King Lear is one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies which involves a
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
perspectives” (Holstad 1).
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 choosing to, “express our darker purpose” (I, i,
35). There is no mention of any of the three daughters’ childhood. In contrast, Smiley
makes a point of adding description to her novel. She constantly describes the three
girls’ childhood, their ancestors, and other memories from the past. In the beginning of
the novel, Ginny elaborates upon her great-grandparents and, “when they came the first
time to Zebulon County, in the spring of 1890, and saw that half the land they had
already bought was under two feet of water” (Smiley 14). Ginny also remembers when
she used to take care of Caroline, “I had such hope for her, such a strong sense that when
we sent her out, in whatever capacity, she would perform well, with enthusiasm and
confidence that were mysteriously hers alone” (Smiley 262). The description of the past
is the most powerful part in A Thousand Acres. It reveals hidden roots that shape and
define behaviors of the characters. This hidden knowledge and exposure of secrets is
exemplified in Edgar’s line in King Lear, “In nothing am I chang’d But in my garments”
(IV, vi, 9-10). It tells the reader that although things may appear to be a certain way,
reality will prove them to be different.
The major difference between King Lear and A Thousand Acres is that the past comes
to life in A Thousand Acres. It provides a means by which one may sympathize with one
character in A Thousand Acres and equally detest that character’s counterpart in King
Lear. In the play King Lear, the reader shows pity for Lear after his rashness because his
two eldest daughters show hate and disgust for him. They disrespect their father when
Goneril scolds him and, “others of your insolent retinue” (I, iv, 195). Regan attempts to
make her father abandon his train of followers when she asks him, “What need one” (II,
iv, 261). Lear does not understand either of his daughter’s attitude towards him and, due
to the lack of background information presented in the play, the reader identifies with
him and feels sorrow when he recites his memorable line, “I gave you all-” (II, iv, 248).
Another reason that he is seen as a victim could be due to the third person limited
point-of-view that accompanies a play. The reader is only aware of the lines that are
recited in the play. Occasionally, a soliloquy or an aside is given for further insight, but
these do not occur frequently in King Lear. The reader only knows what he or she is
told. The characters do not express deeper and darker concerns. Goneril talks about
always disliking her father for his playing favorites among the daughters, “The
observation we have made of it hath not been little” (I, i, 288-89). This is the reader’s
only insight in the story about a possible disagreement or other catastrophic event that
happened in the past. Jane Smiley provides a background in A Thousand Acres that gives
the reader a whole different attitude toward the character of King Lear.
Larry Cook is analogous to King Lear. They both are rash, stubborn, and eventually
mentally deranged. However, though the reader feels compassion for Lear, he or she
feels hatred and disgust towards Larry Cook. The reason for this abrupt change of
emotions is credited to the attention given to the past. Rose lets the dark secret escape of
how her and her father, “We had sex in my bed” (Smiley 205). This is an unexpected
shock to the reader. At this point the whole story changes, and it also makes the reader
take a look back at King Lear and wonder why Goneril and Regan despised their father
so much. Ginny later comments how, “One thing Daddy took from me when he came to
me in my room at night was the memory of my body” (Smiley 302). Furthermore, with
the story being told in the first person point-of-view from Ginny, the reader sympathizes
with the two eldest daughters which seemed impossible to do in King Lear. It is obvious
that Ginny and Rose took extremely good care of their father and watched out for him
like a mother would a child, “You simply can’t drive all over creation, and you especially
can’t do it when you’re drinking . . . You could kill somebody. Or kill yourself, for that
matter” (Smiley 159). The reader is appalled when Larry Cook states, similarly to Lear’s
lines, “It’s you girls that make me crazy! I gave you everything, and I get nothing in
return” (Smiley 196). Ginny does not understand why her father acts thus when he has,
“hurt us and shown no remorse or even understanding” (Smiley 398).
This incest could possibly be traced in King Lear if the reader examines the first lines
of Goneril and Regan, respectively. Lear asks his daughters to announce their love for
him in order to obtain a fair share of the kingdom. Goneril states how, “I love you more
than words can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty” (I, i, 54-55).
Next, Regan confesses her love saying that, “I am alone felicitate In your dear highness’
love” (I, i, 73-74). Although these lines are an extreme exaggeration of their love, they
still show incest that may be present. Cordelia deplores her sisters’ remarks, “Why have
my sisters husbands, if they say They love you all” (I, i, 98-99). She will not lie about her
love for her father. She tells him, “I love your majesty According to my bond; nor more
nor less” (I, i, 91-92). This bond is called filial piety and is the bond that exists between
children and their parents. This is also the bond that Larry Cook has broken with Ginny
and Rose which defines their behaviors. Ginny assumes a role of silence and blocking
things out. She thinks it, “silly to talk about ‘my point of view.’ When my father
asserted his point of view, mine vanished” (Smiley 190). Rose is the exact opposite. She
is upset at what her father did to her when she was young and expresses her feelings as
well as Pete’s, “I’m sure Pete’s dying regret was that he hadn’t gotten back at Daddy”
(Smiley 326).
Another gap in the story that Smiley fills in is about a mother figure. Although a
mother is not an established character in either piece of literature, one is mentioned in A
Thousand Acres. In fact, Ginny devotes a whole chapter to describing her mother and the
impact her mother had on her childhood, “She kept the house clean and raised us the
same way the neighbors were raising their children . . . She cared about what we did or
failed to do” (Smiley 241). The allusion to a mother in A Thousand Acres gives
something to the novel that King Lear lacks. The absence of a mother in the play
contributes to the monstrous characteristics of the daughters. They do not seem to be
compassionate and Lear comments on this when he says to Goneril, “How sharper than a
serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child” (I, iv, 283-84). In addition, the innocence
of Rose and Ginny is accented due to Rose’s two children. She is not seen as an old,
married, childless hag. Rose is now viewed as a loving mother who is very protective of
her children. She was worried about her father taking advantage of her daughters and
that is why, “I send them to boarding school” (Smiley 207). Just as the appearances of
Goneril, Regan, and Lear change from one book to the next as realities are exposed, so
does the appearance of Lear’s formerly most prized daughter Cordelia.
In King Lear, Cordelia’s defining characteristic is supreme virtue. She never
abandons the true daughterly love that she feels for her father even after she is disowned,
“Let this kiss Repair those violent harms that my two sisters Have in thy reverence made”
(IV, vii, 27-29). Unlike her sisters, Cordelia does not see a reason for a daughter to ever
hate her father, “No cause, no cause” (IV, vii, 75). Caroline, Cordelia’s countertype in A
Thousand Acres, does not show the same potent characteristic of virtue as Cordelia does.
Caroline does not keep in touch with much of the family once she leaves to go back to
Des Moines. The reader gets a sense that Caroline overreacts and is perpetually angry
with her sisters for letting, “Daddy out in that storm” (Smiley 264). However, Caroline is
suffering from a lack of knowledge. She does not know the truth about everything that
has happened and Ginny puts it best when she says, “You weren’t there. You don’t know
what happened or what it was like” (Smiley 264). Furthermore, she takes what she is
told from Larry Cook and Harold Clark at face value. Caroline chooses to get back at her
sisters when, “Your dad is suing you to get the farm back. Your sister Caroline is a party
to the suit” (Smiley 259). However, the main thing that gives the reader contempt for
Caroline is how she acts towards her sisters while not having the slightest idea about
what they have been through. At the end of the novel, Ginny comes close to letting
Caroline know about everything, “You don’t know what-” (Smiley 391), but she instead
chooses to leave Caroline oblivious of Rose and Ginny’s scarred past.
After reading these two works of literature the reader achieves a sense of healthy
disquietude, not sure whether he or she likes the ending because the characters differ so
much between the novel and the play. Although the theme of incest and analyzing the
filial piety that goes along with that is not seen immediately in King Lear, once the
reader reads A Thousand Acres, his or her eyes are opened and now the enlightened
person is able to delve into the play with much greater depth and knowledge. Jane
Smiley does not stop at the exploration of filial piety. She takes her book to the next
level by also exploring the concepts of male dominance and female victimization, and
how secrets can change the whole tone and attitude given to a piece of literature. Once
gaps are filled in and past details expanded upon, an entire story can be changed.
Hopefully, the reader learns from this explosive series of events and derives a deeper
understanding of life in general with the outstanding point of not being quick to judge an
individual without knowing the “real” facts.