Who is cordelia in king lear

Lear in the production of King Lear. King Lear in the production of King Lear. Lear in production of King Lear.

King Lear is the elderly but still ruling king of Ancient Britain. He has decided to abdicate his responsibilities as king and divide his kingdom in three to be ruled over by his three daughters and their husbands. He intends to spend his retirement enjoying the companionship of his hundred knights: hunting and drinking, and staying with each of his daughters in turn.

When his youngest daughter Cordelia behaves unexpectedly, he disowns her, but soon realises his remaining two daughters are not as lovingly grateful and obedient towards him as he expected them to be. Lear says publicly that he loved Cordelia more than his other daughters and hoped to spend most of his retirement with her.

Lear begins to realise that being flattered all his life because he is king was not helpful in making him see his own weaknesses. Towards the end of the play, Lear recognises the limitations of being over 80 years old. He tells Cordelia he feels foolish and silly and fears his mental health has suffered. FOOL: All thy other titles thou hast given away, that thou wast born with. Cordelia in the production of King Lear.

Cordelia is the youngest daughter of King Lear and known to be his favourite. He has arranged for her to marry either the Duke of Burgundy or the King of France. When called upon to make a public expression of love for her father, Cordelia does not feel she can make a flattering speech in the way her sisters do. Her father is angry with her and disinherits her so she has no entitlement to the portion of the kingdom he was going to give as a dowry. The King of France agrees to marry her without this land and she leaves with him.

She is concerned that her sisters will not care for their father as she would have done and returns to Britain with a French army to fight against them.

She is eventually reunited with her father who asks her forgiveness for his poor judgement regarding her. The French troops lose the battle and Cordelia is imprisoned with her father and murdered. Cordelia loves her father as much as any child loves their parent but does not feel she can flatter her father by making him feel there is no room in her heart for any other love.

Cordelia proclaims that she is leading a French invasion against the British army out of love for her father, not political ambition. Goneril suggests that her younger sister has not done her duty in refusing to flatter the King in public and deserves to be rejected for not showing such love. Goneril in the production of King Lear.

Goneril and Regan in the production of King Lear. Lear and Goneril in the production of King Lear. Goneril and Lear in the production of King Lear. She is married to the Duke of Albany and does not yet seem to have any children. She makes a flattering speech declaring her love for her father, for which she is rewarded with a third of the kingdom to rule over with her husband.

This increases to half the kingdom when her younger sister is disinherited by their father. Her marriage does not seem to be a happy one and Albany does not support her in the arguments arguments with Lear about how his knights behave in their house and he grows increasingly disgusted by how she treats her father.

Goneril later falls in love with Edmund and plots with him to get rid of Albany so that she can marry Edmund instead. Goneril knows how to play the game her father sets up and makes a flattering and effective public speech about her love for her father. Goneril is offended by how her father treats her and how he behaves in her house. Albany calls his wife a fiend and a devil and implies her evil behaviour is all the worse because she is a woman. Regan in the production of King Lear.

Regan and Cornwall in the production of King Lear. Regan and Goneril in the production of King Lear. Regan and Lear in the production of King Lear. She is married to the Duke of Cornwall and does not yet seem to have any children.

She makes a public speech at the start of the play in which she tries to outdo her older sister Goneril in expressing her love for her father. She is rewarded with a third of the kingdom and, when her youngest sister Cordelia is disinherited, she rules half the kingdom alongside Goneril. When Cornwall dies, she puts Edmund in charge of her army and declares her intention to marry him.

In telling Oswald to warn Goneril away from Edmund, Regan seems very practical in deciding that she should marry Edmund. Lear believes that Regan is different to her older sister and that she will be grateful to him for all he has given her. Gloucester accuses Regan of cruelty in how she has treated her father. Gloucester receives a message in the production of King Lear. Edmund, Gloucester and Kent in the production of King Lear. Gloucester in the production of King Lear.

Kent and Gloucester talk in the production of King Lear. The Earl of Gloucester is a rich, powerful and loyal subject of King Lear. Gloucester says he loves both sons the same, but it is only Edgar who will inherit his wealth and title.

Gloucester is tortured and has his eyes gouged out because of this. He then learns that it is Edgar who is loyal to him, not Edmund. He tries to throw himself off a cliff but Edgar, in disguise, cares for him until Gloucester finally dies near the end of the play. Gloucester tells Regan that his heart is broken by the discovery that his son Edgar has been plotting against him. Gloucester feels a strong sense of duty and loyalty to the old king which is stronger than his sense of duty to obeying the new rulers when their commands seem cruel.

Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Lee Jamieson. Theater Expert. Lee Jamieson, M. We also want to point out that a lot of Cordelia's motivation in the scene comes not from frustration with her father, but from anger at her sisters' insincerity.

There's some serious sibling rivalry going on among the three of them, and it's not pretty. Check out our discussion of "Family" for more on the significance of all the domestic drama in the play. Cordelia tears into them at the end of the scene in a very un saintly way.

Yet after the scenes of blinding, torture, and madness, there's something almost holy about Cordelia's reunion with Lear. Though such a contrast is essential, that doesn't mean their reunion is all sweetness and light. Cordelia may be brave enough to raise an army to bring to her father's defense, but when it comes to finally greeting her father, she hesitates. Speak to him," Cordelia tells the doctor 4.

Only when the doctor tells her no does Cordelia try to speak to her father. Why is she hesitant? Is she afraid that Lear is still angry with her? Is she upset at having her father recognize that she is in a position of power over him? At this point to we'd like interrupt and bring you some scholarly interpretations. A big one among them is the Christian interpretation of Cordelia's character—Cordelia does seem to demonstrate Christian virtues of mercy, charity, and honesty.

That's the familiar image of the Virgin Mary, Christ's mother, holding her dead son in her arms. Jesus and Cordelia are similar images, with the genders switched. It's unclear, however, what Cordelia's death redeems—some scholars argue that her loss redeems Lear, but that's a rather controversial interpretation.

Feminist scholars, on the other hand, think that Cordelia is an unrealistic character.