Birdman And King Lear

Shakespeare and Inarritu explore the idea that human life and suffering is ultimately meaningless in the play King Lear, and the film Birdman, through the idea that the inevitability of death makes life meaningless. Using a solemn tone, both Shakespeare and Inarritu have indicated that their plot’s possess tragedies, and suffering. Where Inarritu has used a modern American setting to show how human life is ultimately meaningless, Shakespeare has used England in the 700th BC, while they are in the middle of a war. Similarly, both Shakespeare and Inarritu have set King Lear, and Birdman in a time period where one man’s life and suffering doesn’t mean anything, as in both era’s many other people are suffering and in pain as well. Inarritu has …show more content…
Shakespeare has demonstrated this through the characterisation of King Lear, as King Lear is characterised as an old man who is too hasty in giving his kingdom away, “Shake all cares and business from our age, while we unburthen’d crawl toward death.’ Similarly, Inarritu has demonstrated this through the characterisation of his main protagonist, Riggan, as he only cares about himself, “This is my chance to do some work that actually means something.”, and not the stress and pain he his putting his daughter through. Both Shakespeare and Inarritu’s main protagonists push their daughters away, disown them, and refuse to acknowledge their pain and suffering because they’re too ambitious in pursuing their own goals. Shakespeare and Inarritu are both using the blindness motif in their works of art to show that their characters, King Lear and Birdman, are blind to their faults, and to the pain and suffering they are putting family and friends through. Despite the similarities, Shakespeare’s King Lear differs from Inarritu’s Birdman in the respect that while Birdman focuses on one main protagonist, King Lear’s form has allowed for two main protagonists, with the use of parallel plots. The parallel plots allow the reader to explore the various tragedies, …show more content…
Shakespeare and Inarritu have demonstrated this through their main protagonists, King Lear, Gloucester, and Riggan. While Shakespeare has used the characterisation of two of his main characters, King Lear and Gloucester, he has also used the motif of blindness, and the symbolism of eyes to indicate how they have been blinded by their children’s falsehoods. Inarritu’s character Riggan differs from this as he is not blinded by the falsehood of his daughter, but rather blinded by his own ambitions, and alter ego, Birdman. Shakespeare has used setting, nature imagery, nakedness and clothing symbolism to present the suffering that King Lear experiences in the midst of a storm, to discover the truth about two of his daughters,“Nothing could have subdu’d nature To such a lowness but his unkind daughters.”, Goneril, and Regan. Similarly, Gloucester has his eyes ripped out when he is betrayed by one of his sons, Edmund. However, he then sees more clearly about how false, and wicked Edmund is. Gloucester then realises the truth that his other son Edger, was in fact not plotting against him, but has been a victim in the play. Inarritu’s film slightly differs from Shakespeare’s play as Birdman begins with suffering, and ends with suffering. Riggan’s alter ego Birdman, makes him suffer through the constant thoughts