|
Cordelia is a character in Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. She is his youngest and favourite daughter, but like her older sisters she is asked in the first major scene what she has to say to the question of how much she loves him. She answers "Nothing", and Lear banishes her. This begins the action of the play. She can be seen as either a heroine (banished for being honest) or almost a villain (why didn't she play along with an old man's game) |
|
I think it's intriguing how Shakespeare ends "King Lear" with the very thing that began the meltdown. The last line belongs to Edgar (although it's given to Albany in one of the quartos): "The weight of this sad time we must obey, speak what we feel, not what we ought to say: the oldest hath borne most; we that are young shall never see so much, nor live so long." In the play's first scene, Cordelia speaks what she feels, not (like Goneril and Regan) what she ought to say, and disaster ensues. But she is behaving only as many young people do--idealistically and not too diplomatically. Could she have picked a better time and place to have voiced her true feelings? Of course she could have. But she is young and her judgement--understandably--is green. |
