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Note on role of Cordelia in King Lear
King lear literary analysis
King lear literary analysis
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Recommended: Note on role of Cordelia in King Lear
The Dysfunctional Family of King Lear
In his tragedy King Lear, William Shakespeare presents two families: a family consisting of a father and his three daughters, and a family consisting of a father and his two sons, one of which is a bastard son. While he has the sons basically come out and admit that one of them is good and the other evil, the Bard chooses to have the feelings of the daughters appear more subtlely. At no point in King Lear does Shakespeare come out and blatantly tell his audience that Cordelia is the most caring and loving daughter, while her two sisters are uncaring and greedy, and love their father only when they stand to gain from it. However, via the three daughters’ speeches throughout King Lear, he does give subtle hints as to the daughter’s personalities, and it is through these implications that the audience discovers the extent of each of the daughter’s character. As would be expected, most of these revelations and implications about the daughter’s personalities arise during the first act.
One of the best attributes about King Lear is that the main action of the play begins almost immediately. There is little of that introductory stuff that there usually is in plays, the stuff that usually amounts to nothing. Instead, in the first scene of King Lear, the audience immediately sees what will be the main story of the play. Of course, it is also in this opening scene of the play that the audience gets their first taste of the three daughters. It is a defining taste. After Lear announces he will divide up his land between the three, he announces he wishes to hear each of the daughter’s profess their love for him, to see who loves him most. The very fact that a father would need to demand such a ...
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...his ways, and he spends his final moments with Cordelia, begging her forgiveness without realizing she has already forgiven him, because that is the kind of person she is. In King Lear, the audience never does learn why Cordelia is so much nicer and more caring than her sisters. Ultimately, though, it does not really matter. What does matter is the lesson Shakespeare teaches the audience. The truest form of love does not need to be spoken, and it is Cordelia who possesses this truest form of love. The audience sees this. In fact, the audience picks up on this fact immediately in Act One, and that is why that act was dealt with most in this essay. Lear himself recognizes this, but, unfortunately, it is a little too late.
WORK CITED
Shakespeare, William. King Lear in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th edition, Volume I, New York: Norton, 1993.
I think it is pretty evident that the relationships that King Lear had with each of his daughters were completely different from one another. In the end, although they went through some rough times, Cordelia still remained his favorite daughter. I think this play is not only a good display of different father daughter relationship but also, it can be taken as lesson learned. It can teach people that pretending just to get your way won’t get you far.
As the play progressed, Lear slowly came to clear vision. he realized that that his two eldest daughter did not truly love him after they locked him out of the castle during a tremendous storm. He also finally saw through that Cordelia’s love for him was so tremendous that she was not able to put it in words. Unfortunately, his blindness caused the dearth of Cordelia and his own.
The tie emotionally and physically between a father and a daughter (or son, in relation to the Gloucester/Edmund/Edgar plot) is something entirely different than husband-wife or boyfriend-girlfriend in many of Shakespeares other plays. In the very beginning of the play, when Lear is foolishly dividing up his kingdom between his three daughters, and after he has asked Cordelia's two older sisters what they "think" of him, he turns to her and asks the same question. Her reply shows the true nature of her character, as she says, "Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love Your Majesty according to my bond, no more, nor less." (1.1, ll. 91-93) His words could almost be considered threatening by declaring that her unwillingness to express her love in words might, "mar her fortunes." We are privy to definitive foreshadowing with Cordelia's reply of, "Good my lord, you have begot me, bred me, loved me. I return those duties back to you as are right fit, obey you, love you, and most honor you.
Throughout Tennessee William’s play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois exemplified several tragic flaws. She suffered from her haunting past; her inability to overcome; her desire to be someone else; and from the cruel, animalistic treatment she received from Stanley. Sadly, her sister Stella also played a role in her downfall. All of these factors ultimately led to Blanche’s tragic breakdown in the end.
Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is a play wrought with intertwining conflicts between characters. A drama written in eleven scenes, the play takes place in New Orleans over a nine-month period. The atmosphere is noisy, with pianos playing in the distance from bars in town. It is a crowded area of the city, causing close relations with neighbors, and the whole town knowing your business. Their section of the split house consists of two rooms, a bathroom, and a porch. This small house is not fit for three people. The main characters of the story are Stella and Stanley Kowalski, the home owners, Blanche DuBois, Stella’s sister, Harold Mitchell (Mitch), Stanley’s friend, and Eunice and Steve Hubbell, the couple that lives upstairs. Blanche is the protagonist in the story because all of the conflicts involve her. She struggles with Stanley’s ideals and with shielding her past.
In Act 1, Lear has all this land that he needs to get rid of, and he chooses to divide it between his daughters. Cordelia is the youngest daughter, and she is very independent. Regan and Goneril are the older daughters, and they abuse their power in many ways. The daughters have to show their love for him in order to get land. Regan and Goneril suck up to him and tell him that they love him. In reality, they don’t love him at all. They just want more power. Cordelia is very straight forward with him. She tells him that she loves him but not as much as her sisters. Lear gets mad by her response, which shows that the daughters have enough power to make him feel whatever emotion they want. They can easily get under his skin, and strip him of his power. His power was at an all-time high, but over time it gets taken over.
1. King Lear commands his daughters to profess their love for him, illustrating that Lear is selfish and foolish. Cordelia, King Lear’s daughter, refused to give a speech about how much she loves him, resulting in a loss of a dowry. She loves her father the way a daughter should and believes that words cannot express love. Cordelia’s morals keep her from expressing insincere praise in order to receive a portion of Lear’s kingdom, revealing that Cordelia is honest and virtuous. Cordelia mentions that her father “begot”, “bred”, and “loved” her, actions that King Lear took to raise her, and she plans to take care of him the way he did. She feels that flattering her father is unnecessary because no description can describe the love and care that
The first flaw in King Lear is his arrogance, which results in the loss of Cordelia and Kent. It is his arrogance in the first scene of the play that causes him to make bad decisions. He expects his favorite, youngest daughter to be the most worthy of his love. His pride makes him expect that Cordelia’s speech to be the one filled with the most love. Unfortunately for King Lear’s pride, Cordelia replies to his inquisition by saying, “I love your majesty/According to my bond and nothing less';(1.1.100-101). Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia and splits the kingdom in half to the two evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. This tragic flaw prevents King Lear from seeing the truth because his arrogance overrides his judgement. Lear’s arrogance also causes him to lose his most faithful servan...
William Shakespeare's tragedy of King Lear begins with the King's decision to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. He gathers them all together, and tells them he will divide up the kingdom according to whoever has the most love for him. Goneril and Reagan, the two older daughters, make big declarations of love in order to get the shares they want of the kingdom. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, tells Lear that she loves him, as a daughter should love a father. Lear becomes angry and disappointed with Cordelia's response feeling she has shown a lack of devotion so he takes action and banishes her. When Kent, a close friend of Lear, attempts to defend Cordelia, but as well he is banished by Lear. Cordelia marries the King of France and goes to live there. The kingdom is equally divided between Goneril and Regan. These two daughters are evil and decide if Lear becomes too much of a problem then they will take d...
Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the most popular plays in American history. The play contains this theme of Old South versus New South where old southern ideals and way of life clashes against newly formed ideals of the late 19th and early 20th century. The distinctions between the Old South’s emphasis on tradition, social class, and segregation versus the New South’s emphasis on hard work can be seen throughout the play. It is manifested in the main characters of the play. Blanche DuBois’s civilized and polished nature makes her a symbol of the Old South while Stanley Kowalski’s brutish, direct, and defying nature represents the New South. Tennessee Williams uses the characters of his play to present a picture of the social, gender role, and behavior distinctions that existed between the Old South versus the New South. Furthermore, the two settings provided in the play, Belle Reve and Elysian Fields can also be seen as different representations of the Old versus the New with the way both places are fundamentally different.
After Kent delightfully brings the two together and Lear realizes who he is talking to, he begs for forgiveness: “Pray, do not mock me. / I am a very foolish fond old man, / Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less /....Do not laugh at me, / For as I am a man, I think this lady / To be my child Cordelia.“ (IV.vii.68-79). Lear has finally achieved self-awareness regarding his mistaken banishment of Cordelia, and proclaims to her in a surprising display of humility that he is just a “foolish fond old man.” Shocking the audience, Lear does not hold back his newfound sense of shame. He goes on: “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.” (IV.vii.81-85). In another case of both humility and misjudgment, Lear believes that Cordelia no longer loves him due to his mistakes. Lear could not be more wrong because Cordelia 's love for her father is unconditional and still lives. Cordelia virtuously accepts his apology and assures him “No, sir, you must not kneel,” (IV.vii.67). Although the two do not live much longer, Lear intends to live out the rest of their lives being the best a father can
Stella represents an important part in this drama by providing a contrast to how life can change people when they go down different paths. In Contrast to her sister, Stella is bound to love. Although she fell in love with a primitive, common man, she most definitely loves him. Stella desires only to make Stanley happy and live a beautiful life together. She wants to find peace between her sister and her husband yet instead she finds conflict afflicting her on both sides. Blanche uses her dilutions and tries to sway Stella away from Stanley yet Stella takes all these slanders and belittles them. Stella does this because she loves Stanley and since she is pregnant with his baby.
William Shakespeare’s infamous Tragedy of King Lear is as much about political authority as family dynamic. Although regarded as one of the most emotionally difficult, and portrays a world lacking of love, in which humanity is detached from any spiritual, higher being, there is still glimmers of goodness that can be discovered. While other discussions of King Lear focus on the bleakness and despair of the environment as well as the characters, especially Lear, it is arguable that this play is not an exemplification of a work lacking in morals, but of the reenchantment of charity, especially forgiveness as a pushback against the violence. Through this reading, a considerable amount of credit is given to Cordelia, and the powerful emotional impact she provides.
In King Lear William Shakespeare gives king Lear a very kind personality and a very caring father towards his daughters. King Lear possesses traits that make him a soft person one that is very, calm and gentle hearted. His softness comes out in the beginning when he exclaims he tells his daughters she who loves him the most will get all the land. Lear falls victim to the lies of Reagan and Goneril while he casts out Cordila his only daughter that did not sweet talk him and loves him truly. You learn that his daughters Goneril and Reagan want to betray him so they get the kingdom to themselves. The two evil sisters plot to kill Lear seeing that he is blinded by his love for them and his willingness to help them in times of need. The author betrays lear as king but the reader knows the plot from the beginning on to the end on what his daughters plans are for their father and how it leads into the later parts of the story.
Stress is defined by Mark Krause (Krause & Corts, 2012) as, “a psychological and physiological reaction that occurs when perceived demands exceed existing resources to meet those demands.” This refers to stressors, any event that happens to us can be stressors, but so can our response to the events. There is stress that is more of a one-time event called acute stress which would be like giving a speech in front of the class. Then there is also chronic stress which results from continual exposure to situations that lead to the release of stress hormones. Chronic stress can result in wear and tear on your mind and body. An example of chronic stress events would be financial problems and constant response to these events would have an effect on