1. King Lear 13 : Cordelia. Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015
King Lear 13 : Cordelia.
Wednesday, 21 November 2018

2. Act 1 Honest and truthful
Proud and unwilling to act the role of King’s daughter?
NB Insistence on self at the expense of “role” is linked to Lear’s exploration of “unaccommodated man”.
She ignores the restrictions of society in favour of “self”.
Act 1
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

3. On offer in Act 1 Largest share of Kingdom Marriage to royalty
Power supported by Lear and his 100 knights
As youngest, she would naturally receive none of the above in her own land.
On offer in Act 1
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

4. On a positive note She acts to protect Lear from his worst excesses
She resists the temptation to join in the glozing of the two “dog hearted” daughters.
She seems unimpeachable.
On a positive note
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

5. On her return In 4.6 she attends on the king as he awakes
Q: Why does she not wish to speak to him? “he wakes, speak to him”.
He weeps and she can provide comfort.
She is able to forgive him “no cause, no cause”
He seems to be in her care
On her return
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

6. After the defeat Roles reverse
Is Lear’s vision of prison comforting or is it a return to the status quo of he will have her where he wants her – by his side and acting under his influence?
Is Cordelia doomed to be always subject to Lear’s whims?
After the defeat
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

7. On her death Lear responds in anguish and questions the world order:
“why should a dog, a horse a rat have life/And thou no breath at all?”
His own death follows, possibly deceived by the appearance of life on her lips.
On her death
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

8. In all other versions of the Leir story, she lives
Is she somehow Christ-like – dying to redeem the sins of Lear?
Is there a need to punish all those who seem to be tainted with the arrogance and pride of the opening scene?
Is Shakespeare simply misogynistic and killing all females for the sake of it?
Why does Cordelia die?
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

9. Oh Christ! Act 4 and 5 imagery is redolent of the Virgin Mary
Anti-Christian setting of the play
Mary as saviour seems highly Catholic in outlook
What if Shakespeare is suggesting an agnostic perspective?
Oh Christ!
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

10. By the end of the play there is no Christian reference at all and Shakespeare removes any of the overt Christian imagery of justice and fairness in the original text
All prayers are unanswered:
“Gods protect her” “Howl”
Prayers fail and suggest a world in which there are no Gods to intercede
No sense that the Good are rewarded for their goodness
Nothing
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

11. Nothing comes of Nothing
All those who belong to this world are dead by the end of the play
The baddies – easy to justify
Why are we denied the pleasure of the much expected ending in which goodness triumphs?
Can Cordelia survive after her refusal to show “natural” behaviour?
“Ripeness is all” Eg 5.2
Is it simply that Cordelia is now ready to die, having served her final purpose in forgiving Lear and allowing the King to be reconciled with her and with his Kingdom? Once he weeps and sees his faults, she can leave – cf Fool, Kent
Nothing comes of Nothing
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

12. Married with no say in her marriage – a pawn in Lear’s power game
Banished for daring to speak the truth
Returns at the head of an army and is at once defeated (after the King of France leaves)
Returned to be Lear’s “pet” in prison
Only mourned in absentia
Ergo: A Misogynistic playwright with no sense of dramatic conviction, merely grinding his axe.
DISCUSS
A feminist view
Jonathan Peel JLS 2015