Effective Leadership In King Lear

Effective leadership requires a foundation of strong relationships to construct a clear outline of the responsibilities they must uphold. This is manifested through Shakespeare’s tragedy; King Lear and, the 1971 biographical film Nicholas and Alexandra directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, which tells the story of a devoted Russian Tsar, yet his ruling and decisions led to the end of a 300-year Romanov regime. It is evident in both texts that in order to be effective, leaders must use their relationships for support to fulfil their duties and also focus on nurturing them as it influences their status of power.

Leaders who do not have a support system are unable to achieve their goals and therefore are ineffective. This is evident in King Lear,
Nicholas’ subsequent decline from power is first evident through the poor relationship he now has with his son depicted by a confrontation, “What are you doing for them? I'm so ashamed of you”. The irony that a child is criticising the Tsar highlights his poor leadership and inability to carry forth his responsibilities as a result of neglecting his relationships. Nicholas is too absorbed in his power declaring “God put meant me to rule, he put me here, he chose me!” His contextual allusion to the Great Chain of Being implies that he is as great as God himself and can do no wrong which causes him to focus on himself over his people and the result of this is catastrophic. This is shown through the long shot of wounded and dead bodies on the ground and the contrast of bright red blood on white snow emphasising the detrimental effects of his neglect, proving himself to be an unfit ruler. Nicholas loses his foundation of strong relationships through failure to nurture his relationships and therefore does not have a clear idea of his duties. The negligence towards his people causes them to have hatred towards Nicholas which causes him to lose his