King Lear; Cordelia Flashcards
(3 cards)
What is our first impression of Cordelia?
Cordelia listens to Goneril and Regan flatter Lear when he asks for public declarations in order to partition his kingdom. Instead of playing herself, she opts to “Love, and be silent”. Even when told that “nothing will come of nothing”, she remains honest: “I love your majesty / According to my bond; no more nor less”.
Lear is furious at her unwillingness to indulge in his dilusion, Cordelia trying to reason with him asks “Why have my sisters husbands, if the say / They love you all” and that when she marries she “shall carry half my love with him” and also love Lear equally. Lear in response disowns her and tells her she’s a “stranger to my heart and me”.
There are different ways of viewing Cordelia’s behaviour in the opening scene. One the one hand Cordelia is clearlyan honest, loving, virtuous daughter, yet you could argue she took her honesty too far in the “love game” and is a little tactless. However, Cordelia is not at fault for refusing to play this absurd game but rather Lear is for insisting it be played in the first place.
How is Cordelia involved in the play while absent?
Cordelia’s departure for France does not remove her from the play. From a variety of letters and perspectives, we get fed insights into what’s going on from her perspective. When Kent is in the stocks he reads out her letter, we learn from Gloucester and Kent that the French are in Dover abd Gloucester tells Edmund of a letter that shows Cordelia is mustering her forces to help her father.
Cordelia’s intelligence and resourcefullness are apparent when she foresees what might happen between her father and her sisters and in the way she marshals the French army to come to Lear’s defense. Cordelia makes it plain that she is not bringing her father for political gain, but only to help her father: “These injuries the King now bears will be revenged home”.
When Kent and a gentlemen discuss Cordelia’s reaction to Lear’s suffering, the gentleman says when she read Kent’s letter she wept quietly but maintained her dignity and composure he says she was a “queen / Over her passion”. These messages in the letter along with Cordelia’s reaction indicate her empathy, intelligence and qualities that make her a good leader.
How is Cordelia involved in the play when she returns?
When Lear reuintes with Cordelia, Lear tries to kneel before her to beg for forgiveness but Cordelia does not want an apology: “You must not kneel”. When Lear says that Coredlia has reason to treat him badly, Cordelia protests that she has “No cause, no cause”. The simplicity and sincerity of Cordelias words echo that of the “love test, but now we see Lear has come to a point where he can appreciate the honesty and goodness of his youngest daughter.
When her army is defeated by the English, it’s obvious to Cordelia that the end is near. Her silence when Lear talks about how they will be together in prison “like birds i’ the cage” tells us she’s probably aware of the end in store for her. When Lear does enter carrying her body, he is utterly distraught and he dies from grief for his beloved daughter.
Cordelia faces her fate bravely only lamenting that she could not help her father more: “For thee, opressed King, I am cast down”. Her sorrow is only for Lear, showing once again the selfless nature of her love.
