Sam Lien asked Ian Doescher:

In your opinions, how are family relationships portrayed differently in King Lear and Hamlet? Thank you!

Ian Doescher Wow, big question. In both instances, we have a child who deeply loves a parent (Cordelia and Hamlet), and some reason why that love has been troubled. In both cases, we have a pretty dysfunctional family situation -- Claudius marrying Gertrude and upsetting Hamlet, Regan and Goneril acting like they love Lear to gain power. The biggest difference that comes to mind -- and please bear in mind, this is off-the-cuff and I'm not a Shakespeare scholar -- is that Hamlet's affection for King Hamlet seems to have more to do with King Hamlet's bearing and nobility as a king, whereas Cordelia's love for King Lear has to do more with Lear the man. To put it simply (and, I'm sure, *way* too simply), Hamlet loves King Hamlet because he respects him, Cordelia loves Lear because she knows him. Cordelia seems totally uninterested in the things that draws Hamlet to his father: the power, the prestige, etc. Good question! (And, I'm sure my answer is totally wrong!) :-)

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