Discussion of Kurt O. Schlesinger's Article, Thoughts on King Lear and the Current Generation Gap

A major work of art in the literary field demonstrates the skilled utilization of professional techniques in portraying human behavior of significance to a considerable number of persons. A most important aspect appears to be the subtle portrayal of behavior, which is susceptible to different interpretations according to the psychological make-up of the individual reader. Shakespeare excelled in both these areas.

It follows, however, that, in the extrapolation of comparable dynamics in a work of art and in the behavioral operations of individuals, precision becomes a scientific, though not necessarily a journalistic, desirability. Otherwise, conclusions may be drawn more with apparent than real validity.

Dr. Schlesinger's presentation of the psychological aspects of the characters in King Lear is an exceedingly interesting one. There are many similarities and parallels between the behavior of the characters in King Lear and the modern-day “children's rebellion” associated with the generation gap. He stresses the incestuous aspects of Lear's character, the overriding dominance of the King, Cordelia's intellectual honesty regarding her need for independence, Lear's hostility to his sons-in-law, arising out of his incestuous feelings for his rejecting daughters. Dr. Schlesinger points to the sibling rivalry between Regan and Goneril with each other and with Cordelia, and that between Edmund and Edgar on the male side. He stresses the rage of the disaffected and alienated characters, Edmund, Regan, and Goneril, against the Establishment, that is, their parental establishment, as contrasted with Cordelia's mature search for identity and independence. From this, a parallel is drawn with modern rebellious middle-class sons and daughters of a permissive parental generation. The author infers that the present-day sons and daughters perceive the material values of affluence as being crammed down their throats by dominant parents who, at the same time, are described as being per