Both King Lear and Sunset Boulevard scrutinize the idea of the progressive madness taken on by main characters, King Lear and Norma Desmond. Their insanity is taken on through different, self-imposed reasons. For King Lear, the King, himself, is at fault as he idly watches, in a credulous role, as his daughters steal his power. Likewise, Norma Desmond plummets to the ground, along with her acting career, as she is quickly overlooked with the introduction of voice into the film industry. Through ignorance and egocentrism, both characters are at fault for their own deterioration, and eventual madness.
King Lear’s tragic story seems to rest on the blame of his three daughters and their sinister acts of deception. Although Goneril and Regan’s
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They both firmly believed in their prominence even though society would argue that they had instead been washed out by modernism and younger influences. Norma persisted to act as though she was still highly regarded and loved by her fans as well as the movie industry, just as Lear refused to acknowledge his aging mind and decline from the throne. The two’s overly brash attitudes imbue the true macrocosm that surrounds them. Instead of being alert to the ever-changing ways of society, they chose to focus on the times of their dominance. In similar ways, both Norma and Lear construct a false reality that is salubrious to their madness. Norma shuts the doors of her gargantuan mansion to the outside world and lives in the glory of her past. King Lear decides to let his daughters bide for his love in order to encourage his ego. Of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. These decisions led to seclusion from society and the ones they loved. King Lear and Norma’s microcosms were based on distorted perceptions and caused the discrepancy between their old fashioned ways and their modern societies. Norma was ignorant to believe that she was still top dog in Hollywood and Lear was irrationally blind to his daughter’s
Summary of “On Golden Pond” Aging was a prominent topic in the film “On Golden Pond”. The film begins with an older couple, Ethelle and Norman. Ethelle is content with aging and has found purpose in her family. On the other hand, Norman has taken aging extremely hard and struggles to find anything to live for, as he had always been driven by his career when he was younger.
Everyone has to make sacrifices in their lives. Sometimes it is out of necessity while other times people make sacrifices for their loved ones out of the kindness of their hearts. When sacrifices are made for others you can perceive their values and personality because they give up everything without having guaranteed something in return. For example, in the play “King Lear” the king’s youngest daughter, Cordelia, sacrifices everything just to stay true to herself and for her father. It all began because King Lear was already at an old age so he decided to divide his kingdom to his three daughters.
Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, is a black and white film, where Norma Desmond, a famous actress of the silent film era, cannot come to terms with her career’s end. Desmond meets a guy named Joe Gillis, a struggling writer who is in financial trouble. The two come to an agreement that Gillis will polish up her script, which Norma believes will be her ticket back to the big screen, and Norma will take care of Joe financially. The one thing Norma and Joe have in common is that Hollywood has deemed both of them as undesirable. Norma experiences delusions of grandeur, and Joe cannot get his scripts picked up by a studio.
In the movie Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond’s delusions are caused by her butler and ex-husband Max. Similarly, in King Lear, Kent caused King Lear to have delusions. The common downfall of Norma Desmond and King Lear is caused by the people around them crossing the line from aegis to enabler. They tell them what they want to hear, which causes them to be unable to see reality, to only see what they want to see, and ultimately puts them in a state of denial.
Even if they had nothing to gain, they would feel pressure of custom to behave as good daughters in front of the whole community.” emphasising how Lear has such an immense influence over the girls and the aftermath of treating them as though they are his subjects is his punishment. This love contest forces the girls into a corner, and in accordance with the Elizabethan patriarchal system they are obligated to comply with their father’s wishes. This act causes the girl’s to retaliate against Lear as he has publicly embarrassed them with a foolish contest of love. Paul Cantor’s critic further stresses the point that Lear is the instigator - the
In the film Sunset Boulevard many characters struggled with wishes, lies and dreams of fame and fortune. The film states the corruption in Hollywood and that people will do anything to get ahead. With hope and delusion each character tries to gain happiness, while only being self-destructive and isolating themselves. The characters ultimately deny their problems and confuse those around them. One character in the film who struggles with her wishes, lies and dreams is, Norma Desmond, a washed up actress.
In the film Sunset Boulevard many character struggled with wishes, lies and dreams of fame and fortune. The film states the corruption in hollywood and that people will do anything to get ahead. With hope and delusion each character tries to gain happiness, while only being self-destructive and isolating themselves. The characters ultimately deny their problems and confuse those around them. One character in the film who struggles with her wishes, lies and dreams is, Norma Desmond, a washed up actress.
To summarize this essay, there are several points that highlight differences between the two films, yet the overall context of the film remains the same. One common theme that tends to drive the force between the reasoning in why the two films have varying aspects is because they were made for slightly different audiences at different times in society. Though both versions of the movie have small portions that vary from one another, the main emphasis is the same and both versions are loved by the
Gloucester’s overdue understanding of everything that has occurred in play thus far (and the repercussions that come along with them) is addressed in the next act when, alone, he reflects on his life and actions, which fills him with so much despair that he feels as though all he can do to ease the pain is commit suicide. Gloucester, now completely blind and powerless, realizes the consequences of his actions and recognizes that there is no realistic way to mediate them; his delusion, caused by his overwhelming amount of power, caused him to be so misguided that he has destroyed every connection that he once had. Overall, The Tragedy of King Lear tells the story of a man who is figuratively blind to the true nature of his son and his actions which, as a result, leads to him becoming literally blind. This cautionary tale helps illustrate the overall message that too much power has the ability to corrupt people-- ruining their relationships and their
Through its macabre subtext and circular structure, Billy Wilder's ‘Sunset Boulevard’ encapsulates the nihilistic world of 1950s Hollywood, with essences of pessimism and cynicism ingrained in post-war America. The posthumous narration of protagonist Joe Gillis presents fame as a poisoned chalice that can leave you literally dead. Wilder highlights the human’s inherent desire for love and the detrimental consequences as it gets equated with infatuation with self-image and possession within interpersonal relationships. He explores how artistic integrity is ultimately attainable, and that both true sacrifice and indulgence are a necessity in this art making. The silent film star, Norma Desmond unveils the fleeting nature of fame, her mistaken
Moreover, there should be a barrier which these characters must overcome in order to complete the coming of age quest. As Bordwell and Thompson put it, in a classical Hollywood film, there should be “an opposition that creates conflict” (Bordwell et al. 98). In a coming of age narrative, the main characters must undergo a process of change, which is also another characteristic of classic Hollywood
The audience sympathise with King Lear’s redemption. Throughout the play, he gets a chance at redemption to make up for his mistake of having “thy truth being the dower:” for his daughter. He realises the folly of his actions and redeems himself stating “I am a very foolish fond old man”. This demonstrates King Lear's change in character as he learns that he is not as powerful as thinks he was and starts to become more humble. There is a lure of sympathy for King Lear because a story of redemption inspires people and catches their imagination, that anything is possible.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s tragic play, King Lear, the goal of gaining control over the kingdom and boasting about one’s status drove the characters to deceive each other through the use of lies and manipulation. Right from the start, King Lear demanded that his daughter profess their love for him, causing Regan and Goneril to exaggerate their love all to flatter their father and gain the most of his land. When it was Cordelia’s turn, even though she spoke from her heart about how much her father means to her, her words did not praise her father enough as he insisted she revise her confession. Act 1 Scene 1 started the destruction of the Lear family as Regan and Goneril proved successful in gaining their father’s land by spreading lies
Like so many men in patriarchal society, he has long been accustomed to women—his wife, and then his daughters—serving his domestic needs(Pg 372, Hall) This deliberates how men often employed women for their everyday desires as they possessed the clout to do just that; this illustrates that in prior times women were subservient to the men’s needs and desires; this article may be aimed at A Thousand Acres, however it applies to King Lear as in that time period women’s roles were the identical. A key example in A Thousand Acres, is when Larry yells,”"I gave you everything, and I get nothing in return”(pg 182, Smiley). Larry presumes their daughters should be owe him and sees his daughters as ungrateful.
King implies in Misery that having or taking control of others is a woman’s quality while weakness and passiveness is a man’s quality, therefore challenging the way in which the reader can related to its characters.