ABSTRACT
The article analyses the nature of interpersonal relationships in Shakespeare’s King Lear in the light of existentialist philosophy, at the same time looking at the original philosophical background of the play. Following distinguished scholars of existentialism Walter Kaufmann and William Barrett, the chapter traces the development of existentialism to the Renaissance and Baroque. The seeds of existentialist thinking can be found in the ideas of ancient sceptics, rediscovered in the early modern period as well as in the Baroque expressions of doubt and insecurity brought on by the Reformation. The author also identifies existentialist themes that can be found in Shakespeare’s tragedy such as fragility and contingency of human existence as well as its inherent absurdity, the indifference of the Universe towards human suffering, dread and nothingness. Following the ideas of Sartre, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Marcel the author weaves in the aforementioned concepts in her reading of King Lear. The relationships of Lear and Cordelia as well as Gloucester and Edgar are under scrutiny. Lear and Cordelia are characterized by an initial inability to communicate, that might be related to the existentialist instability of the self. However, in the face of conflict and suffering they manage to share a moment of intense understanding, despite the dread and absurdity of existence. This moment of understanding is possible thanks to a conscious and active engagement with the other. Edgar’s and Gloucester’s parallel relation, faced with extreme and absurd suffering undergoes a similar transformation. It turns Edgar, an existentialist sage of the play, into an active agent in the pursuit of a life project, while Gloucester actively puts his trust in Edgar, and thanks to the ‘absurdity of faith’ is partly shielded from the realisation of existential contingency.
