The Count of Monte Cristo and King Lear

It is slices path to struggle with his destiny and writers pull in long written rough such a battle in a mans inner soul. In the works of Alexandre Dumas and William Shakespe atomic number 18 such a battle is best described in their comparable works, The enumerate of Monte Cristo and fairy Lear. It is the purpose of this paper to present each novel, and the principal(prenominal) male protagonists in the stories and pit them against each other as puff up as urinate them share in their twined destiny of faults, failures and eventual redemption.Dumas weaves a story about a man, Edmond Dantes whose life becomes entangled in a nonher(prenominal) mans vengeance and is subsequently doomed to life imprisonment. These actions are out of the protagonists control as he is uncomplete aware of the person for whom the letter is intended that he is carrying to Paris (it is very supposed to be given to Bonapartist father) nor of the rival against him, Danglars. It would thus appear as th ough Dantes is allowing his destiny to be overtaken from his free will.In Shakespeares King Lear Lear alike allows to be a rather flotsam figure on his give birth path, being lead this way and that, not from a guidance of cause merely by happenstance, bad luck, and fate. Blindness is recognized in the toy by Lears imaginative nature and how he cannot stand to percolate the world, or kingdom he created. In King Lears suspicion of his daughters he one by one makes himself disowned by them I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad. I will not trouble thee, my sister farewell.Well no more meet, no more see one another. hardly yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter Or rather a disease thats in my flesh, Which I moldiness needs call mine. kB art a boil, A plague sore, an embossed carbuncle In my profane blood. But Ill not chide thee. Let shame come when it will, I do not call it. I do not weight-lift the Thunder-bearer shoot Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove. Me nd when thou canst be better at thy leisure I can be patient, I can confine with Regan, I and my hundred knights. (Shakespeare II. iv. 1514). Blindness is a factor in both authors tale. For Dumas, he allows his character to remain faithful to himself only if also he makes him contrivance to the events and circumstances surrounding him. Dantes is sent to prison, merely it is in prison where he rises Abbe Faria, who teaches his about philosophy, languages, music, history, and it is in this knowl surround that Dumas allows the champ to gain self confidence that he would not experience differently come to had he not been imprisoned.It seems that either author depends a cracking deal upon unusual circumstances and luck (either perceived as strong or bad luck) to progress the plot forward for the characters. Both characters have to face where their loyalties lie, or where the peoples loyalties lie who surround them. In King Lear the focus of the married daughters who are proven to be wicked and usurpers of their fathers male monarch while the younger daughter, the innocent unmarried one proves to be the only supporter King Lear has although he blindingly distrusts her from act one.The theme of King Lear is suitably that of loyalty from the female caste whether in faithfulness or disloyalty. With the theme of loyalty there must also be a theme of vengeance as these two factors often walk turn in hand. It is proper for Dantes to want to seek vengeance on an dirty act done to him out of jealousy from Danglars. Although it takes Dantes nine years for his intend to put into action, it takes Lear merely three acts for his vengeance to take shape on Cordelias life and Lears blindness. For, what is the purpose of having a protagonist who does not learn anything?Lear learns of his mistakes with distrusting his daughter Cordelia and by trusting his other daughters- therefore, because he was blind to this distrust in a metaphorical sense he must be made blind p hysically in order to find redemption for his actions. Dumas takes a different approach in his protagonists story. Dumas gives Dantes an education as well as a treasure but the idea of vengeance swallows any joy he may have gleaned from his newly found position in life as the debate of Monte Cristo. It is with a heavy heart (after finding out about his fathers death) that Dantes goes to Marseilles and then on to other European cities.Despite this occupying perspective of revenge, Dantes does manage to try and save Caderousse, but is unable to help the man because Caderousses greed is his downfall. Although he is given two chances of redemption from Dantes he travel into a life of crime and is killed. Both authors need to have progression, falsify or punishment in their works in order for the referee to find the humanity in the protagonists, for, without their humanity Dantes revenge would be a fools errand and Lear would not have blind himself after visual perception the error of his ways.The parallels of greed in political power (another form of the grotesque in Shakespeares play) are presented in how Goneril and Regan seek political power by their ability to strip the King of all his train of followers, by rejecting the Kings title, and turning him out into the storm, entreat him by no means to stay (III. 1. 297). Also, Edmund has high political aspirations by allowing Gloucester to be blinded for his own political gain, Hang him instantly ReganPluck out his eye Goneril (III. 7. 4-5), and he usurps Edgars legitimate title as the future Earl of Gloucester.Furthermore, Kent and Edgar both(prenominal) lose their nobility, the Earl of Kent is banished for his honest defense of Cordelia, and Edgar loses his claim to nobility through the humbug and trickery of Edmund. Political greed was also seen with Caderousse as well as Dantes other enemies who have grown wealthy and more corrupt since he has been in prison. Both authors hinge their characters on the ed ge of redemption and give them each a scenario in which they can either grasp this ultimate gift and be free of blame or hate, or they can become criminals of love and honor.The authors are the same in this account, they allow their protagonists to find their redemption For Lear, it is blindness, for Dantes it is shown in the mercy he gives to his adversary Danglars. In their redemption either man finds love again Cordelias for her father Lear and Haydee for Dantes. Bibliography Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Penguin Classic. 1992. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Penguin Classic. 1998.