【Abstract】：Shakespeare’s King Lear has quite a far-reaching impact on English literature and even on the whole world’s literature. Many scholars have done lots of studies on it. At the same time， a Tibetan play Drowa Sangmu， written by a Tibetan monk， MiRa Lodrul Gyatsol also has tremendous impact on Tibetan literature and its society， and has aroused many scholars’ interest， too. However， no one has ever attempted to compare the two plays. In both stories， there is a king with surprisingly same life experiences， while the endings of these two stories are totally different. In this thesis， the author will analyze the reason why the kings with similar life experiences have so different endings. In doing this， we can also better understand the two literatures， cultures as well as social situations.

【Key words】： experiences， ending， society， culture， England， Tibet

PartⅠIntroduction

This is a comparative study of two different nation’s play：one is an English drama King Lear which was written by William Shakespeare and the other is a Tibetan drama Drowa Sangmu written by MiRa Lodrul Gyatsol. Both dramas came out in 17th century. This research intends to explore the superficial meanings and values and excavates in depth with the purpose of getting further understanding of both dramas.

King Lear is an English drama， while Drowa Sangmo is a Tibetan drama. Both dramas have a very high literary value.

Part ⅡTheoretical Basis and Research Method

2.1 Defining Parallel Study in Comparative literature

In this thesis， I will mainly use the parallel theory in comparative literature. Parallel study is kind of comparative study method which uses to compare the literatures of different countries and different ethnics.

2.2 Introducing the two dramas in general and the two kings in particular

King Lear is a tragic story which is based on the legend of Leir of Britain， a mythological pre-Roman king. In this play， King Lear had a tragic story.

While in Drowa Sangmo， a typical Tibetan play， the King Gala Wangbu is ruling the kingdom， Mandal Gang， with the evil Queen Hashang Gyalmo and her trusted maid-servant， Sama Rago.

Part Ⅲ Similarities and Differences

3.1 Similarities between King Lear and Gala Wangbu

There are three similarities between King Lear and King Gala Wangbu：

First of all， their characters are very similar. King Lear and King Gala Wangbu， both of them are opinionated， fatuous folly， peacockish， and don’t listen to good words.

Secondly， the way they treated their people is similar. Both of them are brutal ruler to their people.

Thirdly， their life experience is similar.

3.2 Differences between King Lear and Gala Wangbu

The most different part between King Lear and King Gala Wangbu is that even if they had a very similar characters and life experiences， their ultimate fate is dramatically different. However， King Gala Wangbu is saved by her children and at last he gets happiness for his family’s reunite.

Part IV Reasons Underlining the Similarities and Differences

King Lear and King Gala Wangbu in the two plays have a fairly different fate or ending even if they have a very similar life experiences and characters. Why does it happen like that？ How many factors are there which make their dramatically different ending？ We may discuss theses questions from two aspects， society and culture. To the society background differences， we can discuss it from economy and politic and to the culture we can discuss it from literature background and religion.

4.1 Society

To the social background differences， we can discuss it from economical and political aspects.

Politics：

4.2 Culture

Literature：

One of most important events in the history of the Great Britain is the Renaissance. At that time the typical embodiment in literature was the humanism. Different from the characteristics of English literature， Tibetan literature was deeply influenced by Buddhism.

Religion：

Christian was transmitted to England about at the end of the 6th century. As an orthodox religious culture in Tibetan areas before the spread of the Buddhism， the Bon religion was an important component of Tibetan traditional culture. At the same time， the Bon religion， claiming broad mass foundation， played as indispensable role in the later development of Tibetan Buddhism.

Conclusion

We have explored the reasons why King Lear and King Gala Wang Bu， the two kings with similar life experiences and different endings from the perspective of the two nation’s society and culture background.Concerning cultural background， I have discussed it from two parts， specially， literature and religious background. While English and Tibetan literature and religious show a very sharp difference at the same period of time， both have influenced the two kings’ different ending in two dramas. All in all， in this thesis， through comparing the two kings in the two different nations’ plays regarding their same life experiences and different endings， I have analyzed the reasons and may arrive at the conclusion that at the same period of time， the very different social and cultural background will create very different plots and endings in literary works.

Works Cited

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Gaxi Cheodrak. A Brief History of Tibetan Economy. Yunnan Nationalities Publishing House，1999

Ga Zangjia. Tibetan Religion. China Intercontinental Press， 2003

MiRa Lodrul Gyatsol. Drowa Sang Mu. Tibetan People's Publishing House， 2004

Meng Zhaoyi. General Theory of Comparative Literature. Nankai University Press， 2003

Robert Mc Crum. et a1. The Story of English， Elisabeth Sifton Books，Viking， 1986

Tub Dan Phun Tsok. The Key of Tibetan History. Sichuan People's Publishing House，1992

W. Shakespeare. King Lear. Foreign Languages Press， 1999

Wu Weiren. History and Anthology of English Literature. Foreign Language Teaching and Reacherch Press， 1988