Nothing like the image and horror of it: King Lear and Heart of Darkness

Meek, Richard

Abstract

There are several allusions to King Lear at the end of Heart of Darkness, suggesting that Joseph Conrad might have had Shakespeare in mind during the composition of his novella. Both texts are concerned with the difficulty of producing meaning in the face of unspeakable horrors, and the problems involved in constructing an intelligible or meaningful "report." Heart of Darkness thus emerges as a sophisticated and skeptical "reading" of Shakespeare's tragedy: both texts reveal narrative to be a kind of confidence trick, while at the same time demonstrating the power of narrative and our need for coherent ends.

Citation

Meek, R. (2010). Nothing like the image and horror of it: King Lear and Heart of Darkness. Borrowers and lenders: the journal of Shakespeare and appropriation, 5(1),

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2010
• Journal: Borrowers and lenders: the journal of Shakespeare and appropriation
• Electronic ISSN: 1554-6985
• Publisher: Georgia State University, Department of English
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/423786
• Publisher URL: http://www.borrowers.uga.edu/782425/show