Cordelia Is the Sole True Daughter of King Lear - Essay Example

Cordelia is the sole true daughter of King Lear. King Lear asked his three daughters, Goneril, Reagan and Cordelia , how much each of them loved him. Goneril and Reagan answered him with lavish praise but Cordelia remained silent. My thesis is that in spite of her silence, Cordelia is the only true daughter of King Lear. Goneril said: Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; 'Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e'er loved, or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; Beyond all manner of so much I love you.' (Act I. Scene I. King Lear's palace). Ironically, Goneril had contradicted herself in her anxiety to answer her father's question. For if she really loved him to the extent of being unable to speak about her love, then why was she still capable of making her speech about loving her King Lear in such comparisons. The paradox presented itself in her argument. Since she was able to recollect her thoughts and respond so articulately about her love, it would imply that she did not love him. Cordelia understood too well the sibling rivalry amongst her sisters Goneril and Reagan. She was inclined to believe that actions spoke louder than words so she did not enter into the competition on the war of words. We are privy to the thoughts of Cordelia as we read her despair at being thrown into the arena to compete for her father's love and wealth. She becomes distraught: [Aside] 'Then poor Cordelia! And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's More richer than my tongue.' (Act I. Scene I. King Lear's palace). Shakespeare had shown by comparison and contrast that if there was true love that Goneril had mentioned, one would be indeed rendered speechless. This was his way of implementing little tests of love and moral character that he was so fond of including in his plays. Reagan, being the second daughter, had little opinion of her own except to echo Goneril's words. When Lear questioned Cordelia, she gave a sensible reply; '"Nothing, my lord."' She could have meant that she had nothing more to say that would upstage Goneril's and Reagan's declarations of love. King Lear, being as pompous as he was, took it in the common way and wrongly deduced that she had nothing to love him about. He then proceeded to disown, banish and humiliate Cordelia in all manner of insults. The selfish sisters did not attempt to speak up on behalf of Cordelia. We see how they are in conspiracy against her. Only the Earl of Kent, one of the three faithful subjects, dared to speak up against the King's severe sentence. The literary scholar Zak was also of the opinion that King Lear was foolish; 'Lear appears to play a peremptory, self-important, willfully impatient part in a ludicrous series of comeuppances following his foolish banishment of Cordelia and Kent; even more significant perhaps, at no point in the play's evolution does he ever face a conspiracy of circumstances that forbid turning toward Cordelia for forgiveness and relief.' (Zak 11). We read how Kent had agreed with Cordelia and warned his king explicitly but King Lear stubbornly refused to revoke his earlier condemnation but furthermore meted out the same punishment of banishment to Kent. The literary scholar, Holland, wrote that before we fault Cordelia for her stubborn attitude against flattery, we should understand her background. Holland said that; 'Twentieth-century school editions show a return to criticism of Cordelia's 'misplaced obstinacy', a 'defect not uncommon in women.' (Holland 115). He explained that because Cordelia was educated, she developed her own opinions and refused to subjugate herself or sell herself out. She stressed instead her bond of filial piety but the King, in direct contradiction to her pleas, ignored the paternal bond and instead used it against her by disowning her even as a subject of his kingdom. Another scholar, Orgel, wrote that the scene was a showdown between Cordelia and her two sisters; 'We could say that it is a debate between style and meaning, with Goneril and Reagan showing their rhetorical art, and Cordelia, distrusting language, refusing to say what she does not believe.' (Orgel xxxiii). Cordelia's farewell speech to her sisters reveal that she knew their intentions but had kept her silence because of her respect for them. Cordelia said; 'The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are; And like a sister am most loath to call Your faults as they are named. Use well our father: To your professed bosoms I commit him But yet, alas, stood I within his grace, I would prefer him to a better place. So, farewell to you both.' (Act I. Scene I). No sooner than in Act I, Scene III, we see that Goneril had no filial piety nor loyalty towards her father. She wanted to turn a cold shoulder because King Lear had reprimanded her servant. She favored her servant over her father! She said; 'By day and night he wrongs me; every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other, That sets us all at odds: I'll not endure it: His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us On every trifle. When he returns from hunting, I will not speak with him; say I am sick: If you come slack of former services, You shall do well; the fault of it I'll answer.' (Act I, Scene III). We now realize how Cordelia's warnings of her sisters have been proven true. Goneril's ill treatment of her father has started to take its toil on him. He became disillusioned. He began to lose his memory of his personal identity and that of Goneril and Reagan. Goneril, who had professed great love for her father, did not even speak to him with love. We see how Goneril and Reagan have betrayed King Lear after he had divided his kingdom and gave away all his wealth to them. In contrast, although Cordelia was badly treated with injustice by her father, she did not hold any grudge against him. Rather, Cordelia faulted her two elder sisters for turning her father against her. Thus, I believe that Cordelia was the sole loyal daughter of King Lear Works Cited. Holland, Peter. King Lear and Its Afterlife. U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Orgel, Stephen. King Lear: the 1608 Quarto and 1623 Folio texts By William Shakespeare. USA: Penguin Classics, 2000. William Shakespeare info. "King Lear". Play Script - Text King Lear. 2005. 24 Feb. 2007.< http://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-king-lear.htm >. Zak, William. Sovereign Shame: A study of King Lear.USA: Bucknell University Press, 1984. Read More