A Comparative Analysis of Abolqasem Ferdowsi’s Shahnama and William Shakespeare’s King Lear

This articles aims at comparing the typology of characters, the significance of women, and thedivision of kingdom in Abolqasem Ferdowsi’s Shahnama and William Shakespeare’s King Lear.The major distinctions and similarities of these issues have been deal with in brief. It is impossibleto describe supreme geniuses like Abolqasem Ferdowsi (935-1020) and William Shakespeare(1564-1616) briefly. Both of them are widely regarded in every literary circle as distinguished andunequaled literary figures. Among the national heroes and literary figures of all times, Ferdowsiand Shakespeare have highly elevated positions. The unique status of Ferdowsi as a revered poetis originated in his life-long endeavor to preserve Persian language and national identity in hismasterpiece. Shahnama (c. 977 to 1010) is indeed one of the causes of glory for Iranian people.Shakespeare is also a national icon in English literature. The most significant feature ofShakespeare’s works is perhaps their timeless and universal themes that contribute to their survivalas everlasting feats. Shakespeare never had the chance to know Ferdowsi, whose monumentalwork was introduced to English readers by Sir William Jones who compared him to Homer in thesecond half of the 18th century. However, Shakespeare’s King Lear (16-6) concentrates on acontroversial issue already dealt with in Ferdowsi’s Shahnama. This paper examines thedistinctions, and at the same time the points they share in common. Division of kingdoms amongchildren is particularly discussed.

کلیدواژه ها:

kingdom ، Ferdowsi ، Shakespeare ، women