This is a massive theme in each work, so I will just give you a quick sense of it. In King Lear, the king betrays his youngest daughter Cordelia by taking away her inheritance because she will not flatter dishonestly. Then later, his other two daughters betray him and take away everything he has. In the case of Lear the core of the betrayal focuses primarily on the mistakes that Lear himself makes. He allows...
This is a massive theme in each work, so I will just give you a quick sense of it. In King Lear, the king betrays his youngest daughter Cordelia by taking away her inheritance because she will not flatter dishonestly. Then later, his other two daughters betray him and take away everything he has. In the case of Lear the core of the betrayal focuses primarily on the mistakes that Lear himself makes. He allows his vanity to blind him to his daughters' treachery and fails to see the love of Cordelia until it is too late. The betrayal comes down to his own faults, since he allows it to happen through his foolishness.
In the Death of a Salesman, the betrayal is over values. Willy Loman betrays his values of honest connection, family, and affection for the vapid goal of being important, wealthy, and liked. He works constantly and stresses the boys with ideas of wealth and success. The best example is when he purchases stockings for his mistress that he has not purchased for his own wife. When his son discovers this he feels the full betrayal. His father values feeling like an important man more than values his own family.
This only scratches the surface, but it should be enough to help you get started.
No comments:
Post a Comment