The Characters of Goneril and Cordelia in King Lear
Nothing makes a story like a good villain, or in this case, good villainess. They are the people we love to hate and yearn to watch burn. Goneril, of Shakespeare’s King Lear, is no exception. Her evils flamed from the very beginning of the play with her lack of sincerity in professing her love for her father:
"Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter; Dearer than eyesight, 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. (I.i. 56-62)
One can just feel the insincerity and exaggeration in her words, perhaps even a touch of hatred that is bubbling like a volcano on the verge of explosion, which will wreak destruction on everyone and everything that gets in its path.
Of course, Shakespeare does not disappoint. The volcano is actually a good analogy for this character, for she does exactly what is expected. Not only does her father feel her wrath, but also her own husband, the Duke of Albany, who she has killed; The Duke of Gloucester whose eyes get gauged out in her presence; her other sister, Regan, who she kills out of jealousy; and Goneril, herself, when she comes face to face with her true self.
In regard to her role in the Elizabethan age, Goneril not only stood for evil, but also rebellion. She has rebelled against the accepted role for women by rebelling against both her father and husband. This reflects much of the theme of the play in that rebellion against accepted social order under mines that order, which leads to downfall and chaos. Ag...
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...h the wicked prosper, and the virtuous miscarry . . . the audience will not always rise better pleased from the final triumph of persecuted virtue."
What exactly was Cordelia's role in the play? Was she there as an angel - like character who made the distinction between good and evil more visible? Was she just thrown in as a little goody- goody who did no wrong, and maybe, to some degree, we were supposed to despise? Or was she there to make us more aware of a crumbling society where many things were opposite to what one might think it should be, with evil generally prevailing over the good (which to some degree is prophetic to today's society)? There are many theories surrounding this character in particular, and no one has reached a definitive conclusion as of late. The best one I can come up with, however, is simply the answer "Yes," to all of the above.
... her sister shows how ruthless she is, but also shows how desperate she is to feel loved by another man; this could reflect the neglect that she has gotten from her father or her husband – this again links to the character of Ammu who feels worthless in the eyes of her father. When Edmund is slained by Edgar in Act 5, Scene 3, Goneril goes into a state of despair and disbelief “thou art not vanquished.” This mirrors the reaction of Lear when he finds Cordelia dead so could be used by Shakespeare to show the similarities between Lear and Goneril who both crave power and love, but have ultimately been left with nothing. Her character is one that most people would not symphasise with; James W. Bell refers to her as a “devious little conspirator,” but there are many layers to her character that Shakespeare has added to show how no person is completely “good” or “evil.”
Lady Macbeth’s wicked character has an extreme impact towards her husband. Lady Macbeth is responsible for influencing her husband to commit both crimes; she unleashes the dark side of him and motivates him to become an evil and horrendous man. In various parts throughout the story we find that Lady Macbeth strives beyond limits to be converted into a bitter and sour women. The audience is revolted by her horrific actions and although she may seem repugnant, she is an extremely talented actor. In her role, having a deceitful and convincing character is important
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare dramatically shows what can happen when our common gender roles are broken. He shows the power that people can have over others when they aren’t acting the way they’re expected to.
Although the Fool and Cordelia are similarly candid towards their King, they never interact in Shakespeare’s King Lear, because the Fool is a chaotic influence while Cordelia is a stabilizing force. While the Fool and Cordelia both act in the Lear’s best interest, it is not always evident to Lear. The Fool’s actions often anger the King, and lead to an increase in his madness. On the other hand, Cordelia’s actions more often soothe Lear, and coax him back into sanity. Another commonality between the Fool and Cordelia is their honesty. Both the Fool and Cordelia are frank with Lear, though he may not always appreciate that they do so for his own good.
The heroine of this story is the fearless and honorable girl, Antigone. She acted more motherly than sisterly, always seeking honor and caring for her fallen family. The villain would be the king, Creon, who was increasingly more concerned about his own personal authority and welfare. He thought of himself as the supreme ruler over the city and felt that all people should obey him in all things, great and small, just and unjust. Only God, Himself, should have this honor!
Antigone, the protagonist of the play, has what is seemingly the most powerful female role. From the very beginning of the plot she foreshadows her demise but expresses it through her stubbornness and inability to realize the great power of man. It is possible that she was aware of Creon’s capabilities as a leader, but nonetheless, she fights back by going t...
On the level of human evil, Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth is about the character Macbeth's bloody rise to power, including the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan, and the guilt-ridden pathology of evil deeds generating still more evil deeds. Perhaps, the play's most memorable character is Lady Macbeth. Like her husband, Lady Macbeth's ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness. But while Macbeth responds to the prophecies of the play's famous trio of witches, Lady Macbeth goes even further by figuratively transforming herself into an unnatural, desexualized evil spirit.
It will be a fatal error to present Cordelia as a meek saint. She has more than a touch of her father in her. She is as proud as he is, and as obstinate, for all her sweetness and her youth. And, being young, she answers uncalculatingly with pride to his pride even as later she answers with pity to his misery. To miss this likeness between the two is to miss Shakespeare's first important dramatic effect; the mighty old man and the frail child, confronted, and each unyielding... If age owes some tolerance to youth, it may be thought too that youth owes to age and fatherhood something more--and less--than the truth...6
There is such an incredible amount of killing, violence, and deceit in King Lear by many characters that it is difficult to choose the most evil character. The most evil character may deceive one into thinking she is less evil than she is, but upon closer inspection it is quite clear that the most evil character is Goneril. Nevertheless, some may think Edmund, Cromwell, or Regan are the worst, but for a variety of reasons Goneril surpasses their evil. First of all, how does one define evil? Anything highly immoral is evil. In terms of the play King Lear, the most common form of evil is deceit and cruelty.
Throughout the historical literary periods, many writers underrepresented and undervalued the role of women in society, even more, they did not choose to yield the benefits of the numerous uses of the female character concerning the roles which women could accomplish as plot devices and literary tools. William Shakespeare was one playwright who found several uses for female characters in his works. Despite the fact that in Shakespeare's history play, Richard II, he did not use women in order to implement the facts regarding the historical events. Instead, he focused the use of women roles by making it clear that female characters significantly enriched the literary and theatrical facets of his work. Furthermore in Shakespeare’s history play, King Richard II, many critics have debated the role that women play, especially the queen. One of the arguments is that Shakespeare uses the queen’s role as every women’s role to show domestic life and emotion. Jo McMurtry explains the role of all women in his book, Understanding Shakespeare’s England A Companion for the American Reader, he states, “Women were seen, legally and socially, as wives. Marriage was a permanent state” (5). McMurtry argues that every woman’s role in the Elizabethan society is understood to be a legal permanent state that is socially correct as wives and mothers. Other critics believe that the role of the queen was to soften King Richard II’s personality for the nobles and commoners opinion of him. Shakespeare gives the queen only a few speaking scenes with limited lines in Acts two, four, and five through-out the play. Also, she is mentioned only a few times by several other of the characters of the play and is in multiple scenes wit...
Lady Macbeth is a deep and complicated character. She has many inner demons that she never comes to terms with, which inevitably lead to her suicide. She is seen as an evil, conniving woman but she goes so much deeper than that. She has high hopes for herself and uses her husband and his love for her to obtain them. All of the things she wished eventually lead to tragedy though.
William Shakespeare created a dynamic character called lady Macbeth; she was the total opposite of what women of the Shakespearian era were supposed to be. Despite qualities women were supposed to have in Shakespeare’s time, Lady Macbeth defied the way most women of her time acted. Lady Macbeth defied the ways of women of her time by being manipulative, ambitious, and ruthless.
During the Elizabethan Era, women were oppressed to men and had no authority and power to make their own decisions. This idealistic view of gender is defied in William Shakespeare’s well-known tragedy, King Lear, for female empowerment is central to the play. Firstly, the bold characteristics of the women contribute greatly in enhancing the plot. Furthermore, women play a major role in developing the theme of power. Moreover, when power is given to the female characters, they reveal their true nature, thus aiding with their character development.
In a country with it’s fundamentals based on liberty and equality, America has always struggled with those very concepts. Throughout history, Americans have been challenged to make decisions that have oppressed and freed certain groups of people. The political fight for same-sex marriages is a perfect example of this notion. This relation between spouses has created a major controversy that is creating history in our nation. A series of protests, acts and political scandal has finally opened America to discuss a topic that had been in “the closet” for a long time. This discussion asks questions that have caused a visceral reaction in society. Questions such as whether gays and lesbians should marry, and if so, should they be granted the same matrimony rights as heterosexual couples? Should marriage be protected to fit traditional American values? How would these unions affect or contribute to our definition of such a celebrated institution? .
Marriage is the joining of a man and a woman, who loves one another and wants to spend the rest of their lives together. It is not the joining of two women or two men and I do not believe the society our or U.S. government redefine the true meaning of marriage. I am against same sex marriage because of the following several reasons. Gay marriages are unacceptable in my opinion because it goes against God’s words. God’s word is the truth and no one can change it.