The Expectence Of Motherly Love In Shakespeare's King Lear

Mothers are important in the development of the child as the absence of motherly love can greatly impact how the child may evolve. How women are portrayed or represented in literature can considerably reveal about the society’s view on mothers. In Shakespeare’s play King Lear, the maternal figure is notably absent. However, whenever mothers, or females in general, are mentioned, they are often presented in a negative light and portrayed as being completely powerless, compared to the male power and authority present in the play. Men’s fear of rejection and denial of maternal love, leads to their discrimination against mothers, and placing women in a low social status.
Women’s low social status is evident in the play, and irony is employed to

The men in the play hold a sinister view on women’s sexuality. In the opening scene of the play, Gloucester talks about his fornication with Edmund’s mother and asks Kent if he can “smell a fault” (1.1.16). Gloucester is suggesting that the female genitalia smells, and calling Edmund, the product of their misdeed, a fault. In his doing so, Gloucester insults both Edmund and his mother, and gives the impression that only Edmund’s mother is at fault for committing adultery, evidently displaying his adverse opinion towards Edmund’s mother’s sexuality. Shakespeare also employs appalling imageries and negatively connotative diction to demonstrate the negative feeling men have towards women’s sexuality. Lear describes that all women, from the waist down, belong to the devil, and that there is “darkness,” “a sulphurous pit,” “burning,” “scalding,” and “stench” (4.6.143-144). The repugnant description is consistent with symptoms of many sexually transmitted diseases, suggesting that Lear believes that all women, and having carnal relations with women, will inevitably cause one to be plagued with these unpleasant

Cordelia conforms to male authority, is nurturing to the sick Lear, and appears pristine and sexless, despite being a married woman. However, in the opening scene, when Cordelia refuses to profess her love for Lear, Lear tries to marry her off in a manner that resembles slave trade: Lear puts a “price” (1.1.225) on Cordelia and tells her suitors to “take her or leave her” (1.1.235). The act of him placing a monetary worth on Cordelia, and regarding her as a commodity is dehumanizing, and demonstrates that, even when the angelic Cordelia resists male authority, she is still subject to the same degradation as all women in the play. This emphasizes that the women are placed in a subordinate position in society compared to men, may also be due to the men’s fear of rejection.
The fear of rejection by women and suspicion for mothers exhibited by the men in the play induce them to place women in an inferior position in society, and have their sexuality diabolized. However, when Cordelia dies, the last bit of femininity and maternity is obliterated in the play. Lear’s grief and death demonstrate that despite their ruthless condemnation of the maternal, the masculine cannot exist without the feminine, and that without the maternal, the hope for the future would be grim, as the “young shall never see so much nor live so long.”