King Lear and A Thousand Acres may have been written in different times, and by different people, they are the same story sharing many connections. The main similarity and plot these two writings share are the two older sisters actions towards their father, King Lear and Larry Cook. Goneril and Regan from King Lear, and Ginny and Rose from A Thousand Acres, both share an ugly hatred towards their father.
This dislike towards their father is the foundation for both the play and novel. Yet in King Lear the audience is given no background history for why they hate their father. Unlike in A Thousand Acres the sisters are given a reason to act the way they do and turn against him. Both sets of sisters share similarities in their actions, their differences are what define their character, their actions in the story, and give purpose for why they act the way they do. In King Lear Goneril and Regan both act on what seems to be hate alone with no explanation why while in A Thousand Acres Ginny and Rose have a background story that explains and gives justification for why the sisters act the way they do to their father.
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The obvious shared trait is their dislike for their father, but there is more than that. Their shared similarities are what help move the plot along. They both are given land from their father to carry on his “Kingdom”, and when given this land, their father is expecting them to take care of them but both turn against their father and taking care of him. However this is when one of their differences strike. In King Lear, Goneril and Regan don’t take care of their father in his old age, they want him gone. In A Thousand Acres, the daughters turn against their father for abuse they received as children. Jane Smiley the author of A Thousand Acres, had kept the similarities with the characters, but gave more depth to them and their