King Hedley II, Essay Example

My main impression of King Hedley II was that the writer, August Wilson, used this piece of literature in an attempt to recreate classic plays from the Greek and Greek revival periods. However, Wilson’s topic is more relevant to a modern audience, who are more likely to connect with a character who inhabits Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Although he is an ex-convict who is trying to begin his life anew, he reminds me of many Shakespearean characters, in the context of having a tragic flaw that brings his undoing. Furthermore, the tone of the story seems similar to those ancient Roman and Greek plays. The characters seem unhappy from the very beginning of the tale, and although they are trying to seek resolutions to their problems, the audience never gets a sense that there will be a happy ending.

King Hedley’s goal, to return to Pittsburg and to start a family seems plausible at the beginning of the tale. After committing murder, it appears that he wishes to live a fairly normal life. Although King Hedley struggles to do so throughout the tale, there is always foreshadowing that his plans are for naught. This reminds me of Oedipus, whose tragic flaw is the simple belief that he is in control of his own destiny. In this ancient Greek tale, Oedipus attempts to bypass the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, only for his journey to lead him in a direction in which this is all the more possible. In this instance, King Hedley’s major flaw is the simply belief that life can be better. Essentially, he is going against his own fate as well. It is plausible that fate had intended him to be unhappy, setting him up in a series of situations that would contribute to his time in prison and his difficulties after.

King Hedley’s tragic flaw is what essential results in his death. In the style of many Shakespearean plays, the story ends with the main characters murdering one another. What is interesting in this story in particular is that before King Hedley’s death, both King Hedley and Elmore have tried to kill one another, but decide that it wouldn’t be right. At this moment, the two essentially atone for their sins and recognize what it correct morally from what is wrong. However, the timing is extremely ironic, because Ruby shoots at King Hedley. This is an interesting ending because it appears that Ruby shot King Hedley by accident. We could explain Ruby’s accidental shot as a reminder from the gods that they are in control of our destiny and that we are only pawns in their schemes.

Overall, while I enjoyed reading this play, I thought that viewing it as a performance would have been more conducive to my ability to understand what the author, August Wilson, was thinking when he wrote this performance. It is always fascinating to read plays however, because it provides us with the opportunity to interpret the words as our own before seeing their initial intention. In my case, I viewed King Hedley II as a Shakespearean or ancient Greek and Roman inspired play because a majority of the plays I have read revolve around this theme. Since I have a lot of experience with this type of readings, I was able to recognize motifs that were common between these older plays and Wilson’s modern story.