King Lear Connection

"Sacrificing your happiness for the happiness of the one you love, is by far, the truest type of love." ~Anonymous

King Lear by Shakespeare addresses the idea of altruism in a different way. It accounts for the fact that sacrifice can account for love and is required, but sacrifice does not always lead to love. This is demonstrated in Lear himself: unsure of what love is, but through different sacrifices, he is better able to understand "true" love. (He sacrifices his Kingdom and sanity for his precious girls, receiving little to nothing in return.) For Lear sacrifice is necessary in order to identify if love exists or not.

Goneril's sacrifice went to the extremes. She sacrificed herself and her own sister, by poisoning her, in order to fill her wishes to love Edmund - all which ended in utter destruction, and ultimately death.

Kent's sacrifice seems to be overlooked and underwritten; which is ironic, because Kent's sacrifice seems to me to be the most genuine. After being banished by Lear, Kent degrades his own identity to that of a peasant just in order to remain loyal to Lear and serve him, eventually leading to assumed suicide so Kent could follow his King even unto death.

It is interesting in Lear that love is not evident without some kind of sacrifice. I think that Shakespeare uses Lear to prove that sacrifice is an essential component of love, but often, when we sacrifice in order to obey selfish desires, like Goneril, it amounts to nothing.

So in regard to my big question relating to Lear, I've discovered that you can sacrifice without necessarily being an altruistic, selfless person.

Oedipus: A Square into a Circle...

al-tru-ism [al-troo-iz-uhm]
noun
1. the principal or practice of unselfish concern for or the devotion to the welfare of others, a selfless concern for others ( Opposed to egoism. )

Oedipus is certainly not the best picture of unselfishness. In fact, through his dialoges with other characters, it is evident that he has an egotistical attitude and seems very full of himself (because of his cleverness that helped him solve the riddle of the sphinx.) However, there seems to be a hint of selflessness in his voice as he addresses the city of Thebes at the beginning of the play. He cares for the greater good of his people, he wants the city to recover from the plague. It is obvious in the following quote both Oedipus' self-righteousness blended with the concern for his people and willingness to hear their cry, " Children, I would not have you speak through messengers,/And therefore I have come myself to hear you- I Oedipus, who bear the famous name."

As I thought more about my big question, however, I considered the element of sacrifice more than the characteristic of selfish/selflessness. Does Oedipus' concern for his people manifest itself in the form of sacrifice? Does Oedipus ever put himself aside in order to sacrifice for a different purpose?

Finding the answers to these questions was certainly difficult and frustrating. Like trying to fit a square into a circle, I tried to fit Oedipus into an altruistic mold, one that he surely was not meant to fit in. I found very few redeeming qualites, or public display's of selfless sacrifice. The only example I could think of is included in the background information of the text, not even quoted in the play itself. Oedipus runs away from Corinth, his hometown, where he grew up, where he had friends, and where was taken care of, because the oracle told him he would kill his father. Unknowingly and falsely believing that his father resided in Corinth, Oedipus makes a break for it, to try to escape his fate, in order, he thinks, to protect his father (from the death he would inflict on him.)

Sure, I could stop there, and tell you that Oedipus is, in fact, somewhat altruistic, because he made a sacrifice that he thought would save his (adopted) father and mother from the horrible prophesy of the oracle. But going back to my first post, I realized that sacrificing is only half the battle. The real issue, is if Oedipus' intentions are truely for (who he thinks is) his father, or for himself. Considering this, I would say that Oedpus is not altruistic at all. Running away from Corinth to save his father, only appears to be a sacrifice, when in fact, he must have been thinking of personal gain. In his mind, if he chose not run away, he would have killed his father, and married his mother, which would be horrible for his reputation, something in which Oedipus is highly concerned about thoughout the whole play. (which is funny, because as hard as he tries to run from his fate, he actually runs striaght to it.) I believe that Oedipus' intentions for running away from Corith are more self centered than centered around the good or wellbeing of his father/mother.

Therefore, Oedipus only completes half the equation. He sacrifices his whole life and comfort in Corith to escape his fate, but without pure intentions, he can hardly be considered altruistic.

The Sublime Song

"Once I heard a song of sweetness,

As it cleft the morning air,

Sounding in its blest completeness,

Like a tender, pleading prayer;

And I sought to find the singer,

Whence the wondrous song was borne;

And I found a bird, sore wounded,

Pinioned by a cruel thorn."

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in it's life. More sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then singing among the savage branches, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in the heaven smiles. For the best is only brought at the cost of great pain... or so says the legend.

As I pondered the above poem and the story behind the thorn bird, I imagined a world in which we all acted in selflessness as the thorn bird does. It would be a beautiful world. Which led me to thinking of the ultimate sacrifice that this bird pays in order to save its young. It distracts the predator away from the nest and then impales itself on a bush made of thorns. I stopped in my tracks upon reading this piece of the legend.

How divine a love is this, that a beautiful creature of nature willingly offers its own life to save its young, not seeking fame or attention?

The bird somehow grasps the idea of sacrifice for the greater good: an idea that is so commonly preached in our society, but very rarely acted upon. Which led me to question, Does true altruism exist in the human condition? Or does man sacrifice for others with intentions of personal gain and attention?

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck did not disappoint in beginning to explain and answer my big question. Throughout the whole novel, O-lan is ready to make any sacrifice needed in order to obey to her husband Wang Lung. Stricken with poverty, and seeing the desperateness of Wang Lung to return to "his earth," O-lan offers to sell her daughter, whom she loves, into slavery. At the time meant giving her beloved daughter into a life of torture and abuse. O-lan's whole-hearted submission to Wang Lung and compliance with her moral duty is truly out selflessness and sacrifice without expecting anything in return. This is the heart of altruism.

Reflecting back to English Literature class last year, I remembered a fantastic article entitled "The Man in the Water." The link for this article from Time Magazine is: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925257,00.html

and I strongly recommend that you read it. It pictures an anonymous man, a hero by all measures, willing to give his own life in order to save countless others. This article alone instilled a strong, stirring hope in me, that humankind is capable of sacrificing all that they are. The most beautiful part of this essay, in my opinion, is that the man still remains nameless.

He is proof that no man is ordinary and that ultimately human compassion knows no limits... It's whether we have the true intentions and motivations to display this type of sacrifice that really matters.