The Epitome of How to Live Life free essay sample

MorrieIn the play King Lear by William Shakespeare and the memoir Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, the two main characters King Lear and Morrie Schwartz both experience a major downfall within their lives. Each man endures their hardship in their own way, but Morrie Schwartz epitomized the correct way to live life – the way we all should. King Lear viewed aging and death as a time to be unburdened and carefree, and family as servants who should obey his every command. He viewed life in a selfish perspective; if something bad happened to him he would completely wallow in self-pity. Whereas Morrie viewed aging and death as a time to teach others and family as a give love, get love situation that he could not live without. Morrie viewed life in a completely positive and selfless perspective, making him the epitome of the perfect way to live life. King Lear had a very different perspective than Morrie on how to live life at the beginning of the play. We will write a custom essay sample on The Epitome of How to Live Life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Realizing his old age, Lear saw this as a time to be carefree and unburdened by responsibility: â€Å"Know that we have divided / In three our kingdom, and ’tis our fast intent / To shake all cares and business from our age, / Conferring them on younger strengths while we / Unburdened crawl toward death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I i 40-43). In this quote, King Lear is describing his plan to divide his kingdom into three parts and giving it to his three daughters so that he can enjoy a little peace of mind in his old age. This shows that King Lear viewed old age and death as a time to kick back and relax. Instead of just giving his daughters their share of the kingdom, he makes them declare their love for him and compete against each other for a bigger share of land. This plan, however, backfires on him when his youngest daughter, Cordelia, doesn’t give him the exaggerated answer he was searching for. This infuriates him; which leads him to banishing Cordelia and splitting the kingdom among his other two daughters, Goneril and Regan: â€Å"Here I disclaim all my paternal care, / Propinquity, and property of blood, / And as a stranger to my heart and me / Hold thee from this for ever. (I i 115-118). In this quote, Lear is furious with Cordelia, saying that he disowns her as his own flesh and blood. This shows that he was more concerned about his ego and his daughters fighting over him than having honest, loyal children. King Lear viewed family like he viewed servants – always obeying his wishes. After making this decision, Lear soon realizes that he had made a huge mista ke. Goneril and Regan do not show any sympathy for the former king, not even allowing him to stay with either one of them – forcing him to go out into the storm. After being locked out, Lear wallows in deep self-pity: â€Å"†¦The tempest in my mind Doth from my senses take all feeling else, Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude, Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand For lifting food to’t? But I will punish home. No, I will not weep no more. In such a night To shut me out! Pour on, I will endure. In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father, whose hear gave all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (III iv 14-20) In this quote, he is expressing his hurt and shock towards his daughters’ betrayal. Although he said he will not weep anymore, he continued to complain about his situation. Lear recognized that Goneril and Regan were the dishonest ones but he had not yet learned to look at the situation from a non-selfish point of view. Although eventually he learns and understands the entirety of his situation, he learned the importance of family too late and this quote exemplifies it. He viewed life in a selfish perspective. This proves that, unlike Morrie, Lear did not epitomize the way to live life; rather he epitomized the way not to. Tuesdays with Morrie is a memoir by Mitch Albom which reflects on the death of his old professor and friend, Morrie Schwartz. Morrie was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. As his body slowly wilted, Morrie and Albom had discussions every Tuesday about life and more importantly, how to live life to the fullest. Morrie engulfed the definition of the perfect state of mind. Even after being diagnosed with ALS, he sees his impending death as a time to teach others, as Albom described: â€Å"Morrie would walk that final bridge between life and death, and narrate the trip† (10-11). This proves that unlike King Lear, Morrie didn’t see his death as a time to relax but rather as a tool to help people learn the important lessons in life. Morrie loved to teach because he loved to help others. He recognized the importance of relationships and having love around you because love is what lives on after death. He knew that this was his time to go so he might as well make the most of it – he accepted death. If there was one thing Morrie made very clear it was that he wouldn’t have been able to be as strong as he was without his family. Morrie’s wife was constantly at his side and his children visited as often as they could. Although they wanted to take time off and go be at his side, he wouldn’t let them. Morrie felt that if they stopped their entire lives it would only be worse for them, saying: â€Å"Do not stop your lives. Otherwise, this disease will have ruined three of us instead of one† (93). This shows how selfless Morrie was. Even though he would have loved nothing more than to see his sons every day, he would not allow them to put their lives completely on hold just for him. Otherwise, this disease will have ruined three of us instead of one,† which means it’s his time to go, and although it’s sad they need to still continue their lives and move forward because they have a long time to go. He cares very much for his children, unlike King Lear. King Lear viewed family more as his servants to obey his every command, whereas Morrie was just concerned for their futures because he loved them and wanted them to keep experiencing life. Morrie sees family as a give-and take-situation – you give love, you get love. It’s an equal balance: â€Å"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in† (52). This means that most of us think we don’t deserve love; that it will make us become too soft. But what Morrie is saying, is that we have to learn to let love in, too, in order to live life to the fullest. Living life to the fullest also means focusing on the good things rather than the bad. Unlike King Lear who just wallowed in self-pity, Morrie – a dying man – only allowed himself to mourn for a few short minutes each morning: â€Å"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things in my life. On the people who are coming to see me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (57). Even in his fragile state, Morrie still continued to look at the positive things in his life. He knew that even though he was going to die, there are people in the world who will never get to say good-bye and that he’s lucky to be able to. He knew that things could always be worse. King Lear was the complete opposite when he endured his tragedy; he was always mourning for himself, never living life the way he should. Morrie epitomizes the way everyone should live life. In conclusion, Morrie Schwartz is the perfect example of the way everyone should live their lives. He viewed aging and death as a tool to teach others the important topics of life, and he viewed family as the most important people that he could not live without. He viewed life in a completely selfless perspective unlike King Lear who viewed every situation selfishly. Morrie used his death as a teaching mechanism for all of us; he made his death about helping others rather than focusing on himself. We should all live our lives both giving and receiving love because love is the only rational act, and Morrie knew that better than anyone.