Comparison between The Tempest and King Lear This essay will focus on the similarities and differences between the plays The Tempest and King Lear in general, as well as examining comparisons between Prospero and Lear in some more detail.Prospero and Lear are, without a doubt, Shakespeare's two most compelling mature figures. In a certain sense, one is, so to speak, the flip side of the other. Each represents an aging man's relationship with his family, his environment and, above all, himself. One might even be so bold as to venture that had Lear lived, he might, through the enormity of his painful transformation, become a character very much like Prospero, a man who learned bitter lessons from his relationship with the world and used. to create his own unique reality, finally becoming the true master of his destiny. The similarities between The Tempest and King Lear are more numerous than one might assume at first glance. To begin with, the theme of nature plays a significant role, as in many of Shakespeare's plays. This is partly due to the popularity of the pastoral theme in the Elizabethan era, as well as the English appreciation of the countryside. (This last fact persists to this day, as is evidenced by the fact that the cover of every Arden edition of Shakespeare is adorned with paintings by the Brotherhood of Ruralists, a group of artists whose primary inspiration is the English countryside.) into the realm of nature between the two works there is the spectacle and grandeur of a storm. In any case, the occurrence of a powerful storm is a fundamental element of the plot, as well as a symbol of transformation. In The Tempest, the storm predicts the arrival of the King of Naples, the usurper D...... middle of paper ......and reward for that transformation. Works Cited and Consulted Davidson, Frank. "The Tempest: An Interpretation". Into the Storm: A Casebook. Ed. DJ Palmer. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1968. 225. Kermode, Frank. Introduction. The Storm. By William Shakespeare. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1958. xlii.Kott, Jan. Shakespeare Our Contemporary. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1994.Schlegel, August Wilhelm. Criticism of Shakespeare's tragedies. A series of lessons on dramatic art and literature. London: AMS Press, Inc., 1995. Shakespeare, William, 1998. King Lear. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Solomon, Andrew. "A reading of the storm." In Shakespeare's last works. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232.Webster, Margaret. Shakespeare without tears. Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1996.