The Tempest Of The Mind

The present paper attempts a comparison between two tragedies, each one of which is a work of very high artistic value: Shakespeare's "King Lear" and Bai Pu's "Autumn Rain Among the Platan Trees". Firstly, the author traces out the real historical and the following literary development of Lear and Lilongji, as well as the stories about them. This is necessary because both plays are created over the ample foundation of numerous historical records, legends, literature works, theatrical conventions, etc. Then, the second chapter focuses on the historical background of the plays, as well as on the individuality of the two authors. The Elizabethan era and the Yuan dynasty represent two very specific historical periods characterized both by the splendour and darkness in the history of medieval England and feudal China respectively. On the other hand, the value and the aesthetic achievements of any work of art have an inherent relation both to the time of their creation and to the life experience of the author. Thirdly, the thesis carries out a further research on the structure and the content of both plays. The last chapter analyzes the portrayal and the transformation of the two protagonists, as well as the reasons and the consequences of their tragedies. The tempest of the mind being a central topic, the author reflects upon whether or not Li Longji loses his sanity just as Lear does. Up to the present, the tragedies of Shakespeare and Bai Pu have received all sorts of interpretations, but still they remain two elusive literary works, and the researchers continue debating on how to read and understand these two theatrical plays describing the tragedy of the human's inner world.