Walking with Lear

The plays, arguably, are all about life. Which is why they remain so appealing, so rich to the observer. Who cannot be deeply touched and entangled with the emotions of the old man in a contemporary society so much at odds with age, senility and death. Shakespeare confronts our denial of mortality. But, life is really about death. We are all growing old and dying; some die before others. A rare few will die quietly in their sleep; even fewer, a sudden violent death. But for most of us, death is a slow, painful and undignified affair; a sordid and messy business.
Nevertheless, the longer we live, the more acutely aware we become of mortality. Lear has lived a long life, incredibly long for the expectancy of his time, and his death is so often described as tragic. And yet, here we are: he dies with a quiet gasp of breath, holding in his arms the one he truly loves and who truly loved him. They are reunited in death’s dream kingdom for all eternity. It is an enviable death, a noble death; a death fit for a king, and one that we can only wish for.