| Sumario: | The present analysis tries to demonstrate that in William Shakespeare's plays the father and son relationship is significant beyond the perimeter of basic family ties. Following a pattern introduced by the young Gobbo / old Gobbo interplay in The Merchant of Venice, the son is constantly searching for his father's approval because of the bond that unites them. This bond, made of love, respect, and duty, comes to represent the vehicle through which the natural order reins in the world. The father and son relationship will be discussed in relation to two history plays, 1 Henry IV and King Lear. In addition, Hamlet will be used as a background where the analogy will explain how the father and son pattern is open to a double take, proving that paternity and heredity are two sides of the same coin.
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