Was the jester a possible superman?

Abstract

The present work makes an approach to the tragedy King Lear by William Shakespeare, writer of the 17th century, establishing an approximation with the prologue of the work Thus spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher of the 19th century. This article aims to study the figure of the Jester, and the figure of the King Lear, protagonist of the Shakespearean tragedy, to make a comparative study with some of Zarathustra’s characters: the equilibrist and the clown, that are present in the Thus spoke Zarathustra’s prologue. The analysis explores and relates the concepts of "superman" and "last man" by F. Nietzsche to Shakespeare’s King Lear characters. The text respects the temporal difference of the works, but focuses on relating them through the images that both present as philosophical and literary free devices. The work seeks to support the argument that the jester character presented by Shakespeare could be the Super-man, of which spoke Zarathustra.