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Analysis of the tragedy of King Lear
Analysis of the tragedy of King Lear
Analysis of king lear shakespeare
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Recommended: Analysis of the tragedy of King Lear
In “King Lear” different characters contribute to the very opposite Cordelia and Edmunds downfall. From the start of the play Shakespeare gives us a sight on Cordelia’s trait of honesty, a trait that would attain respect for such a quality, unfortunately it’s the very opposite. The conflict begins when Cordelia is honest to her father about how she feels about him. Throughout the play you know what Lears two daughters are up to but there was one daughter who had a different motive, Cordelia. She never took part in trying to win her father over. In the beginning of the play Goneril and Reagen are expressing to their father how much they love and care about him while Cordelia makes it clear that she won’t be doing so. I think her reason for doing that is because that isn’t how she wants to show her father how much she cares and she also didn’t want it to look like she was trying to outdo her sisters either. Unfortunately because Cordelia didn’t participate in the speeches about her father the way he wanted her to, she was banished from the Kingdom. The audience can see Cordelia’s true personality when this happens, how she remains the same and never seeks revenge on her father. She is portrayed as a kind and honest woman. In fact, she is the only kind-hearted one in the play. Goneril and Reagen always knew Cordelia was favored by Lear so when we did such by banishing her they were relieved. Cordelia wasn’t upset with Lear when she was banished. Her concern was more about the lie Goneril and Reagan told Lear. “Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides, who covers faults at last with shame derides. Well may you prosper.” That was what she said to Goneril and Reagan after she was banished and left to France. Cordelia proving her l... ... middle of paper ... ...ways kept suffering with a daily reminder that he was not worthy of being a son and only so by law. Cordelia’s death was caused because she never stopped loving her father and still felt the need to protect even after all that had happened. So her love for him in the end was the reason she went back to help him but that was when Edmund himself had her captured and hung. As for Edmund, the cause for his death was the lack of love in his life that leads him to become the bitter, vindictive person he was. Who in the end created his own death? His lies and stories brought everyone to realize power was not everything and stirring up problems for others will only create problems for you. Edmund learned that his lie came back to haunt him and be killed by the one he started the lie about, his brother Edgar. Both Cordelia and Edmund were loved but just couldn’t be saved.
Edmund’s behavior comes from his desire to attain legitimacy and, thereby, acceptance. Thus, Shakespeare characterizes Edmund as wronged and vindictive through Edmund’s soliloquy about his lack of stature, even when he is as intelligent and attractive as Edgar. Shakespeare supplements this characterization by reinforcing Edmund’s use of deceit and betrayal. Edmund begins to align himself with the Duke of Cornwell and form alliances with Goneril and Regan by first, disloyally revealing his father’s treasonous acts and then, pitting King Lear’s daughters against one another for control of the kingdom. Edmund gradually gains power and status, but at a cost.
Lear becomes blinded by his flaws, leading him to make irrational decisions which ultimately cause him to go mad. After Cordelia is unable to state how much she loves her father and outdo her sisters exaggerated professions of
Lear, like any king, Pagan or otherwise, would have been seen as the godhead on earth and therefore a man of exceptional power who implemented the gods' will on earth. Such a figurehead should surely command absolute respect and obedience. Yet Cordelia displeases her father, and Goneril's and Regan's actions following Lear's abdication can only be described as shocking, even to a contemporary and more liberal-minded audience. Act one, scene one represents the first emergence of filial disobedience, starting with Lear's vanity demanding that his daughters say how much they love him in a meaningless ceremony. Cordelia, his youngest and favourite daughter, will not be drawn into this.
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 focus in this scene is to show that Lear has so much pride that it made him blind to Cordellia’s love and the reason to why he loved. His pride made him think that flattery is love thus he gave everything to Goneril and Regan. This was his biggest mistake, leaving him completely dependent upon his two hateful daughters. He kicked Cordellia out so there is no hope of him being helped now.
Edgar's role, as an outcast and madman, corresponds to King Lear in four ways: (1) they both are deceived by family. Edgar is deceived by his half brother, and King Lear is deceived by two of his daughters. Edgar babbles about how Edmund deceived him: "Who gives anything to Poor Tom? whom the foul fiend hath led through fire and through flame" (3.4.51-52), and reveals his plan "to kill [the] vermin" (3.4.51-52). And by calling Edmund a "foul fiend" who had "course[d] his own shadow for a traitor" (3.4.57-58), he parallels Edmund with a devil, which is trying to make him commit suicide by laying "knives under his pillow" (3.4.54). And because King Lear's madness begins to be revealed after realizing that he'd been fooled by his daughters (2.4.273-286), he asks Edgar if he became mad due to daughters too (3.4.49-50). (2) The...
What makes Cordelia a good character here is not only that she refuses to flatter her father in order to deceive him out of his wealth, but also because she accepts her father's punishment and leaves willingly even though she knows it is not a just punishment. Additionally, she expresses no animosity toward Lear, instead she asks her sisters to care for him. This unwavering loyalty is also exhibited later in the play when Cordelia finds Lear and she realizes he is mad. She cares for him and gives him medicinal herbs until he is well again. Even when Lear begs for her forgiveness she insists that she has no cause to be offended.
The tragedy of Shakespeare’s King Lear is made far more tragic and painful by the presence and suffering of the king's youngest daughter, Cordelia. While our sympathy for the king is somewhat restrained by his brutal cruelty towards others, there is nothing to dampen our emotional response to Cordelia's suffering. Nothing, that is, at first glance. Harley Granville-Barker justifies her irreconcilable fate thus: "the tragic truth about life to the Shakespeare that wrote King Lear... includes its capricious cruelty. And what meeter sacrifice to this than Cordelia?"5 Yet in another passage Granville-Barker has come much closer to touching on the real explanation. I quote the passage at length.
Let us begin by looking at the role of human nature in King Lear more closely. It is clear from the beginning of King Lear that Cordelia has an entirely good nature, she remains constant throughout the play, never wavering in her morals. The play begins with Lear deciding that he will have his daughters compete for their divisions of his kingdoms based on which of them can impress him the most with their proclamations of love. Cordelia, however, cannot express her love for her father in words, and refuses to deceive him by doing otherwise, stating that she is “sure [her] love's more richer than [her] tongue” (1.1.78-80). She realizes that by holding her tongue she is infuriating her father, but her nature cannot allow her to do otherwise. When King Lear asks her what she has to say, she states “Nothing, my lord” (1.1.86). A...
Only the truth is irreconcilable with the demands of Lear’s ego. When Cordelia doesn’t say what Lear wants to hear he breaks out in anger by a violent oath, disclaiming paternal care of Cordelia: “… by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecat and the night; By all the operations of the orbs From whom we do exist and cease to be” . Lear casts Cordelia from his heart referring to her as a “barbarous Scythian.” His hatred surpasses the notion of equality in love, it shows self-centred love that asks more of the other then of oneself. With Lear’s actions we can see that he can’t recognise treachery and loyalty and falsehood and truth, and no one can tell him about it. Here his lack of self-knowledge is the biggest in the play.
King Lear had come so accustomed to his praise, that it is the sole thing he lived for, he needed it to survive, his treatment as a king was his Achilles heel in this play. He wanted to step down as king and divide his kingdom into 3 sections, giving them to his daughters to rule. Goneril and Regan were more than willing to accommodate his request to demonstrate their love for their father and king by professing their love to him in dramatic fashion combined with a good bit of exaggeration. While Cordelia on the other hand, found it a struggle to profess what she thought to be known by her father and king, she states, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty / According to my bond; nor more nor less (Scene 1.1, Lines 91-93).
To begin, in the tragic play, King Lear, by William Shakespeare, the character of Edmund was used to show how a man is by nature ambitious, jealous, envious, and vengeful. Firstly, Edmund is the most ambitious character, eager to seize any opportunity and willing to do anything to achieve his goal even if it means hurting his own family. This is clear when Edmund plots against his own father; Gloucester and half-brother; Edgar to get hold of his father’s property. All of the efforts he put to destroy the relationship between Gloucester and his legitimate son, Edgar reveals his jealous envious, vengeful, and ambitious character. He could not handle the injustice in the society and he wanted to change his position in...
Lear's vision is marred by lack of direction in life, poor foresight and his inability to predict the consequences of his actions. He cannot look far enough into the future to see the consequences of his actions. This, in addition to his lack of insight into other people, condemns his relationship with his most beloved daughter, Cordelia. When Lear asks his daughters, who loves him most, he already thinks that Cordelia has the most love for him. However, when Cordelia says: "I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less." (I, i, 94-95) Lear cannot see what these words really mean. Goneril and Regan are only putting on an act. They do not truly love Lear as much as they should. When Cordelia says these words, she has seen her sister's facade, and she does not want to associate her true love with their false love. Lear, however, is fooled by Goneril and Regan into thinking that they love him, while Cordelia does not. This is when Lear first shows a sign of becoming blind to those around him. He snaps and disowns her:
Perhaps Lear's most difficult moment to endure is when he discovers his youngest and most prized daughter, Cordelia, dead. His initial reaction is of unbearable pain, but, being in his current state of madness, some of the anguish is alleviated when he "realizes" that she is alive. The king overcomes his earlier mistakes only after losing the one daughter who truly loved him. It's debatable whether Lear is completely conscious of his loss, but more plausible to suspect he is not fully affected by it as he is no longer in his right mind. Finally, Lear has dealt with the consequences of his decisions and is redeemed.
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...