King Lear: Q. 3

Act 1
Question 3:
How do you understand the relationship between Cordelia and Lear? He seems to love her, and she him, but how? Why is she unable to speak when her very survival depends on her speaking? Why is he unable to hear her truth?
To take the same concept from another angle…. While her sisters’ speeches are excellent examples of verbal manipulation, the one person (Cordelia) who goes in honestly with Lear’s best interests at heart is punished because she doesn’t want (or know how to) “play the game.” Have you seen situations like this? Have you used your powers of manipulation to get what you want? Have you been the loser in a game like this?

Lear has a skewed look on love to begin with, and that makes his relationship with all three of his daughters, particularly with Cordelia, who he favors, very odd. When Lear decides he doesn’t want to rule the kingdom anymore and is going to divide the land between them, he chooses to turn it into a competition of whoever loves him the most will inherit the best part of his kingdom. The daughters give a speech about why they love him; this is a problem because you cannot prove you love someone simply by saying nice things.

Cordelia has a hard time with the concept of verbal manipulation. I feel it has to do with Lear favoring Cordelia over the other sisters, and she is unable to measure up to his expectations. He wants a reason to give his favorite daughter the best part of his kingdom. She doesn’t play the game though, and is unable to put her love into words. She says she loves him like a daughter should love her father.

Afterwards, Cordelia says because her sisters are married they clearly cannot love him as much as they say they do. Lear does not want to hear this and gets really angry. He essentially disinherits her because she will not be overwhelming in her feelings towards him. This just goes to show Lear is impulsive, and not necessarily with good ones at that.

In terms of myself being in situations like Cordelia’s, I feel that I have been – and I have played the game like the other sisters to get my way. I had to learn overtime how to play it though; when I was younger, I use to scream and pout when I didn’t get my way. This caused me to lose the game quite often. I learned mostly from my brother that in order to win, it’s mostly about tone of voice or how a questioned is phrased. Making an effort to show – or sound – like you care also makes a huge difference in getting what you want.