King Lear Group

Question:

swapon
swapon
Student
College - Senior

Explain Cordelia as a tragic figure in King Lear.

Rate question:

Posted by swapon on Monday October 19, 2009 at 12:09 AM and tagged with characters, cordelia, literature, tragic figure.

Answers:

  1. parkerlee
    parkerlee Teacher

    eNotes Editor

    As she was the only "true" daughter of Lear but was punished for her virtue instead of her vice, Cordelia is NOT a typical tragic figure per se. (No character weakness untimately leads to her downfall.) However, in the more ancient Greek viewpoint of "hubris," she could indeed be considered a tragic hero in that she refused to play the role of the subservient and fawning daughter and then suffered the consequences. The idea in the latter is that it is useless to strive against destiny or fate, and when one does indeed do so, he or she is punished for having defied the "will of the gods" (in this case the will of her ageing father). Ironically, it its Lear and not Cordelia who is guilty of pride, but in the outcome and denouement of events, they both have to "pay."

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/king-lear/cordelia-character-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/king-lear/goneril-character-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/hubris

    Rate answer:

    Posted by parkerlee on Monday October 19, 2009 at 1:40 AM


  2. kc4u Teacher
    College - Senior

    eNotes Editor

    In Shakespeare's dramatisation of the story of King Lear and his three daughters, Cordelia is the youngest and the most loved of the three daughters of the old king. Cordelia seems to be a Cinderella figure, with Regan & Goneril as the wicked step-sisters. She is the 'good daughter' who refuses to quantify her love for her father while the other two sisters flatter their father to get their shares of kingdom. Cordelia is banished by Lear from the kingdom for her stubborn repetition of 'nothing', and she leaves as the bride of the king of France. Later in the play, when the old king is abused by his two 'Pelican daughters' and driven out into the open, storm-tossed heath, it is Cordelia who raises an army to land in Dover for her father's rescue. But unfortunately, Lear's 'good daughter' is intercepted and hanged to death by the wicked daughters and their accomplices.

    Cordelia's banishment from the kingdom of her father's love, her failed attempt to rescue her wronged father from the tyranny of her wicked sisters, her pathetic death--all make her a tragic figure. Her refusal to flatter Lear with false rhetoric of love and loyalty must have been Cordelia's tragic flaw/error. Some regard her rigid iteration of the word 'nothing' as a sign of stubborn pride which leads to her banishment and tragic death. There are others who see Coredelia's refusal to appease her father in a game show of love as a mark of her authentic and truthful character. Why should a daughter stand up to the foolish indignities of an oral test of love?

    Cordelia represents the Christian virtues of mercy, charity & honesty. She could even be seen as a Christ-figure, an innocent lamb sacrificed. Codelia is defeated and dead, but she transcends her traditional female role, and emerging as a moral hero upholding the virtues of loyalty and truth.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/king-lear/cordelia-character-analysis

    Rate answer:

    Posted by kc4u on Monday October 19, 2009 at 3:56 AM