As I contemplated these happenings, somehow I thought of our old friend Hamlet. This reputed procrastinator in my book is actually just mortally confused. He looks out at his native land and wonders who do I kill first?
And then it hit me. King Lear is the predecessor of Hamlet. Out of the decadence of Lear proceeds the dillema of Hamlet. Clever on Shakespeares part. After all, if he were to speak of corrupt, decadent rulers too directly, it might prove fatal. Oh damn now I have to start re-reading Shakespeare. Where does the rest of it fall in? Julius Ceasar, Othello. McBeth's place in this seems pretty clear, the story as it were of Hamlets stepfather and mother. Or is this duo the heir to the throne after Hamlet?
Interpreting Shakespeare as a dark commentary on official corruption is probably not going to lead to a comprehensive understanding of the bard, but it may yield some interesting insights.
I think that Blago is a villain or anti-hero of Shakespearean dimension. Or perhaps he is more like the crazy patriarch of the Karamozovs.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lear being the predecessor to Hamlet, I think that Lear was as far out as any of the bard's tragic characters. He literally goes mad. How could he evolve from madness into just being merely confused (Hamlet)?
I would think of Lear as being more like Hamlet's father. A ruler like Lear is the rotten part of Denmark.
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