common story of three daughters vying for the love of their father. Jane Smiley parallels

the story of King Lear in her novel A Thousand Acres. Though this novel is derived from

the roots of King Lear and the basic plot is similar, the reader's reaction to each work of

literature varies greatly. One may wonder why the reader's perspective on the play King

Lear changes so drastically after reading the novel A Thousand Acres. A couple of the

reasons include the pieces of literature being told from two different view points and how

the paralleling characters in the two works assume roles than are unexpected and seem

unlike the comparable characters in the other piece of literature. However, Scott Holstad

states the reason for the differing responses best by saying, "Smiley is successful because

she fills in so many of the gaps left open in the play. She gives us new and different

King Lear is a most unusual play in that it only deals with the present and neglects the

past and the future. The reader is not informed about an earlier time period in the play.

The play opens up with Lear immediately choo

level by also exploring the concepts of male dominance and female victimization, and

with the two eldest daughters which seemed impossible to do in King Lear. It is obvious

Goneril, Regan, and Lear change from one book to the next as realities are exposed, so

Caroline is how she acts towards her sisters while not having the slightest idea about

him and feels sorrow when he recites his memorable line, "I gave you all-" (II, iv, 248).

of Rose and Ginny is accented due to Rose's two children. She is not seen as an old,

Some common words found in the essay are:
King Lear, Goneril Regan, Thousand Acres, Larry Cook, Jane Smiley, Ginny Rose, Harold Clark, Lear Cordelia's, Zebulon County, Des Moines, king lear, thousand acres, larry cook, king lear reader, lear reader, filial piety, jane smiley, goneril regan, piece literature, novel thousand acres, acres novel, play reader, thousand acres novel, play king lear,
Approximate Word count = 1978
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)