Similarities Between Birdman And King Lear

Shakespeare and Iñárritu explore the key idea that the anti-heroes in both Birdman and King Lear confuse the notion of admiration for love. Shakespeare highlights King Lear begging for his daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia’s love as he says: “which of you shall we say doth love us most” (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 50) although, Cordelia is the only one who truly loves him and refuses to praise him she says “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave, My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty According to my bond; no more nor less” (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 90-92) This shows Shakespeare’s use of characterisation to portray Cordelia’s love for her father. The fool foreshadows in the following scenes that Goneril and Regan do not love Lear like Cordelia does

Both authors create a ‘madness scene’ where the protagonists show their true lunacy which derives from love in both cases. In a soliloquy Lear describes how:” Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!” and “That will with two pernicious daughters join your high-engend’rd battles ‘gainst a head” (Act 3, Scene 2) Shakespeare applies this technique to show the true insanity Lear is going through. This insanity derives from love and affection that Cordelia seemingly did not provide. The soliloquy is also imagery referring to nature being as insane as is King Lear. Comparably, in Iñárritu’s Birdman, the allusion to ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’ by Raymond Carver is the main derivative of what causes Riggan’s madness; his obsession over the play and devotion to making it perfect shows the destructive nature of love. Riggan’s character in the theatre production is characterized as suicidal and hence it is ironic that Riggan is also mildly suicidal. He meets his demise in the final scenes of the film where his acting explores a new level. “Bang!” he says then he shoots himself onstage and here the scene cuts; this is similar to the soliloquy scene in King Lear. The entire film is what seems like one ongoing scene yet here it cuts, one of the only times in the play, this can be seen as a cinematic device used by Iñárritu to convey the importance of this scene. Furthermore, Iñárritu and Shakespeare use characterisation, soliloquy, imagery of nature and other cinematic device to convey the key idea of the destructive nature of love and