King Lear And Tuesdays With Morrie

In the play No Fear King Lear, Cordelia is one of the characters that has deliberately sacrificed, surrendered and forfeited something that highlights her values. Cordelia sacrifices her potential wealth and power from the kingdom by answering King Lear’s questions. Her answers yearns her from the truth in a world full of forgiveness and also her personal integrity in society. Cordelia scarifies illuminates these stories intimal conversations with King Lear both in and out of jail.

Since the start of time, and the preceding generations, death has impacted people and the way they act. A sudden, or even an expected death of a loved one, takes a toll on a person. It’s human nature for people to process and want to make sense of death and the loss it leaves behind. The five stages of grief reflect this process of dealing with the loss of a loved one. Through these stage of grieving, people can get lost either searching for answers or trying to get past it. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare depicts the role human nature plays in the striving for answers and justice surrounding death. Even though Hamlet was written early in the seventeenth century, the depiction of death and human nature still rings true today; people and

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

To begin with, the first important aphorism that Morrie is “Once you learn how to die you learn how to live”. He was saying if they knew they’re going to die they would think and live differently. In fact, Morrie said “everyone knows they’re going to die ‘’ he said again but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently’’(125).

Before we can understand the varying fates of these two men we must examine the prior years of life that scripted them. Morrie Schwartz lived for people and the opportunity to welcome them into his heart. He took the time to pursue a relationship with the student that would one day write his dying testimony, he took the time to cultivate a fruitful marriage and he took the time to give his fullest attention to everyone he encountered. Morrie cast off the deceptions of status and wealth, instead devoting himself to his family, his students, and the bouncing rhythms of the dance floor. Above all else, Morrie Schwartz clung to his guiding principle, "love each other or perish" (Mor, 91).

William Shakespeare's King Lear is a tragedy of a king who is unable to comprehend the truth of the human condition until he is stripped of his kingdom, family, and the basic components of human dignity. At the end of his existence, even the one person who he loved, his daughter Cordelia, is taken away. Similarly, Morrie Schwartz in the popular nonfiction book Tuesdays with Morrie does not fully come to terms with himself and what is valuable in life until he has been cruelly stripped of what makes his life meaningful by a chronic, terminal illness. Both Morrie and Lear do not gain full understanding until they lose everything.

It takes countless decades and mistakes to acquire enough experience, knowledge, and good judgement to be considered a wise individual – a person everyone looks up to, and asks for advice. Wisdom is understanding and seeing the truth in life. It is the capability to recognize the aspects of life that are truly important and distinguishing them from the aspects that are essentially useless. Many authors incorporate one or more characters within their novels that possess the characteristics of a wise individual. In both Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and King Lear by William Shakespeare, the protagonists Morrie and Lear are able to acquire wisdom after undergoing hardships and tribulations. Morrie is undeniably wiser than Lear as shown through his view of society, family, and his philosophies revolving around forgiveness and suffering.

He does not see it as something fatal, does not worry, and even make some jokes about it. Just because he gives it another meaning, he lives better and happier with his family. There are also many other examples such as money, power, and fame. For many of us, these last three things are essential. We think that they are requirements for our happiness, but it is not always true. We think this way because of the meaning we create. Morrie helps us know that other things such as love and family are more important.

Although it is never too late to learn, those lessons learned in old age are the most difficult and the most costly. In his play KING LEAR, Shakespeare illustrates that wisdom does not necessarily come with age. The mistakes that Lear and Gloucester make leave them vulnerable to disappointment and suffering at a time in their lives when both should be enjoying peace and contentment. Although both Lear and Gloucester achieve wisdom before they die, they pay a dear price for having lived life blindly.

Morrie chose to live everyday as if it was his last, because in reality any day could have been. Morrie stated “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” (82) This statement reveals his outlook about his final days on earth. Morrie decided to become more involved in his life, once he accepted the fact he was going to die. Morrie took a good look at his life and determined what was truly important to him. Morrie chose to not waste his final days fearing the inevitable, he wanted to spend time making the most of it. Morrie also stated “Lear to forgive yourself and to forgive others.” Morrie wanted no regrets. He wanted to correct the wrongdoings of his past. Morrie learned to forgive others, and more importantly himself. He was able to free his conscience allowing him to live more fulfilling final days. Morrie did everything he could to make the most of his last days. He spent his hours teaching his friends and family about life's important lessons. Morrie said “Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left?” Morrie spent the last year of his life with people he loved. Even in his weakest moments he wanted to be surrounded with love and affection. Morrie realized his death was inevitable, and did not wallow in self-pity. Unlike King Lear, Morrie truly lived a life of no regret, and did not isolate himself from those who loved and cared for him.

In books and in life older people are usually seen as wise and so this has become a stereotype. Older leaders are usually shown to be strong and always do the right thing because there wiser than their younger counterparts. This stereotype has become a little overused and so when you see a piece that goes against that norm, it becomes very interesting. In William Shakespeare’s King Lear the theme of sanity and corruption is developed through the motif of wisdom and age to illustrate the idea that older people are not always wiser than younger people. This play flips the idea of wisdom in relation to age on its head, which makes the plot all the more interesting.

Discuss the three different variants of madness presented when the mad king, the mad fool, and the mad beggar all meet in a hovel on the heath in a storm. Can anything be concluded about madness in general from this scene?

With death comes self- awareness. Lear has a clear perception of reality as a king and loving father; however it's evident that Lear's daughters give him a completely different identity than the one he gives himself. It suggests his old age and faults. During Lear's first identity crisis, he rhetorically asks “Does any here know me? Why, this is not Lear (I. iv. 10)” as if he doesn't quite know how to define himself other than a “king”. A godly manifestation much? What Lear asks is to be labeled with power, but his daughters concur the frailty of

King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this

Poetry is an art form that has often been highly regarded. It brings together some of the most complex forms of writing in the English language. Two poems that focus on the same topic may sometimes, have completely different views and provide perspectives that may not have been considered by the other. Two of these Poems are Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death by Roger McGough and On Death by Anne Killigrew. The former poem by Roger McGough talks of how the speaker does not wish to die the peaceful death of an elderly person but rather the chaotic death of a young man. In death is nothing at all the speaker proposes that all should be as happy as before his death, and not view it in such a negative and secretive light.