within the pages.


Photo courtesy of:  http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/37/1937-004-C9D1A945.jpg