Philosophical challenges read from a contemporary context help us better understand individuals and their relation to the world they live in. Through an existential reading of King Lear, we see Lear’s challenge of his identity crisis, thus providing us with a deeper understanding of Lear and his diegetic world. Likewise, a feminist reading of the text gives insight to females and their challenge to achieve equality in King Lear’s diegetic world when read from a contemporary viewpoint. Furthermore, the representations of the existential challenges in The invention of Love demonstrate how existential philosophy is inherent within the characters and the diegetic world of the text.
Through an existential reading, Lear’s challenge of achieving “existential freedom” can give us insight to Lear’s own identity crisis and it’s association with his world. Lear’s identity crisis in splitting of the kingdom can be considered, “good faith” from an existential reading. “We have divided in three our kingdom.” Shakespeare uses the collective pronoun, “we” to show the decision has come from a new identity created within himself. His action is based on his internal new identity in contrast with external stimuli, thus having “good faith.” The challenge inherent in Lear’s identity crisis can help us understand Lear’s splitting of the kingdom as good faith and rejection of the diegetic world. The next step in Lear’s existential journey is Lear’s challenge of understanding of the absurdity of the universe. “I tax not you elements… I never gave you my kingdom.” The personification of elements demonstrates Lear’s new understanding of the universe’s indifference that it is neither for nor against him. Lear forms a new ego in his realisation of the indifference of the elements and his surrounding wold, otherwise considered absurdity. Lear begins to overcome his existential challenge in his new ego, subsequently leading to existential freedom. Lear’s challenge of finding “Existential freedom” comes to a climax within the death of Cordelia. “Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, and thou no breath at all?” Shakespeare shows contrast between the life of an animal and of his daughter. Lear’s despair at Cordelia’s death gives him a full understanding of the absurdity of the universe and inherent lack of justice. Lear’s new understanding of the violent indifference of the universe leads to his own death. In his death, Lear experiences, “existential freedom.” Lear’s despair brings him the satisfaction of accepting the universe for what it is, thus bringing freedom. Lear overcomes his challenge of becoming existentially free by coming to a realisation of the absurdity of his world.
An existential reading of The Invention of Love show’s us the woman’s challenge of finding meaning giving us a deeper understanding of her as a character in relation to her diegetic world. An existential reading of the text suggests that the woman is acting in “bad faith” when she follows her lover to the industrial world. The cough generated by the exhaust of the horse clearly foreshadows her inability to deal with the industrial world. It demonstrates her “bad faith” in that she is choosing the industrial world which is evidently contrary to her own identity. The woman tries to find meaning in external stimuli rather than within herself, subsequently she faces the challenge of reconciling this by undergoing an existential crisis to achieve existential freedom. The woman’s isolation creates a catalyst for her existential challenge. This is expressed through the long shot of the woman walking. The mise en scene is composed of mostly empty space and the small body of the woman, portraying her isolation. According to Sartre’s existential philosophy, Isolation is a vital part of existential crisis. The woman is isolated from the world, thus questioning the meaning of her life. The woman now faces the challenge of becoming existentially free by finding meaning internally rather than the outside world. The woman overcomes her existential challenge by achieving freedom in finding meaning within herself. This is expressed when the woman runs down the stairs to retrieve her rose, a representation of herself. The composer has used a change to the colour blue, symbolic of the natural world throughout the film. To understand the woman’s existential freedom we must see the natural world as a representation of the woman rather than external stimulus. In choosing herself in the natural world she inherently finds meaning within herself, rather than love or the synthetic world, thus becoming existentially free in death. The woman has overcome her challenge of achieving freedom in the text by embracing herself as an individual and rejecting the world around her to find meaning.

A feminist reading of King Lear demonstrates the challenge women face to find equality in their diegetic world. Females in the text face the challenge of gaining equality in the face of a society where only subservience is accepted. At Cordelia’s submission to Lear, kent remarks, “kind and dear princess!” The double entedre of the word princess refers to both her royal position and his admiration of her subservience, hence proving submission a vital part of the diegetic world. This leaves women with the challenge of gaining equality in a society where subservience is a necessary trait in a woman. The challenge of finding gender equality is impeded by society’s view of dominant females. Females who suggest equality to men are considered corrupt by society, for instance Goneril and Regan in the play. Goneril and Regan are expressed as “unnatural hags” by Lear. The metaphor illustrates the disturbance of the natural subservience of women, inherent in the great chain of being. The females, Goneril and Regan face the challenge of being masculine to exhibit power and equality of their gender, while being considered corrupt by their chauvinistic society. Women face the challenge of achieving equality in world where they are sexually objectified by men. In reference to Edmund’s mother, Gloucester says “There was good sport at his making,” Gloucester’s attempt at humour clearly demonstrates men’s attitude toward women in the diegetic world. Women are only seen as sexual objects in the play, thus exemplifying their challenge to overcome objectification and achieve equality. The numerous challenges inherent with gender equality in the text are manifest due to the chauvinistic world women are placed in. The challenges inherent in King Lear and The Invention of Love can be clearly demonstrated through philosophical reading of the text, thus giving insight to individuals and the world they live in. In an existential reading of King Lear, we can undoubtedly see Lear’s existential journey in his own understanding of the absurdity of the universe. A feminist reading of King Lear demonstrates women’s challenges in achieving gender equality in a chauvinistic society. The Invention of Love shows the woman’s challenge of finding meaning inherent within herself rather than the external world. The philosophical challenges within these two texts show us clearly the nature of individuals and their relationships with their surrounding world.