Ashley's King Lear and Stone Angel Essay

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true” (Kierkegaard, Søren. Good Reads.com). This is a quote that can be deconstructed when examining Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel and William Shakespeare’s King Lear. Hagar and Lear are two individuals with similar characteristics and functions. The Stone Angel was published in 1964 and was one of Margaret’s best-selling novels. It revolves around an aging woman, who narrates the story of her present, along with flashbacks from her past. The protagonist; Hagar Shipley, is both selfish and bitter; however this is caused by a poor upbringing and isolation. William Shakespeare’s, King Lear was published in 1608. The protagonist; Lear, was also an aging, isolated and selfish man; however realizes his flaws and faults and endeavours to fix them. Both Hagar and Lear encounter different struggles and end their life with opposite views of themselves. They both share perceived worst moments in their life, along with a definite worst moment and they each experience an epiphany. Along with their similarities, they have remarkable differences, like their personality traits, their forgiveness of their loved ones and their end transformation. In order to truly grow and change, it is not about gaining insight into one’s flaws, but rather becoming selfless.

Both Hagar and King Lear strive to change their flaws and dysfunctional situations in life, aiming for success and growth as an individual. Similarly, Hagar and King Lear both have perceived worst moments of their life. Hagar’s worst perceived moment throughout her quest of life is when she stumbles across an ad in the newspaper that Marvin and Doris; her son and his wife, wer...

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...ken throughout the drama. This is reflected through his words that indicate that he "… might have saved her;" (5.3.270). Lear dies of what amounts to be a broken heart. To conclude, King Lear changes from a selfish to selfless man and receives contentment of others and not his self.

As mentioned before, it is dramatic irony that both Hagar and Lear switch character traits and face opposite endings. Although the two novels shared both similar and different perspectives, it is proven that there is more distinction between the characters differences. They both face blindness, success in different forms and transformations; however they share different ways of it occurring, and a dissimilar end to each of their quests. Regardless, in order to truly grow and change as an individual, it is not about gaining insight into ones flaws, but rather becoming selfless being.