Similarities Between King Lear And Willy Loman

Success is a nearly unmeasurable variable as to each individual it entails a different thing. For Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller success was being the most loved and valued salesman, traveling the country from one open arm to the other. While for King Lear from King Lear by William Shakespeare success was the utter devotion and worship from his daughters and the kingdom. However, it is both their desire for success that leads to their downfall. King Lear and Willy Loman are both tragic figures and share many characteristics, but it is the difference in time that leads to their conflicting values and dissimilar downfalls. It can clearly be seen that while writing Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller had King Lear playing

It is evident, there is a change in societal values from King Lear’s time period of the eighth century to Willy Loman’s time period of the late 1940s. In Death of a Salesman Willy’s idea of success was not love from his family, but love from the outside and strangers. Willy wanted nothing more from his sons than their participation in his idealistic dreams and for them to be the utter best in everything. While in King Lear, however, Lear’s idea of success was for his daughters to love him and cherish him as their father and ruler. It is evident the major shift in values due to the time period. In far past times there was a stronger emphasis on the family and love from family. There was a shift from those values in the late 1800s, as the car was invented, and the family was no longer the center of an individual's world. That switch is present in Miller’s character, as he values not the love of his family, but the love of strangers. Willy wants his family to be a perfect success so he can, in turn, brag about them to strangers and receive the strangers love. As Willy mentions, he wants to be as good as his inspirational salesman, who had people mourning his death all around the cost. It is also important to note that Willy spent most of his career in a car, the machine that has been destroying the closeness of the family. It was this difference in the time period

In Shakespeare’s play the fall of King Lear was played out in an over dramatized nature. Many were taken down in his self-destructive fit. Lear’s demise was also played out right after it looked like things were beginning to turn around. This style of writing was due to the Elizabethan Era. That era was known for its flourish in literary works and dramas, leading to the immense over dramatization of Shakespeare’s characters. The time period is also responsible for his flowery word choices, convoluted riddles, and poetic feel. Even though literacy was on the rise, Shakespeare still participated in the traditional style of writing, for the higher educated. It was this style of writing that audiences expected, and if he were to change it to be more casually written it would feel like he thought the less literate were unable to comprehend the style. The writing technique that Shakespeare used was far different from that of Miller. The downfall of Willy Loman is played out in a more realistic fashion. It makes it very real to the reader and believable. The writing style was in a fashion actually spoken in at the time, unlike the poetic style of Shakespeare (which was not how individuals talked in the mid 1500s). There are some similarities that the authors possessed. Willy’s downfall was also played out in a moment that it looked like things were