Theme Of Human Nature In King Lear

After King Lear’s two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan express their love for their father in a flattering speech they were granted their share of the kingdom, and Cordelia his youngest daughter and favorite daughter refused to play along, Lear felts she was disrespectful and she was banished from his sight. Cordelia bids farewell to her sisters, and tells them that she knows they don’t love him, “I know you what you are, and like a sister am most loath to call your faults as they are named.” (1.2.273-275). “Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides; who covers faults, at last shame them derides. Well may you prosper!” (1.2.284-286). Once Cordelia left, Goneril and Regan revealed to the audience that they had no love for their father.

Even though Cordelia knows Lear does not hear her good wishes for Lear, she nonetheless expresses them. This fact is proof that she displays this pure form of discrete loyalty.

Cordelia is Lear's most loyal and loving child and yet she refuses to put on a display of affection and sentimental love before her father's court in order to make her father feel admired. The public display, wholly false, of affected feeling by her sisters Regan and Goneril is enough to ensure that Cordelia will keep quiet in word (which, as her sisters show, can be deceptive) and prove her love through action (which she does throughout the play). As far as words go, she simply tells her father that she loves him "according to my bond; no more nor less" (1.1). This should be sufficient for Lear because it is a statement of fact: Cordelia recognizes the duty she owes her father and is prepared to act accordingly. The same cannot be said for her sisters who attempt to prove their love through flattery. That Lear allows himself to be flattered by their empty words ill-prepares him to receive the meaningful and rich words of the terse Cordelia. By saying next to nothing, however, she says much more than the others. Lear, unfortunately, fails to grasp the fullness of Cordelia's "nothing." This paper will analyze the power of "nothing" in King Lear and show why Cordelia's response of "nothing" to her father is worth far more than the affectation of her sisters.

A sympathetic character, is a character that the writer expects the reader (in this case watcher) to identify with and care about. In Shakespeare's play King Lear, the characters Gloucester and King Lear both start out not being liked by the reader because they come off as mean and cold. By the end of the play, the reader does sympathize for both of these characters because of how they have been betrayed by their children. Both King Lear and Gloucester turn out to be prime examples of a sympathetic character by the end of the play.

In King Lear, Lear’s conflict of power with his daughters is brought about by his own arrogance, which flaws his judgement and propels his change of heart. When Lear parcels out his kingdom to his daughters, he finds the honesty of Cordelia’s praise to be ungrateful and

“King Lear”, a play by Shakespeare tells us how kingship and power or the loss of power are expressed. Lear, king of Britain decides to retire and shares his kingdom between his daughters; he later discovers what it is like to lose the power and authority that came with responsibilities. In the play, power is related to flattery, appearance and anger.

Although Cordelia appears in Act I, Scene I and disappears until Act IV, she has an enormous impact on the play as a whole. It is generally acknowledged that the role played by Cordelia in King Lear is a symbolic one. She is a symbol of good amidst the evil characters within the play. Since the play is about values which have been corrupted and must be restored, it is not surprising that the figure who directs the action must be embodiment of those values which are in jeopardy – love, truth, pity, honour, courage and forgiveness. Cordelia’s reply does not initiate the tragedy; Lear’s misguided question does that. Her “nothing” sets her father’s tragic journey in motion. There is nothing wrong with her remarks.

By the end of the play, Cordelia is seen at the embodiment of truth because, even when it was easier, she chose not to lie and instead to be virtuous. Her death in the final scene of the play suggests that the lack of virtue is one of the central concerns of the play. During the first act of the play, once King Lear has taken off his crown and he is dividing up his kingdom, he tests to see which of his daughters loves him most. He says, “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?”

"Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty According to my bond; no more nor less." Cordelia speaks honestly and sensibly, but by doing so she injures Lear's pride, and for this she is disinherited. And when the King's most trusted advisor takes Cordelia's side, the Lear is forced to banish him also to save face. So far Lear appears more sinning than sinned against.

At the beginning of the play King Lear has more power than anyone else, the feeling of power made him think it was okay to ask his three daughters who loved him the most. When his youngest and favourite daughter Cordelia did not give him the answer he wanted by saying, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth/ I love your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less” (King Lear 1.1.91-93). he started lashing out. Lear clearly values Goneril and Regan fawning over him over Cordelia’s sincere honesty. Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia, as well as Kent for defending her. Lear splits the kingdom in half to Goneril and Regan which leads to the deaths of many people in the play. Throughout the play he becomes increasingly shocked when people do not obey him the way they did before and the lack of respect he receives. With his loss of power Lear often responds to these problems with anger saying things like “My curses on her!” (2.4.138). about his own daughter. By the end of the play he recognizes that he takes responsibility for both his own problems and for those of others. King Lear’s actions were the first step to the plays tragic outcome.

In these situations, the cast confronts instances of betrayal and eventually self-growth. The story initiates with King Lear’s urgency for flattery, which drives him to commit a decision that instigated the power-hungry course of his daughters. The betrayal of Goneril and Regan caused Lear to separate from his man-made principles and praise those of nature. Besides the change in Lear, the audience also observed Gloucester’s position concerning the legitimacy of his two sons. Societal views were a detriment regarding the rights of illegitimate children, like Edmund. Seeing his brother Edgar conquer all his father’s treasures, Edmund left his praise of nature behind and instead exploited the reliance of status and relationships in his royal family to overcome the laws of society, forming a great deception against his own family.

The most prevailing images in King Lear are the images (metaphoric and actual) of nature. The concept of nature seems to consume the dialogue, monologues, and setting.

     The play, “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, starts with noblemen Kent and Gloucester having a conversation and the audience finds out that Gloucester has two sons. Edgar who is his heir, and Edmund his unimportant son. This info. leads to the mini-plot. Then, Lear enters to say that he is going to end his life’s tasks and problems. He then points to the map, he tells the people there that he will split his land into three parts. They are going to be given to his three daughters. The two oldest, Goneril and Regan, tell their father that their love for him goes beyond expectations. The youngest one, Cordelia, tells him that she loves him, but only as she should love her father. He is then

Cordelia’s valiant and genuine character is shown from the first act and scene of the play. King Lear wants his daughters to express their love for him to earn partial royalty of his kingdom. Cordelia refuses to build up her father’s ego and tells him the truth about her love for him omitting hyperboles. Cordelia loves her father as a daughter

Although Regan and Goneril were quick to act, we question Cordelia’s actions since she didn’t bend her will to get power and land. Goneril and Regan use rhetorical figures to conceal themselves, Cordelia doesn’t compromise herself; Cordelia doesn’t offer empty words to her father like her sisters do, instead, she offers herself—her answer is herself (Lehnhof 405). I would argue that her actions demonstrate her definition of power because she wasn’t going to be obedient like her father expected her to, instead she asserted her perspective even though it resulted in her banishment—these actions prevent Cordelia from being a hypocrite because she was true to herself from the beginning. All these actions demonstrate a form of power to accomplish what an individual thinks is important, yet being in a masculine era, we see negative consequences as we continue.