An ambitious ruler defeated by his own hubris: Shakespeare had Donald Trump down.

[discocrisco01]

A letter writer to the LA Times writes


"To the editor: We all are living our own Shakespearean drama: a flawed character has successfully ascended to the ultimate power that he so dearly sought. However, victory is taking on an increasingly bitter taste as the very traits he used to achieve his goal are sowing dissension. (“Trump lashes out, calls Russia investigation a 'witch hunt,'” May 18)

All this, while his entourage wears itself to a frazzle, scrambling daily to turn dross into gold: that is, to transform yesterday’s lie into today’s fact. And his entourage may be turning on him — who can it be who dares leak? Could it be Stephen Bannon — not Cicero — who “looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes”?

So President Trump flails about, steeped in self-pity while hurling accusations. But the cause of his angst is not the Democrats, the media or even those awful leakers. At the end of the day it’s Trump."

The letter-writer makes an interesting point.

[unblock]

1. let us hope that he is but a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage

and then is heard no more: it is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing.


... but one fears the carnage left behind on that stage....

[dalton99a]

2. +1

[vlyons]

3. What fools these mortals be

Yes the similarity to a Shakespearean tragedy has occurred to me also. Except there are few Shakespearean villians, who are as awful as Trump. I guess Shylock, Hamlet, and Lear come closest, with Lear topping the list. But then sometimes I think the foolishness of Dick Bottom, the character that turns into a donkey is a better fit for Trump.