Seasons such as these: Lear is still pretty frickin' relevant

I love Shakespeare. My beloved grandfather taught English Literature and specialized in Shakespeare and Chaucer, so I grew up associating them with him--if he loved them, they must be good. I collected cheap paperbacks of the plays, or sat in the library reading them from big heavy tomes until my parents bought me a big brick that contained all the plays. I took out videos and records from the library--I have fond memories of sitting against my bunk bed, headphones on, lost in one Shakespeare record or another.

King Lear was my favorite tragedy, maybe because I was taken to see Akira Kurosawa's Ran at age 12 and was mesmerized by it.*

Right now my dad and I are watching one of my fave series: Slings and Arrows (2003-07). It's a dramedy about a Shakespeare festival and all the shenanigans going on behind the scenes, starring a mix of comedians and stage alumni. We've begun season three where the cast is putting on King Lear.

For those who might not know the story, it's about a vain King who drives away the people who truly care for him, and then is betrayed by the whack jobs he put his faith in. He's eventually thrown out, poor, into a terrible storm that reflects his mental state.

If you have a 1:41 minutes, watch this short scene where the old actor playing Lear describes the storm, and Lear's sudden insight:

Being a tragedy, this sudden insight comes too late. But what a beautiful speech! Gives me les shivers. Especially in this time of arrogant Wall Street execs, and people losing their jobs and being foreclosed on. It still resonates. And on a metaphorical level too--it made me think of the people I know who are weathering personal storms.

Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
And show the heavens more just.

Modern translation from the No Fear series: Poor homeless creatures suffering this storm, wherever you are, how will you survive a night like this with no roof over your heads, no fat on your sides to keep you warm, and only rags for clothes? When I was king I didn’t do enough to help you. Powerful men, take your medicine by learning about hardship. Go out and feel what the impoverished feel. Then you can give them your extra wealth and make the world more fair.

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* Other takes on Lear: Has anyone read Moore's Fool? Is it good? Smiley's Thousand Acres is supposed to be good, but I've only watched the movie, one night in passing, on TV. It got abysmal reviews but I stayed with it.