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Why Is King Lear Still Relevant

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Shakespeare was around during the sixteenth century, however, about four hundred years later we are still watching his plays, reading his poems, and analyzing his works in schools. He has reached global fame, and his works can appeal to everyone, from the common man to the highest aristocrat and most powerful leader. Why has Shakespeare been able to reach the pinnacle of fame and remain relevant to literature and culture centuries after his death? The answers are simple, yet the average person may overlook them. One of the biggest reasons Shakespeare is able to remain omnipresent in our literature and culture is the fact that he keeps his themes simple and accessible. He is able to take conflicts in the stories, that while they may seem to …show more content…
Looking at another play, King Lear, we are able to see characters that have very real traits. King Lear himself is a good example of the type of characters Shakespeare creates. Being an old man, King Lear decides to give away his land, splitting it equally between his three daughters. This can be seen as a very wise thing to do, being able to understand that as one becomes older, their time on this earth draws close to ending. Thus, by giving away his land to his daughters, he is setting up the future for them while he still can. However, King Lear doesn’t only have noble traits, as he is also very prideful. He is unable to look past the fact that one of his daughters, Cordelia, doesn’t shower him in praises and extol his virtues like his other two daughters. He sees this as an affront to him and banishes her. Therefore, he sets into motion the chain of events that bring about his downfall. This depth allows people to actually become invested in the characters. The more people that are invested, the more that people that will discuss why they like or dislike a character, or argue over why they believe a certain character is better than another

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