Actually, yes, I think it is. The man is almost Lear-like in his mad anguish and heartbreak. You can almost hear him howling against the misfortunes that have beset him:
I will have such revenges on you both,
That all the world - I will do such things -
What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be
The terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep?
No, I'll not weep:
I have full cause of weeping; but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!
This man had a son, and upon this son he built a shimmering palace of hope, ambition and expectation, only to see it dashed and smashed. The ricocheting splinters have pierced his soul and he is now beyond saving. He will spend the rest of his life nursing his bitterness, hugging his hate, muttering his curses even unto his death bed. Most ultra-rich men have more than a few sins on their conscience which must be balanced in the profit and loss account of their lives, but even so, I do feel a glimmer of pity for this broken man who can now only echo Lear's lament:
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness;
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,
You owe me no subscription: then let fall
Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave.
Such a broken man may strike a more tangible blow when his court days are over and there is nothing else to lose.
I hope some one watches over him.
Posted by: [email protected] | Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 06:19
Indeed so, '[email protected]', but I don't wish to appear overly sentimental. Mr. al Fayed is, I suspect (I don't know because I have never met him), a man capable of great vindictiveness and cruelty who will have very few genuine mourners at his funeral when it comes. However, his mad diatribe at the inquest yesterday was of such a Lear-like magnitude that I felt some stirrings of pity for him.
Posted by: David Duff | Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 08:35
It is alleged that he has been a crook from the beginning, David, and very possibly ruined Hamilton, and had him jailed, on entirely spurious evidence. There are better men to be anguished about: how vile do you have to be for a New Labour cabinet to refuse you citizenship?
Posted by: dearieme | Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 14:07
Point taken, 'DM', and as I indicate above, I have no illusions as to his nature. Nevertheless, the echoes of Lear were too striking to be ignored. Of course, Lear's tragedy lies in the fact that having been stripped of everything, his power, his palaces, his anger, his pride and finally his wits, he is then able to 'see' reality for the first time, and as he 'sees' it, he dies.
Sorry, I'm allowing my whimsical side too much leeway, but you have to admit there was something Lear-like in al Fayed's 'performance' yesterday.
Posted by: David Duff | Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 14:23
Fair do's.
Posted by: dearieme | Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 18:19