King Lear Research Paper

King Lear Essay A parent-child relationship is described as the closest bond two human beings can have. Hence why being betrayed by a parent is an outcome almost as bad as death. In William Shakespeare’s beloved play King Lear, two characters suffer great parental betrayals; the youngest and favoured daughter of King Lear, Cordelia, and the legitimate son of the noble Gloucester, Edgar. When comparing the two betrayal’s, one must consider the following criteria: What affect did the betrayal have on both characters? Secondly, one must consider the reason for the parental betrayal and the role one played in it. Using these criteria, it is evident that in King Lear, Edgar suffered the greater parental betrayal. When thinking of betrayals, one
Cordelia was the youngest out of three daughters, yet she was the most favoured by her father. As the play begins, Cordelia is about to make a decision whether she marry the King of France or the Duke of Burgundy. As this happens, Lear decided to give his inheritance away under the condition his daughters, including Cordelia, told him how much they loved him. When Cordelia refused to do so, Lear was outraged, removing the dowry that Cordelia deserved and disowning her as a daughter. During the time King Lear took place, people got married for the sole purpose of receiving the dowry. This fact meant that it was very unlikely that the Duke of Burgundy or France would still take her hand in marriage. The Duke of Burgundy didn’t want Cordelia for who she truly was. To the Duke, Cordelia just came with the last name Lear and with the riches that came with being a part of the royal family in England. Lear continues to bash on Cordelia, making the chances of her getting married even slimmer. However, Cordelia stood up for herself in a room full of nobility, a feat never seen at the time. Cordelia’s bravery in this instance impressed France and he says, “Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poor, Most choice forsaken, and most loved despised…Thy dowerless daughter, King, thrown to my chance, is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France. Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy can buy this unprized precious maid of me.— Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind. Thou losest here, a better where to find.” (Shakespeare 1.1, ln 259-272) In this quote, France sees Cordelia for who she truly is, and asks for her hand in marriage, the lack of a dowry meant nothing for him. Cordelia, herself, was the real dowry. Throughout this sequence of events, Cordelia challenged the Great Chain of Being like no other. Cordelia started as a princess, heir to a third of England and the King’s