Shakespeare and Inarritu explore the idea that human life and suffering is ultimately meaningless in the play King Lear, and the film Birdman, through the theme that the inevitability of death makes life meaningless. Using a solemn tone, both Shakespeare and Inarritu have indicated that their story lines possess tragedies, and suffering. Whereas Inarritu has used a modern America setting to show how human life is ultimately meaningless, Shakespeare has used England in the 700th BC, while they are in the middle of a war.
Similarly, both Shakespeare and Inarritu have set King Lear, and Birdman in a time period where one man’s life and suffering doesn’t mean anything, as in both era’s many other people are suffering and in pain as well. Inarritu has demonstrated this using the characterisation of his main protagonist, Riggin, whose suffering has stemmed from his alter ego Birdman. Riggin is convinced that he is becoming invisible, “You’re scared to death… that you don’t matter. You don’t.
You’re not important. , that one day he will die, and no one is going to remember him. While Shakespeare has used the characterisation of two of his main characters, King Lear and Gloucester, he has also used supernatural, and religious imagery’s to indicate how insignificant, “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport. “, and meaningless their lives really are. As well as Shakespeare, Inarritu has exhibited this in his film, in a scene where Sam is sitting on the roof watching the people underneath her, and someone shouts jump.
The inevitable feeling of death and invisibility the characters feel lead them to have a feeling of lack of power, which was explored through the use of nakedness. Shakespeare has furthermore used parallel plots through the from and structure of his play, to show an influential section of his play of in which Gloucester’s predicament reflects that of King Lear’s. That their suffering is a result of their blindness towards their children. Overall Shakespeare and Inarritu have used their main protagonists to demonstrate that human life and suffering are ultimately meaningless, as everybody is going to die anyway.
Additionally, Shakespeare and Inarritu explore the idea that human life and suffering is ultimately meaningless, through the theme that individuals pursuing great ambitions find no meaning in the pain and suffering of others. Shakespeare has demonstrated this through the characterisation of King Lear, as King Lear is characterised as an old man who is too hasty in giving his kingdom away, “Shake all cares and business from our age, while we unburthen’d crawl toward death.
Similarly, Inarritu has demonstrated this through the characterisation oh his main protagonist, Riggin, as he only cares about himself, “This is my chance to do some work that actually means something. “, and not the stress and pain he his putting his daughter through. Both Shakespeare and Inarritu’s main protagonists push their daughters away, disown them, and refuse to acknowledge their pain and suffering because they’re too ambitious in pursuing their own goals.
Shakespeare and Inarritu are both using the blindness motif in their works of art to show that their characters, King Lear and Birdman, are blind to their faults, and to the pain and suffering they are putting family and friends through. Despite the similarities, Shakespeare’s King Lear differs from Inarritu’s Birdman in the respect that while Birdman focuses on one main protagonist, King Lear’s form has allowed for two main protagonists, with the use of parallel plots. The parallel plots allow the reader to explore the various tragedies, characters, and use of techniques that are explored throughout King Lear.
Inarritu’s film has explored the use of Intertextuality between several other works of arts, and artists. For example the use of Zach Galifinakas, who normally plays a silly, yet hilarious actor. Raymond Carver’s, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and the actor Michael Keaton who played Birdman, also whom also played Batman. Another Intertextuality that can be connected to Shakespeare, is when the homeless man who is quoting Macbeth. The Intertextuality of various artists, and works of arts allows the reader to make that connection to those works of art, and those artists.
Conversely, Shakespeare and Inarritu have explored the idea that human life and suffering are not meaningless, but that pain and suffering is required to reveal the truth. Shakespeare and Inarritu have demonstrated this through their main protagonists, King Lear, Gloucester, and Riggin. While Shakespeare has used the characterisation of two of his main characters, King Lear and Gloucester, he has also used the motif of blindness, and the symbolism of eyes to indicate how they have been blinded by their children’s falsehoods.
Inarritu’s character Riggin differs from this as he is not blinded by the falsehood of his daughter, but rather blinded by his own ambitions, and alter ego, Birdman. Shakespeare has used setting, nature imagery, and nakedness and clothing symbolism to present the suffering that King Lear experiences in the midst of a storm, to discover the truth about two of his daughters,”Nothing could have subdu’d nature To such a lowness but his unkind daughters. “, Goneril, and Regan. Similarly, Gloucester has his eyes ripped out when he is betrayed by one of his sons Edmund.
However he then sees more clearly about how false, and wicked Edmund is. Gloucester then realises the truth that his other son Edger, was in fact not plotting against him, but has been a victim in the play. Inarritu’s film slightly differs from Shakespeare play as Birdman begins with suffering, and ends with suffering. Riggin’s alter ego Birdman, makes him suffer through the constant thoughts that he doesn’t matter, and that only doing something with action, and blood, ‘We have to end it on our terms…. with a grand gesture. , will make him relevant.
This thought occurs to Riggin after he has to run through a crowd of people, in just his underwear, making his feel powerless. Inarritu has used nakedness to symbolise the lack of power Riggin has, and how pain and suffering revealed the truth to him, even though that truth caused more suffering. Both Shakespeare and Inarritu have used unconventional methods to explore the way that human life and suffering are not meaningless, but that pain and suffering is required to reveal the truth.
