Theme Of Nature In King Lear And A Thousand Acres

Nature is the foundation of everything that is on our earth and beyond the limits of our universe. Without nature, we would not be able to exist in the first place, and it is through nature that we can continue to live. In “King Lear” by William Shakespeare and “A Thousand Acres” by Jane Smiley, the authors both illustrate just how important nature, in the form of a mother, really is through actions of Goneril and Ginny. Even though “A Thousand Acres” is a modern retelling of the famous “King Lear,” both bring out the consequence of what happens when the mothers are absent, which in turn echoes the theme throughout both the play and the novel.
First of all, the theme of nature plays a crucial role in both stories when the authors both depict …show more content…
Both Goneril and Ginny are married, however, they both decide to cheat on their husband with someone else. In both stories,the reasoning behind these dreadful situations tie back to the missing mother. In the traditional times of “King Lear” and the farming lifestyle of “A Thousand Acres,” the mother is the one responsible for teaching virtues in both stories. With the mother not there for Goneril or Ginny, they never learned what they should do and not do. So in effect, Goneril cheated on Albany with edmund, and Ginny cheated on Ty with Jess. In addition, when King Lear wants to keep his knights, Goneril stands up to him and blames his knights for the problems. And Ginny sees her father as a monster because he abused her. Which means that they are quick to judge their fathers for his flaws, yet they do not see the fault in themselves even though they cheated on their own …show more content…
Both authors utilized many aspects of nature, more specific is the idea of a mother. In both stories the mother is missing, and the outcome of no mother is even more disturbing. As discussed above, Goneril disrespects her father because she is wicked since she did not learn righteousness from her absent mother. Also, Ginny is sexaully abused becasue her mother is not there to protect her. And lastly, both Goneril and Ginny live in a false reality where they judge other’s shortcomings, while failing to see their own when they cheated on their own husband. Ultimately, the malicious actions of Goneril and Ginny point to the missing mother. Therefore, the lesson both stories exhibit is to be thankful for your mother and to never take her for