Connection: King Lear and Michael Scott

What do you get when you put two completely clueless people in charge of something? In 1605 you got King Lear, but nowadays you get Michael Scott. In class we decided the driving force of comedy is the audience knowing something the characters themselves do not. A show like The Office is so funny because Michael is so naive and easily taken advantage of. Lear displays many similar characteristics to the manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

King Lear is at a difficult time in his life when he is beginning to lose many things. His daughters, his mind, and his power. He just doesn't realize it yet. That is why it comes as such a shock to him when anybody tells him he is wrong or asks him to change his behavior. He is not used to anyone questioning his authority. If he was able to realize his position and not blind to his social deterioration, he would be more willing to accept the attempts of generosity from Goneril and Regan. However, he remains as stubborn as his contemporary counterpart, Michael Scott.

Michael is in an analogous situation to Lear. He was once the sole administrator for his branch of the company. In recent years, however, several new characters have begun to undermine his "rule." First there were the few months in which Jim became a "co-manager," but since neither one of them enjoyed that position, things returned to normal. Nevertheless, when the company is bought by Sabre, things are shaken up once again. Michael now reports to a CEO, who also has her own representative working in the office with them. Since both newcomers are higher on the chain of command than Michael, he comes up with countless ways to try to ensure his own power. In a recent episode, when an employee took an idea straight to the CEO rather than through Michael, he became infuriated and tried to force all ideas through himself.

Were you to look at the two side by side, you would see two extremely different men. But on the inside, it would be hard to find more than a handful of differences. It is important to relate the two characters because it shows it shows what a situation can do to people. It doesn't say how Lear was before his old age (I'm assuming he was fine), but, at least in Michael's case, he was a strong leader before all these changes occurred. If you read The Tragedy of King Lear with that in mind, you will find yourself empathizing more with Lear, because you see how his situation is making life miserable for him. It isn't his fault his mind, plagued with too many years, is not letting him see the reality of what is going on; he is just trying to do what is right.