Reflections on King Lear

In the beginning of Shakespeare's King Lear, the king is portrayed as wanting both total control and total dependency (Kahn). He wants his daughters to say what he wants to hear about their love for him. When he does not get what he wants he goes into a rage that is played by some actors as jumping up and down on the table in a very childlike posture. The king is very used to getting what he wants, and to be told what he wants to hear. Later on, he regrets this desire by claiming, "They flattered me like a dog...They told me I was everything. Tis a lie"(4.6.96,104). As Lear's understanding grows he is filled with regret for his need to be flattered. This, after all is what began the whole problem; Lear wanting Cordelia to express her love for him the way he wanted to hear it. Lear was getting old, and he was ready to enter his second childhood. He gave away the responsibility of the kingdom, and he had hopes that Cordelia would be a nurse to him in his old age. She would act like a mother figure to him. The sisters, Regan and Goneril represent a masculinity, and absence of the mother figure in the play. They are power hungry, ambitious and self-seeking. A mother figure is kind, forgiving and other-serving. It is also interesting that though Regan and Goneril both were already in a married state, yet the two women were not mother's themselves. It is as if they did not have the capacity for motherhood. Perhaps Lear is able to see in his two daughters what his own life has been about. As he is forced to step out of his kingly robe he is able to see many of the faults that came with his patriarchy rise in Goneril and Regan. He wishes things were right between himself and Cordelia, and it is shame, not pride that forbids their re-uniting. When they are united, and about to be taken to prison, Lear has been brought to a position of forgiveness and he tells Cordelia, "let's away to prison. We two will sing like birds i'th' cage...I'll kneel down and ask of thee forgiveness...we'll live, and pray, and sing...and laugh at gilded butterflies"(5.3.8-13). In order for Lear to understand his human dependency, and therefore the need for forgiveness both of himself and Cordelia, he first had to go through a process of purification which was given to him by mother nature. In the storm, Lear realized there was something greater than himself. He could not command the thunder and lightning. The image of Lear prancing about covered in wild plants shows his connection with the lessons of mother nature, "crowned with rank fumiter and furrow weeds, with hardocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckooflowers, Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow"(4.4.3-5). It is through these feminine forces-the power of nature and Cordelia's real love- that the king begins to open to his emotional side and release his pain. He found the capacity for feeling and forgiveness. The beauty of the lips that match the action give rise to true power.

Politics and sentiment do not mix if a person wants to be in a position where they do not have to identify with other people. According to the interview Steven Cobert conducts with Marjane Satrapi, the very purpose of Persepolis is for people to see the humanity of the Iranians. They have a sense of humor, they have families, they struggle to find their identity and they also do not always support the actions of their government. When the Iraqis first bommbed Iran, Marji responds to her parents as they read the paper "We have to bomb Baghdad." Her mother tells her to "Take your feet off the table, it's impolite"(82). This passage struck me because parents teach their children to share toys and play nicely with others. A code of conduct for decency toward our fellow man is taught to our children. Even during this discourse between mother and daughter the reader feels the irony of the lesson for isn't it much more impolite to drop a bomb on a persons home than to put a foot on the table?  Satrapi realizes that change begins in how people relate to one another on a small scale. These grass roots efforts spread and can work themselves into the mainstream. The next part of the discourse is about Marji feeling her dad is a defeatest because he does not take more action. The two celebrate together however when Iran begins to bomb Saddam back. This makes Marji feel like her father loved his country. There is a deeply rooted struggle in humanity for the need to be "right," to feel justice and the necessity for boundaries so what is "mine" is mine. If someone does something to you, you want to get them back! It is often called pride. This is where politics turns into patriotism which is a sentimental thing. It is very difficult to separate politics and sentiment because they feed off of each other. Many of the political agendas stem from emotional arguments and background. Satrapi then introduces the reader to Pardisse who lost her dad in the fight. Pardisse says, "I wish he [her father] were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero"(86). The realities of politics are again reduced to a family. The reader is able to see how actual people are affected by policy. 

In the film, when Marji hits bottom she returns to her family; the place she identifies with. Marji's grandmother who always smells good because she puts flowers under her clothes has a very influential role on her. Marjane goes through a coming of age situation where she tries to deny who she is to the world around her. She comes to realize it is not by a denial of who you are that you will be of influence, but by accepting yourself and helping others to see the truth about that which they may fear that will bring about change. I think the woman in Marji's life helped her see this truth. As an adult she says she spends most of her time defending groups from other groups that are in disagreement; such as defending Iran to Americans and Americans to the French. It is by mixing politics and sentiment that people will think twice before going to war with a government that is actually a city-town-neighborhood and family.