Lear/Loman Comparisons

Lear-Loman

Although in completely different time periods and circumstances, protagonists King Lear and Willy Loman have plenty of comparable traits and differences. Similar thought processes and themes in the book connect the two seemingly different characters. Both of these men love one of their children so much that they inadvertently push them away. They both make rash decisions and have a hot temper. Their similar personalities give both of them a huge ego and lots of pride. This ultimately drives these men to make bad choices and it blinds them to what is really happening.

Both of these characters have a group of people who care about them, but they don’t realize it and end up hurting the ones who love them. When Lear banishes Cordelia for not telling him how much she loves him and joining in his game, he is crushed. He hates to do it to his favorite child, but she embarrassed him in front of others and hurt his pride. When Kent tries to stick up for her, he is also banished. He shows his true allegiance by coming back in disguise to help Lear.Willy similarly puts so much pressure on Biff in the book that he is getting less and less close with him and doesn’t realize it. When Biff sees that Willy is cheating on his wife, he loses much respect for him and it makes Biff push away. Lear doesn’t realize that Goneril and Regan , although they professed their love for him when they wanted power, abandoned him when he needed their help.

Lear and Loman both pride themselves on being great. WIlly works his whole life to try and be successful in finding the “American Dream”, and to gain riches to show his success to his family. Lear has money and land and power, and gives it away to the people he thought loved him. Although Lear has no wife for support and Loman does, he has more people who care about him. Their two hamartias blind the men to reality and lead to their demise. 

I like that we can connect these two men, because they embody traits that every man has. Although some of these traits are too controlling in them, it is interesting to see how it affects the characters. It also shows the extremes of what can happen when we put all of our happiness in one hope or dream. They are two examples of why we should not make judgments when our pride is hurt, and why we shouldn’t let anger cloud our minds. Although rash, Willy and Lear were not bad men. They were so focused on one thing that they tuned everything else out, and when they come to an end, it is even more tragic when they don’t reach their goals.