king
"Lear: Be your tears wet? Yes faith, I pray weep not. If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me; for your sisters Have (as I do remember) done me wrong. You have some cause, they have not. In Shakespeare's King Lear the character Cordelia is disowned and denied dowry because she is unable to bring herself to flatter her father. This honesty is taken as insult by Lear in the opening act of the play, and he renounces the princess in a fit of rage. Yet when his other, more "glib and oily (I.i. 224)" daughters have ruined him, it is faithful Cordelia who comforts him. While she has the greatest reason to act against Lear, she claims she has "No cause,(IV,iv,74)" to do so. What is it within Cordelia's soul that manifests good in the face of evil? What qualities make her the play's most virtuous character? Because she is not actually present during the majority of the play, it is difficult to obtain an accurate psychological picture of Cordelia. BUT HER WORDS AND ACTIONS, HOWEVER SPARSE, DEFINE CORDELIA AS HONEST, SELFLESS AND COURAGEOUS. It is these qualities that display Cordelia's clear comprehension
(IV,iv,35)" A large part of the princess's charity is her unwillingness to recognize herself for what she is. She freely tells of her sister's "faults as they are named. She does not, however, risk the disgrace of Lear by speaking of these things in his presence. Cordelia's courage in the face of catastrophe further amplifies her virtue. The princess' higher law does not contest, but rather transcends the will of her father. She even denies herself the retribution her father has earned so well. The viewer receives the strong impression that she is unconscious of her valour. In Lear, the long diatribes of compliment often belong to the most vile of characters, but not so with Cordelia. Cordelia's life is the embodiment of tragedy. (I,i,271)" The mildness of her declaration of love was an attempt to reveal her sisters' as exaggerated. She is, in fact, largely a matter of function, helping Lear to see his evil, and keeping him from harm as long as she is able. Indeed, sweet is the rose and sharp is the thorn. . At no point in the play does Cordelia appear to have any concern for her own advancement. Goneril and Regan are certainly shown little respect, although their actions differ little from the king's, and in her last line (V,iii,7), Cordelia speaks of "these sisters," as though they were of no relation to her.
Common topics in this essay:
Majesty According,
King Lear,
Viii7 Cordelia,
SELFLESS COURAGEOUS,
Lear Cordelia's,
III Lear,
Goneril Regan,
king lear,
cordelia speaks,
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Acceptance Essays
