Both Shakespeare's King Lear and Dante's Inferno explore the reasons and results of human suffering. Each work postulates that human suffering is the result of choices made—a statement that is not only applicable to the characters in each work, but also to the readers. Hell and King Lear speak universal truths about the human condition: that suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. Although both King Lear and Inferno focus on warnings and laments of human suffering, one of the key differences between the works is that Inferno conveys an aspect of hope that is not as prevalent in King Lear. Through Lear, Shakespeare skillfully portrays the inevitability of human suffering. The “little nothings,” the seemingly insignificant choices that Lear makes throughout the play, inevitably evolve into unstoppable forces that change Lear's life for the worse. He falls for the flattery of Goneril and Regan, and his pride distances him from Cordelia's undecorated affection. He is constantly advised by Kent and the Fool to avoid such choices, but his stubborn arrogance prevents him from seeing the wisdom hidden in the Fool's words: "Please tell him, so high is the income of his land: he will not believe it" . a fool” (Shakespeare 21). This leads to Lear's eventual “unburdening,” as foreshadowed in Act I. This unburdening is exacerbated by his failure to recognize and learn from his initial mistakes until it is too late. Lear's lack of recognition is, in part, explained by his belief in a predestined life completely controlled by the gods: “They are the stars, the stars above us govern our conditions” (Shakespeare 101). The older characters in King Lear attribute their various sufferings to the will of… middle of paper… exploring the vastness of human suffering. However, although both assert that human suffering is inevitable, there is a sense of lightness in Hell that is absent in King Lear. The final message of King Lear involves the idea that human suffering is universal and that one's choices not only cause one's own suffering, but also invariably lead to the suffering of others. King Lear ends on a note of immense sorrow, while the final message of Inferno is much more hopeful, giving voice to the idea that the ubiquity of human suffering does not mean that all hope is lost. In Hell, suffering is one aspect of the human experience, but not the only one, and it does not have to define life. Works Cited Alghieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy, Volume I: Inferno. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Dover, 1994. Print.