The king of the sea in The Little Mermaid and the king of Britain possess many of the same qualities. The contexts of the two might seem hard to compare, but the relationships with these leaders and their daughters can put things in a new perspective.Both kings have great power and both want the very best for their daughters. Yet with this power comes many rules, rules that can easily be broken by rebellious daughters, in this case both Cordelia and Ariel. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel disobeys her father when interacting with the humans, something forbidden for the merpeople. In King Lear, Cordelia rebels against her father by refusing to express her love to him merely for the purpose of inheriting his wealth.
Despite the actions of these daughters, both Kings still have love in their hearts. These relationships matter because by examining the fatherly side of these powerful leaders, we can better understand their actions, which will ultimately help us comprehend the whole story. Triton is willing to give his life for his daughter despite her actions because of love. Lear feels immense regret from his rude actions towards Cordelia because of love. Even the power of being a king cannot harm the father and daughter relationships of King Lear and King Triton.
When we compare King Lear and King Triton, we can see that the unrealistic situations in The Little Mermaid show how unreal and abstract the events are in King Lear. The rash actions and decisions of the characters in King Lear can be hard to imagine, but when we consider the similarities to those of children's stories, it gives some meaning and reason behind them. Actions like this include when Gloucester's eyes are actually pulled out of his head, when Kent is willing to disguise himself to retain a relationship with Lear, and when Edmund betrays his brother and turns him into a beggar.
Despite this being my second Disney blog post, the characters in their films are full of problems that can be compared with the problems of characters in almost anything, including Shakespeare. They give an abstracted view of reality, which is often the very subject of great pieces of literature.
I think that this connection was very astute. I would never have thought about it this way; not only are both kings alike but both princesses are too. I liked how at the end of the post, Rachel talked about how the characters gave the view of an abstracted reality. I think that this shows how extreme actions can be applied in different situations, and how they can have different outcomes. Also, since this connection was to a Disney film, I think that this connection shows how universal the characters and their situations are.
ReplyDelete