----- Original Message -----

Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 2:10 AM

Subject: Demon/Ada/ O´Leary/O´Reilly

"Cordelia O'Leary" occurs in ADA, in the same chapter (1.27) in which Van makes the Corada/Adula slip. You mention Lawrence Olivier, and she happens to be is a young actress:
"She's a budding Duse," replied Demon austerely, and the party is strictly a "prof push." You'll stick to Cordula de Prey, I, to Cordelia O'Leary."

Then I was carried away to all the grousy "Petersons" (Cf.Don B.Johnson in Worlds in Regression) from Vseslav Zemski/ Peter/ Mary O´Reilly...to Dementiy Veen for a transgenerational incest hint.

For those who don´t see a connection bt. Shakespeare´s King Lear and the incest theme and who don´t agree with my own understanding of L. Olivier´s interpretation, I can offer another reading of Shakespeare´s King Lear that points out this Father/Daughter incest in Lear´s drama.
I´m thinking about Jane Smiley´s book " A Thousand Acres", winner of the 1991 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Jane Smiley´s particular understanding of Lear/Cordelia also became a movie directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (1997) with Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jason Robards, Colin Firth, Keith Carradine, Kevin Anderson.

From James Berardinelli´s review :
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse, working from Laura Jones' adaptation of Jane Smiley's novel (which, in turn, updated Shakespeare's King Lear), gives A Thousand Acres the emotional pitch of Fried Green Tomatoes (even though the stories are vastly dissimilar). Although the plot is undeniably overwrought at times, the characters remain strong and reliable, and it's their believability that pulls us through (...)