Review of Drama: King Lear and Death of a Salesman

Conflict


King Lear
1) The leading character, King Lear, wished to divide his kingdom based on how much his daughters claimed to love him and retire by living for different periods of the year at each daughters house.

2) What stood in his way was the fact that his eldest daughters id not truly love him as they professed but rather, they simply wanted his kingdom; so instead of accommodating their father when he wished to stay at their homes, like they promised, they turned him away.

3) The high point of King Lear is when his eldest daughters and Edmund die; Lear finally comes to his senses and then dies on the body of the only child who loved him, Cordelia.

Death of a Salesman
1) The leading character in this play wanted to be the perfect salesman and become successful as his brother, Ben.

2) It was Willy's own personality that stood in his way. Willy was delusional and refused to acknowledge his short-comings and failures.

3) The high point of this play is when Biff tells his father   that they are both a "dime a dozen" and admits that he is sorry for causing his father hurt . After this the father-son conflict ends and Willy realizes that Biff still loves him and always has.

Character Analysis


King Lear
1) The characters in King Lear are true to life. We see human nature coming out in the plays characters especially greed (through Lear's eldest daughters), unconditional love and loyalty (through Cordelia and Kent) and human folly in Lear's love of flattery.

2) Most of the human characteristics in King Lear is revealed through the dialogue and actions the characters carry out.

3) The driving force behind King Lear is his need for flattery. His madness also contributes as his mental state is quite unstable. This causes him to make rash decisions.

4) When King Lear does change and comes to his senses, it is because his beloved daughter, Cordelia, has been executed. This is true to life because the loss of a child could change any parent.

Death of a Salesman
1) The characters in this play are true to life, especially Linda. The characters all display the flaws in humans. For example, Willy and his mental illness, Biff with his inability to complete things he has started. also in Happy's need for his fathers approval and attention and in Linda's support of her husband.

2) The characters in this play, like in King Lear, are revealed through dialouge. Also, through their actions toward each other.

3) The driving force behind Willy is his need to be the "perfect" salesman and to emulate his brothers success. This need eventually drives him to madness. This was mainly because he became delusional and had visions of his brother visiting and telling him that time is running out and constantly reminding him that "he went into the jungle at 17 and came out rich at 21". This may have caused Willy feel that he is inferior.

4) Willy changes, in a sense both for the worst and for the better, when Biff admits that he is sorry for causing him hurt. Willy changes for the better in the sense that he now has relief from believing that his son had no respect for him and did not love him. He changed for the worst in the sense that he now believed that he needed to help Biff get a start in life and to do this he needed money; Willy is convinced that his life insurance will be that money, he then commits suicide.

Setting


King Lear

Critical Standards useful for Drama, Novel, Motion Pictures


King Lear
1) The chief emphasis in King Lear is the human character greed. Almost everyone  in the play is trying to get more of something; Lear wants more flattery, his eldest daughters want power and Edmund wants wealth.

2) The purpose of the play King Lear is to illustrate what greed can cause people to do.

3) This play is realistic as it does not romantasize or sugar coat the greed of the eldest daughters or their mistreatment of their father. It also shows vividly how greed can cause families to fall apart. This is seen when Goneril and Regan have their younger sister killed and Goneril then kills her sister and herself. Their father then gives up hope and dies. In the end, the entire family dies simply because people wanted more than they had.

4) Yes, the play King Lear shows life as it is.

5) This play does present problems with human relationship. This is seen through Regan and Goneril's jealousy of Lear's love for Cordelia.

6) No, this play does not glamorize life or give a Disney ending; in fact, all the major characters DIE.

Death of a Salesman
1) The emphasis in Death of a Salesman