Why does lear banish cordelia

As the play opens up, Gloucester and Kent are speaking of Lear's intention to divide his kingdom according to a test of love. It is this test of love which causes Lear to banish his most beloved daughter Cordelia.

When asked how much she loves her father, Cordelia replies that she loves him according to her bond, no more nor less. In the first act King Lear commands his daughters to profess their love to him as payment for their part of the kingdom. Lear comes across as a very egotistical man who has to have everything his way.

His pride made him think that flattery is love thus he gave everything to Goneril and Regan. This was his biggest mistake, leaving him completely dependent upon his two hateful daughters. He kicked Cordellia out so there is no hope of him being helped now. In response, Lear flies into a rage, disowns Cordelia, and divides her share of the kingdom between her two sisters. King Lear is losing his mind, he is being back stabbed and lied to by his daughters when all he wanted from them was to see how much they truly love him and hear the truth on how they really felt about him.

The first act starts with character conflict between Cordelia, Goneril and Regan when King Lear orders them to express their love for his land. While Goneril and Regan exaggerate and tell their father what he wants to hear, Cordelia tells the truth and receives nothing.

As the act continues you see separation between the family. Initially, you feel as if King Lear and Gloucester are, in a sense, bad people for abandoning the individuals that care about them the most.

Gloucester banishes his son Edgar because he is manipulated by his illegitimate son Edmund into thinking that Edgar is trying to murder him so that he can take his throne. Who rules Britain at the end of the play? Summary Act 1, scenes 1—2. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3. See Important Quotations Explained The play begins with two noblemen, Gloucester and Kent, discussing the fact that King Lear is about to divide his kingdom.

Next page Act 1, scenes 1—2 page 2. Test your knowledge Take the Act 1, scenes Quick Quiz. Speak to him," Cordelia tells the doctor 4. Only when the doctor tells her no does Cordelia try to speak to her father. Why is she hesitant? Is she afraid that Lear is still angry with her? Is she upset at having her father recognize that she is in a position of power over him?

At this point to we'd like interrupt and bring you some scholarly interpretations. A big one among them is the Christian interpretation of Cordelia's character—Cordelia does seem to demonstrate Christian virtues of mercy, charity, and honesty.

That's the familiar image of the Virgin Mary, Christ's mother, holding her dead son in her arms. Jesus and Cordelia are similar images, with the genders switched. It's unclear, however, what Cordelia's death redeems—some scholars argue that her loss redeems Lear, but that's a rather controversial interpretation.

Feminist scholars, on the other hand, think that Cordelia is an unrealistic character. She's little more than a male fantasy, they argue. At the beginning, Cordelia resists her father's demands and asserts her own identity. Lear is depicted as a wise ruler — he has, after all, held the country together successfully for many years. Yet he lacks the common sense or the ability to detect his older daughters' falseness. This flaw in Lear leads the audience to think him either mad or stupid.

The love test is derived from Shakespeare's source and so it is included. Shakespeare's primary source is an anonymous play, The True Chronicle History of King Leir , in which the love test is used to trick Cordelia into marriage. Consequently, the test of love is only a device to further the plot, which Shakespeare plucked from his source. It is important to remember that King Lear is not historically based, although sources state that the story was based on events occurring at about B.

King Lear should more accurately be regarded as a sort of fairy tale. In many ways, Goneril and Regan are similar to Cinderella's evil older sisters. Goneril and Regan's expressions of love are so extreme that they are questionable as rational responses to Lear's test.

Cordelia's reply is honest, but Lear cannot recognize honesty amid the flattery, which he craves. Lear plans to reward Cordelia's expected exaltation with a larger portion of his kingdom than that allotted to her sisters.

The shares should be equal, but Lear clearly loves Cordelia more. Cordelia's reply, "Nothing," is a word that will reappear throughout the play — with disastrous connotations. Cordelia's uttering of "nothing" is echoed at the end of the play when she is dead, and "nothing" remains of her. But it is also important to remember that Lear really understands "nothing" about his daughters, just as Gloucester knows "nothing" about his sons.

When Gloucester sees "nothing," he is finally able to see the truth, and when Lear emerges from the "nothingness" of his mental decline, it is to finally know that Cordelia has always loved him.

Cordelia loves Lear according to the bonds of a blood relationship, as paternity demands. Her response is in keeping with Elizabethan social norms, which expect a daughter to love her father because that is the law of nature. According to nature, man is part of a hierarchy, from God to king to father to child.

The love between each of these parties is reciprocal, and Cordelia's love for her father is what she owes him. Cordelia tempers her love test reply with reason — a simple, unembellished statement of the honor due a father from his daughter. Lear irrationally responds by denying Cordelia all affection and paternal care. Kent's interference on Cordelia's behalf leads to another outburst from Lear.