Shakespeare's King Lear and Dante's Inferno explore the reasons and results of human suffering. Each work posits that human suffering results from choices made: a statement that applies not only to the characters in each work, but also to the readers. Both Hell and King Lear express universal truths about the human condition: suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. While both King Lear and Inferno focus on admonitions and laments over human suffering, one of the main differences between the works is that Inferno conveys an aspect of hope that is not as prevalent in King Lear. Through Lear, Shakespeare expertly depicts the inevitability of human suffering. The “little things,” the seemingly insignificant choices that Lear makes over the course of the play, inevitably evolve into unstoppable forces that change Lear’s life for the worse. He falls for Goneril and Regan's flattery and his pride turns him away from Cordelia's no-nonsense affection. Kent and the Fool constantly advise him to avoid such choices, but his stubborn pride prevents him from seeing the wisdom hidden in the Fool's words: "Please tell him that the rent for his land is worth how much: he will not believe. a fool” (Shakespeare 21). This leads to Lear's eventual "discharge", as foreshadowed in Act I. This discharge is exacerbated by his inability to recognize his initial mistakes and learn from them until it is too late. Lear's lack of recognition is partly explained by his belief in a predestined life controlled entirely by the gods: "It is the stars, the stars above us govern our conditions" (Shakespeare 101). The elder characters in King Lear connect their various sufferings to the desire to...... middle of paper ... which explores the immensity of human suffering. However, although they both state that human suffering is inevitable, there is a sense of lightness in Hell that is absent in King Lear. The final message of King Lear involves the idea that human suffering is universal and that one's choices not only cause one's own suffering, but also invariably lead to the suffering of others. King Lear ends on a note of immense sadness, while Inferno's final message is much more hopeful, expressing the idea that the omnipresence of human suffering does not mean that all hope is lost. In Inferno, suffering is one aspect of the human experience, but not the only one, and it does not have to define everyone's life.Works CitedAlghieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy, Volume I: Inferno. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Dover, 1994. Print.