How Does Shakespeare Present Cordelia In King Lear

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While most families display picture-perfect moments of a loving father and daughter relationship, in the tragedy, King Lear, William Shakespeare develops the initial moments of Cordelia and Lear’s interaction as strident, which removes all essences of love from their once loving family bond. Lear’s harsh attitude towards Cordelia’s disobedience emphasizing an intense usage of a callous tone during his cursing fit, imagery comparing the misery he wishes she felt to a serpent bite, and the natural symbolism of the poison of the serpent when Lear views Cordelia’s actions as poisonous, which impacts the family’s once loving relationship for the remainder of the tragedy. During Lear’s rash reaction to Cordelia, he exemplifies a callous and bitter

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