Analyze Cordelia's character in King Lear.
Cordelia is presented in the very first scene of the play as the daughter of Lear that actually loves her father in fact and reality, rather than just appearance. Her sisters, Goneril and Regan, are used as foils to emphasise her love, kindness, devotion and honesty through their own deceit and lack of faith. This is of course highlighted by the way in which Cordelia refuses to play both the game of her father and the game of her sisters, and does not respond with the same flowerly eloquence as Regan and Goneril, earning her banishment. Note how she bids her sisters farewell in the opening scene:
I know you what you are,
And like a sister am most loath to call
Your faults as they are named. Love well our father.
To your professed bosoms I commit him.
The way in which Cordelia is shown to truly love Lear, as opposed to just protesting that she loves him, reinforces the extent of Lear's mistake in banishing her. Although Cordelia is absent for the middle section of the play, the audience implicitly compares her attitude and feelings towards her father with those expressed by Regan and Goneril.
Of course, the character of Cordelia is used to heighten the tragedy. She is described in terms that emphasise her beauty, goodness, and honestly, and thus her return to Britain and her reunion with her father seems to symbolically indicate the end of the anarchy and chaos that has dominated Lear's kingdom, and the victory of forgiveness over hatred. That this moment is all too brief, and ends with Cordelia's unjust death, makes the depth of the tragedy that much more profound.
Who is Cordelia in King Lear?
Cordelia represents the faithful daughter who is good in heart and deed. She is the foil, or opposite, to the evil Goneril and Regan.
Goneril and Regan want power and are willing to lie to and flatter their father to get it. Cordelia, dismayed by her sisters' transparent pandering, refuses to spout fawning words to her father. She says to him instead,
I love your majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.
Lear, unfortunately, cannot see beyond words, so he favors the two treacherous daughters by giving them his kingdom while banishing the faithful one.
Cordelia nevertheless continues to represent steadfast love and loyalty even after her father rejects her. Her love for her father is unconditional. She does not base it on what he can do for her or the power he has over her, but on her love for him as a person and her own integrity and kindness. She goes so far as to raise an army to help him. When she arrives in England and meets with her now-insane father, she says,
let this kiss
Repair those violent harms that my two sisters
Have in thy reverence made!
She goes on to say in a speech that she would not have treated her "enemy's dog" as badly as her sisters treated their father in putting him out onto the heath in a violent storm. She says even if the enemy's dog had bitten her, she would have let it warm itself by her fire.
Her words, unlike her sisters', are heartfelt and sincere. Cordelia's integrity and compassion make a sharp contrast to her sisters' heartless and self-centered behavior.
In King Lear, what is your opinion on Cordelia and King Lear's behavior in the opening scene?
When Lear first speaks, he seems like a logical and generous king. He wants to divide his kingdom three ways and give the portions to each of his daughters. He realizes he is getting old and feels that the time is right to confer his kingdom to his daughters ("younger strengths") giving him time to relax/retire. However, he soon proves that although he is generously giving away his kingdom, he is proud; he expects each daughter to profess her love for him so that "we our largest bounty may extend." She who professes love for Lear most eloquently would apparently get a greater share of the kingdom.
Goneril and Regan make passionate speeches. Cordelia decides to say nothing superfluous. She does this to be true.
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less. (I.i.89-91)
Lear is so proud that he just can't see the logic and truth in what Cordelia is saying. Lear wants her to top her sisters' proclamations of love, but Cordelia won't make a mockery of her true feelings. Not only does Lear refuse to give Cordelia a portion of his kingdom; he disowns her, calling her his "sometime daughter." Kent speaks up in support of Cordelia and he too is banished.
Cordelia is true and logical. She even tries to show Lear that since Goneril and Regan are married and give a portion of love to their husbands, they can't possibly give Lear "all" of their love:
Why have my sisters husbands if they say
They love you all? (I.i.97-98)
Lear is too proud and shows poor judgment in not recognizing Cordelia's logic and in not recognizing Kent's wisdom.
Who kills Cordelia in King Lear?
After Cordelia and Lear lose the battle against Cordelia's two older sisters, Edmund has Cordelia and Lear imprisoned. He is determined to have them killed. He gives a note to his captain that says he should kill Cordelia and Lear in prison, promising him a promotion if he does so. The note tells the captain to hang Cordelia but make it looks as if it is a suicide.
Edmund is betrayed by Albany and fatally wounded in a sword fight with Edgar. As he lays dying, he wants to do one good deed to redeem himself and tries to prevent the deaths of Cordelia and Lear by sending Edgar with his (Edmund's) sword to stop the killings. However, it is too late for Cordelia: the captain has already killed her. While Edmund is still alive, Lear walks in, carrying Cordelia's dead body and calling her his poor fool. Lear, filled with false hope that she is still alive, wants to see if they can catch the mist of her breath on a mirror, but it is too late.
In sum, Edmund is responsible for Cordelia's death by ordering the captain to hang her, though it is the captain who actually performs the deed.
In King Lear, why does Shakespeare portray Lear's unfairness to Cordelia in the opening scene?
It is always a good idea with questions like these to consider what would be lost if the play started at Act I scene 2. Think of how crucial the test of love is that Lear gives to his daughters at the beginning of the play, and the way that it sets the scene for what is to come. The love test of course invites only flattery rather than sincerity, and the response that Goneril and Regan give Lear certainly help to introduce one of the key themes, which is appearance vs. reality, because Cordelia is confused about how to flatter her father, placing her firmly in the camp of reality compared to the appearance of her sisters' devotion. She decides to "Love, and be silent," and thus gives the response "Nothing, my lord." Lear's inability to discern between appearance and reality is what causes him to treat his favoured daughter so harshly. Yet it is crucial for this very bleak play that we remember the catalyst for this tragedy is the real love of Cordelia and Lear's ironic blindness to the depths of her emotion.
While the opening scene of this play makes uncomfortable watching, it is therefore very important in setting the bleak and unyielding tone of this play, and is key in the way it introduces several themes that dominate the play throughout.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.