03-30-2019, 07:11 AM
Back to Shakespeare: Orwell’s polemic on Tolstoy does not address his objections to Shakespeare at all, but essentially says “Shakespeare was great and Tolstoy was wrong because English canon”
Don’t take my word for it.
Tolstoy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27726/27...7726-h.htm
Orwell: http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lear/english/e_ltf
In one part of his essay, Tolstoy points out how the original King Leir had a motive for treating his daughters differently where Shakespeare’s King Lear lacked one that was even nominally credible.
Tolstoy’s main objection was that none of Shakespeare’s characters act in a plausible manner. One other point is that the jokes are terrible, but as Shakespeare was writing for a largely illiterate audience as well, it is understandable that there are elements of Bollywood drama and dialogue in his work.
I personally never understood the adulation that King Lear received. Othello is powerful as drama, but King Lear has a lot of unnatural situations and overblown dialogue.
Don’t take my word for it.
Tolstoy: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27726/27...7726-h.htm
Orwell: http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lear/english/e_ltf
In one part of his essay, Tolstoy points out how the original King Leir had a motive for treating his daughters differently where Shakespeare’s King Lear lacked one that was even nominally credible.
Tolstoy’s main objection was that none of Shakespeare’s characters act in a plausible manner. One other point is that the jokes are terrible, but as Shakespeare was writing for a largely illiterate audience as well, it is understandable that there are elements of Bollywood drama and dialogue in his work.
I personally never understood the adulation that King Lear received. Othello is powerful as drama, but King Lear has a lot of unnatural situations and overblown dialogue.