King Lear

King Lear & A Thousand Acres:

The Storms That Loom Within Our Lives

Dadds 1

Thesis Statement:

The similarities that have been revealed in King Lear and A Thousand Acres are havoc, turmoil and dysfunction that so many families have been plagued with for centuries.

There have been many movies made in the last century that have remarkable similarities to movies and plays made decades ago. This is true with the movie A Thousand Acres. A Thousand Acres is a modern day adaptation of William Shakespeare's play King Lear. Originally, A Thousand Acres was released as a novel written by Jane Smiley; a Pulitzer Prize winning author. Later the novel was written into a movie by Laura Jones. The similarities and differences in both of these works are ironically unique; they both portray the havoc, the turmoil and the dysfunction that so many families have been plagued with for centuries. The perplexity and bewilderment that was revealed in King Lear has also been revived in the Cook family in A Thousand Acres. The tempestuous situation between a parent and a child is different then the turbulent situations between sisters. The turbulence between the immediate family members in both of the works is parallel. For example, the dictionary gives several definitions for a storm. The definitions that apply are, a storm is "(1) any strong disturbance, (2) strong attack, (3) rage, and (4) a rush or attack violently" (Webster's 277). Metaphorically speaking, it is as if there are storms fermenting with the daughters and the fathers of these families. Although, some of the characters in the movie

Dadds 2

are different from the way Shakespeare portrayed his characters in King Lear centuries ago, the reader still receives the same message from the story line.

In comparison to A Thousand Acres, Shakespeare's characters are often noticeably good or evil (Levin). To clarify this point, the King in the play is measured as royalty. The movie portrays the father Larry, admired by many, and the town's people see him as a Saint, also a form of royalty (Smiley). Although the movie depicts a certain good quality in Larry, in relation to his friends, two of his daughters know differently. In the movie A Thousand Acres Larry has three daughters Ginny, Rose and Caroline. The two oldest daughters do not view him the same way his youngest daughter does. It is quite obvious through the writers' point of view that he favors the youngest, Caroline.