Describe your view of Shakespeares depiction of the three sisters. What impression do you think he intended the audience to form of Gonerill, Regan and Cordelia? Use quotations in your answer.
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rwandavoight (student)
Describe your view of Shakespeare’s depiction of the three sisters. What impression do you think he intended the audience to form of Gonerill, Regan and Cordelia? Use quotations in your answer.
Being a Shakespearian play par excellence, King Lear naturally allows, if not encourages, for a range of possible interpretations of its purposes and meanings. As such, the complex characters of Cordelia, Gonerill and Regan each serve their own function that should be appropriately appreciated by taking into account the flexible nature of the text. I wish to frame my discussion within multiple readings of King Lear, various but by no means exhaustive, and I aim for each to add a relevant and sensible dimension upon the play.
Cordelia, the virtuous and guileless daughter, is absent for the middle section of the play, appearing in the first and final act only. Despite Cordelia’s role being a minor one, she is nevertheless a ubiquity by being a character cardinal to the development of the play. Her function could be likened to that of the legendary King Arthur, who was said to always have made his heroic appearance upon need. Furthermore, the Fool misses no opportunity to remind Lear and the audience of Cordelia, to the point where it has been suggested that the two were meant to be played by the same actor; the fact that they never appear on stage together seems to strengthen this notion. When the duke of France antithetically addresses Cordelia as “Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poor,/ Most choice forsaken, and most loved despised” we recognize her as a Christ-like figure: “as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (Bible, 2 Corinthians). The fact that she embodies a model of virtue favourably contributes to this case; she is the sole daughter who consistently proves her values, morals and principles to be genuinely noble. Kent’s words “duty shall have strength to speak” further suggest that she not only acts in a dutiful manner, but that she represents duty itself.
Cordelia’s virtuousness visibly contrasts with her sisters’ viciousness. The text has a fairytale-like quality, in that Cordelia could be seen as a Cinderella figure and Gonerill and Regan as the “wicked sisters”. By drawing upon classic texts with significant resonance in readers, Shakespeare adds a new layer to his play and may enrich our reading experience. It is somewhat difficult to distinguish Gonerill and Regan as individuals, as they share a common aspiration to power and indifference to the brutality of the means to which they can obtain it; Gonerill herself affirms: “[My sister’s] mind and mine I know in that are one”. We observe in Regan’s eager support of Kent’s punishment (“Till noon? Till night, my lord, and all night too.”) a malignity which appears to have no cause. There seems to be no rational accounting for the conduct of Gonerill and Regan. Being mere human beings with a perhaps too ardent a desire to rationalize, readers and critics will wish to explain their behaviour in a way that resonates with logic; thus, one could accredit their characters with organic barbarism and descry that the core of their desires is as simple as it is bestial. Alternatively, sympathy is sometimes expressed for Gonerill and Regan’s stance as having to look after their elderly, unpredictable father (“Such unconstant starts are we like to have from him.”); Lear repeatedly demonstrates heedless behaviour and can undoubtedly be difficult. Moreover, Lear’s preferential treatment of Cordelia is evident: he refers to her as “our joy” and does not hide that he “loved her most”. We witness Lear’s partiality through so publically acknowledging his love as being greater for Cordelia. In light of this, Lear could be accused for encouraging sibling rivalry and may even motivate, to some extent, the actions of his two less favourite daughters. One might overlook the roundness of the characters of Regan and Gonerill, but through such sympathy-demanding scenes Shakespeare elicits complex and conflicting emotions in the audience, and determines their two characters to be more than mere instruments to his plot.
