Most books today seem to have many similarities and differences. This is further proven in the two books that are being studied at the moment: King Lear and Death of a Salesman. King Lear begins with a father putting his trust into his three daughters and then immediately being betrayed by them. Death of a Salesman is about what any average middle aged man would be going through if he feels dissatisfied with how he has lived his life. Willy Louman and King Lear share very great similarities when it comes to their characters being portrayed in both books. The similarities between both characters are as follows: Firstly, they were both arrogant men; they enjoyed loads of flattery; additionally, they ignored the more devoted child. The offspring which showed them loyalty and love the most; thirdly, they failed to recognize that their flaws had great impacts on their children. On the other hand, the characters’ differences were first of all that King Lear’s Wife was dead whilst Willy Louman’s wife was there to support him in his time of troubled time; Secondly, both their tragedies were based on different situations; And also, Willy was a hard working man who tried to achieve his little “American Dream” whilst King Lear was a laid back man who was willing to give away his power and authority to others- in this case, his daughters.
Willy Louman and King Lear both ironically had the same thing in common that is they both were arrogant men. Willy was a man who loved to be noticed in a crowd. Not only did he like to be noticed he extremely enjoyed the idea of being praised or in his terms, “well liked”. King Lear was also a person that fell in that same category. He was so arrogant that he demanded for his daughters to protest their love for him. It is obvious that Lear only wanted plain flattery. He wanted that so much that even his daughters’ fake protests of their love for him was what made him happy. Simplicity was no match for Lear and thus making it the reason why his youngest daughter did not succeed in impressing him.
Both characters had another fault. They were afraid to recognize the child which was most devoted to them. In King Lear’s case, it was Cordelia. Cordelia was the most loyal of the three daughters in which he had. She stood by him through it all even till death. In the novel Cordelia could be looked upon as a woman of high grace and bravery. She was frank and honest. Even though her father had disregarded her love, Cordelia still stood strong and had the hope that one day justice would have been hers. Now, in Willy’s case, it was Happy. Happy was Willy’s youngest. As a child growing up in the Louman family, Happy always felt ignored. This was mainly because of Willy’s favouritism towards his older brother, Biff. Willy saw a lot of himself in Biff and therefore pushed Biff to be successful. Happy loved his father and always wanted to be the one to make him proud. It is evident in the novel when Happy and Willy are in dialogue. Happy usually agrees to everything that Willy does or says. Happy in a sense is seen as not having a ‘back-bone’.
Willy Louman and King Lear additionally were unaware of the great impact on which their flaws played in the lives of their children. Willy was a man who wanted nothing but to achieve the ‘American Dream’. On doing so, he brought along everyone for the ride with him. This affected his family but mostly his children. Sadly it reflected in Biff’s lifestyle out of the two children. Biff was emotionally scarred by the decisions in which Willy made. For example, Biff witnessed his father’s infidelity towards his mother. Also, Willy did not discipline his children in a correct manner. This resulting in Biff being a laid back care free individual- him not graduating from school and also not being consistent when it came to employment. On the other hand, King Lear was to blame for his daughters’ disgust for him. Any child who seems to have loss great favours with their parent because of another sibling will eventually develop a bit of dislike for that favoured sibling. This is what occurred between Regan and Goneril, and Cordelia and Lear. Lear favoured Cordelia mostly and so Reagan and Goneril became jealous. This jealousy grew into hatred and tremendously affected their lives. It is proven in the book when Regan and Goneril rebuked Lear during his time of need.
Though the books had some major similarities, they had a few differences. Firstly, Willy was a man who worked hard to achieve his ‘American Dream’ whilst Lear was not hard working at all and decided that he would have rather had others that being his daughters taking on his responsibility. Willy is seen as the better person here because of ambition although it was to an extent the wrong goal. Lear was too much of a laid back person for a man of who possessed a status as him. He was a king and unfortunately much of it was not shown in him.
King Lear’s tragedy was based on him being betrayed by his daughters whilst Willy’s was about his misery and dissatisfaction with what he had achieved from his life. It is regretful because both men wanted the opposite of what they possessed. This further means that Willy wanted to be highly known and have an extravagant lifestyle whilst Lear wanted to be free of all responsibilities and jus be admired. Willy was always in a rush trying to attain a ‘quick buck’ from any little thing he could get his hands on. He went to the extent of using his own life to do so when things were jus about to pick up for the better.
It is often viewed that a female role plays a great part in the novels. Willy had his wife Linda as his strong hold. Lear did not. His wife had passed away. Maybe if it was a reversal in faith both men’s story line would have been different. For instance if Lear had his wife by his side, it would have almost been difficult for him to have made such a decision in the way of how he would have divided his fortune amongst his daughters. If Linda was more of an outspoken woman, Willy would have had a person who could have interacted with him to his standards. He would have been put in place by her and perhaps his personality would have been a bit different. Maybe he would have given up on that ‘American Dream’ and faced reality.
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