Islamic Perspectives on Shakespeare’s King Lear

In this paper, we are going to discuss Shakespeare’s King Lear from an Islamic perspective with particular emphasis on the issue of filial ingratitude, and in particular its building motifs. We will show how justice, family, gender, society and class, and, to some extent, language and communication are a conditio sine qua non in the understanding of the dynamics of filial ingratitude as a motif. To put our discussion in perspective, we will also reflect upon attitudes of Islam towards this dominant theme drawing from the Islamic holy book, Qur’an, and situating it within the perimeters of King Lear. The methodology behind this paper is New Historicism since it allows us to relate the play to its past and to our present time. The paper does not venture into the problems of comparisons, or boundaries or indeed theoretical paradigms by particular schools or particular thinkers. Instead, whereas filial ingratitude is a universal theme, the question this paper seeks to answer is, what is the point of view in Islamic perspective on thematic aspects emerging from King Lear? What is the position of sons and daughters in Islamic societies who display ingratitude and cruelty towards their parents? The presupposition is that Islamic ethos must be put within proper context and by integrating common norms and universally acceptable tenets of mankind with a recognition of what constitutes the world of Islam. We are aware, in this regard, of the fact that there is a big difference between what Islam stipulates on Muslims and what Muslims may actually do. In other words, we speak here about Islamic values not the practises of Muslims.