Untitled Essay, Research Paper

William Shakespeare’s play King Lear is a play full of deceit, betrayal and

meaningless promises. This becomes evident in the first few lines. We first

learn of the empty words of Goneril and Regan as well as their hatred for

their father, King Lear. This becomes the center of the play and also leads

to the madness that the king suffers from.

The first words that Goneril speaks are totally empty and are the complete

opposite of what she really feels. She says, “Sir, I love you more than word

can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty;” (I.i.54-55)

The reason why there are no words to express her love for her father is that

she has no love for him and it does not exist. The same goes for her sister,

Regan, who is plotting against her father as well. She says that she feels

the same way as her sister and expresses how Goneril has named her very deed

of love. Regan adds a little twist to this and professes that she loves Lear

more than her sisters and that Goneril’s affection for her father “comes

too short.” (I.i.71) By uttering these words, Regan shows that her love is

even less true than that of her sister’s. She goes even farther to say:

“…that I profess

Myself an enemy to all other joys

Which the most precious square of sense possesses,

And find I am alone felicitate

In your dear highness’ love.”

I.i.71-75This goes to show that she is more greedy than her sister and her words are

also falser. She wants more than her sister and will do anything to attain

her goal. Her ambition to get what she wants is evident in the words that

she speaks. She claims herself to be “an enemy to all other joys” but she

is really the enemy to her father.

The next person King Lear calls to speak is his soft-spoken daughter, Cordelia.

Lear does not have much respect for her because she does not flatter him

and put him on the pedestal that he feels that he should be put on. This

is exactly what his other daughters do and he feels very strongly that Cordelia

should do the same. Because of all the flattery that was given him by his

other two daughters, he gives them most of his possessions. The first thing

that Cordelia says when the King asks her to speak is “nothing.” The king

is enraged by this remark and says that, “Nothing will come of nothing: speak

again.” (I.i.89) When Cordelia speaks again she says that she does love him

but according to their bond, no more no less. The king is also angry by this

remark and tells her to “mend” her speech a little. The king really means

that he wants to be flattered more and that she is not doing so by saying

what she does. In the speech that Cordelia gives beginning on line 95, she

says:” Good my Lord,

You have begot me, bred me, lov’d me:I

Return those duties back as are right fit,

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.”

I.i.94-97This speech professes that she loves him for all that he has done for her

including raising her and the bond that they have to each other. It is the

bond that keeps them together. Throughout the entire play, the bond is the

only thing that helps Lear in the end. Cordelia takes him in and does whatever

she can to ease his pain. She does not do this out of sympathy but because

of the bond that they have as father and daughter. In line 106, Cordelia

says, “So young, my Lord, and true.” (I.i.106) She is saying that the love

that she has for the king is true and sincere. She is the only one out of

all of her sisters that speaks the truth and shows that she really is sincere.

Because of her sincerity and her wish not to flatter him like the rest of

his daughters, Lear proceeds to ridicule her and then takes away her dowry.

This is what she meant when she utters the words “nothing.” She has nothing

to say that will flatter the king because she is true and sincere. She is

not like her sisters who would do anything to get what they want. After he

does this, he continues to badger and ridicule her for her lack of affection

and love for him. he does this to anyone who does not put him on the pedestal

that he feels that he rightfully deserves to be on.

Cordelia is finally courted by the King of France even though she is “rich

for being poor.” She is the only true person in the play, and in the end

pays for this by dying. This shows that you cannot always be truthful and

get what you rightfully deserve. Cordelia deserved her dowry but does not

get it because she is not the type of person that the king wants her to be.

The ones that prevail in the first act of the play are those that are dishonest

and false. This helps set the stage for the rest of the play.

The next deceitful person in the play is Edmund. He is the bastard-son of

Gloucester and wants everything that Edgar has. In the beginning of Act 2

he draws his sword on Edgar and tells him to pretend like he is protecting

himself because he hears Gloucester coming. Edmund says:”I hear my father coming; pardon me;

In cunning I must draw my sword upon you;

Draw; seem to defend yourself; now quit you well.

Yield; come before my father. Light, ho! here!

Fly, brother. Torches! torches! So, farewell.”

II.i.28-32Edmund tells Gloucester that he was attacked by Edgar and that he even drew

blood from Edmund. The motive behind this is also greed and envy. Edmund

is envious of the fact that he will not inherit any title from Gloucester

because he is a bastard and not the biological and rightful son that Edgar

is. Edmund goes on to say:

“With his prepared sword he charges home

My unprovided body, lanch’d mine arm:

And when he saw my best alarum’d spirits

Bold in the quarrel’s right, roused to th’

encounter,

Or whether gasted by the noise I made,

Full suddenly he fled.”

II.i.50-54He incriminates Edgar for attacking him and gets Gloucester to sympathize

with him and send out a warrant for Edmund and the death to anyone who helps

to hide him. Edmund is just as bad as Goneril and Regan by what he does and

does not win in the end. Gloucester is so taken with the events that have

just occurred that he plans to give all of the land that he has to Edmund

now because Edgar is no longer considered to be his son. Edmund has the same

plan as Regan and Goneril had and has done a good job so far as playing the

victim instead of the victimizer.

Throughout all of King Lear, the children plan to overthrow and get rid of

their parents. Their motive for doing this is sheer greed and lack of feeling.

In the end, Lear is saved from his insanity because Cordelia, the one that

Lear liked most, comes back to take care of him. She was the one thing that

really filled Lear because of her honesty and he did not realize this until

she was gone and none of his other daughters would take him in. They just

left him to rot. The real tragedy is that poor Cordelia is hung in the end

and suffers the greatest lost. She is killed for being true and sincere.

A similar thing happens with Edgar. He comes back disguised as a madman in

order to prevent his father from harm and warns him of the evil plans that

Edmund has in store for him.

I think that King Lear was a great play and showed the reader that although

you are a false person you can fool people who are blind and think that you

are incapable of doing harm. This was certainly the case with Goneril and

Regan. They showered Lear with such great words of flattery that he reagarded

them as his true daughters and left them everything because he really felt

that they deserved it. He did not leave Cordelia anything because she did

not flatter him like the others and therefore felt that she did not love

him at all. In truth, she loved him more than her other sisters because she

really did feel the “bond” that they had as father and daughter.

Dominic Russo February 24, 1997

ENLU 1000.02 Professor S. Fox

The Deception in King LearWilliam Shakespeare’s play King Lear is a play full of deceit, betrayal and

meaningless promises. This becomes evident in the first few lines. We first

learn of the empty words of Goneril and Regan as well as their hatred for

their father, King Lear. This becomes the center of the play and also leads

to the madness that the king suffers from.

The first words that Goneril speaks are totally empty and are the complete

opposite of what she really feels. She says, “Sir, I love you more than word

can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty;” (I.i.54-55)

The reason why there are no words to express her love for her father is that

she has no love for him and it does not exist. The same goes for her sister,

Regan, who is plotting against her father as well. She says that she feels

the same way as her sister and expresses how Goneril has named her very deed

of love. Regan adds a little twist to this and professes that she loves Lear

more than her sisters and that Goneril’s affection for her father “comes

too short.” (I.i.71) By uttering these words, Regan shows that her love is

even less true than that of her sister’s. She goes even farther to say:

“…that I profess

Myself an enemy to all other joys

Which the most precious square of sense possesses,

And find I am alone felicitate

In your dear highness’ love.”

I.i.71-75This goes to show that she is more greedy than her sister and her words are

also falser. She wants more than her sister and will do anything to attain

her goal. Her ambition to get what she wants is evident in the words that

she speaks. She claims herself to be “an enemy to all other joys” but she

is really the enemy to her father.

The next person King Lear calls to speak is his soft-spoken daughter, Cordelia.

Lear does not have much respect for her because she does not flatter him

and put him on the pedestal that he feels that he should be put on. This

is exactly what his other daughters do and he feels very strongly that Cordelia

should do the same. Because of all the flattery that was given him by his

other two daughters, he gives them most of his possessions. The first thing

that Cordelia says when the King asks her to speak is “nothing.” The king

is enraged by this remark and says that, “Nothing will come of nothing: speak

again.” (I.i.89) When Cordelia speaks again she says that she does love him

but according to their bond, no more no less. The king is also angry by this

remark and tells her to “mend” her speech a little. The king really means

that he wants to be flattered more and that she is not doing so by saying

what she does. In the speech that Cordelia gives beginning on line 95, she

says:” Good my Lord,

You have begot me, bred me, lov’d me:I

Return those duties back as are right fit,

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.”

I.i.94-97This speech professes that she loves him for all that he has done for her

including raising her and the bond that they have to each other. It is the

bond that keeps them together. Throughout the entire play, the bond is the

only thing that helps Lear in the end. Cordelia takes him in and does whatever

she can to ease his pain. She does not do this out of sympathy but because

of the bond that they have as father and daughter. In line 106, Cordelia

says, “So young, my Lord, and true.” (I.i.106) She is saying that the love

that she has for the king is true and sincere. She is the only one out of

all of her sisters that speaks the truth and shows that she really is sincere.

Because of her sincerity and her wish not to flatter him like the rest of

his daughters, Lear proceeds to ridicule her and then takes away her dowry.

This is what she meant when she utters the words “nothing.” She has nothing

to say that will flatter the king because she is true and sincere. She is

not like her sisters who would do anything to get what they want. After he

does this, he continues to badger and ridicule her for her lack of affection

and love for him. he does this to anyone who does not put him on the pedestal

that he feels that he rightfully deserves to be on.

Cordelia is finally courted by the King of France even though she is “rich

for being poor.” She is the only true person in the play, and in the end

pays for this by dying. This shows that you cannot always be truthful and

get what you rightfully deserve. Cordelia deserved her dowry but does not

get it because she is not the type of person that the king wants her to be.

The ones that prevail in the first act of the play are those that are dishonest

and false. This helps set the stage for the rest of the play.

The next deceitful person in the play is Edmund. He is the bastard-son of

Gloucester and wants everything that Edgar has. In the beginning of Act 2

he draws his sword on Edgar and tells him to pretend like he is protecting

himself because he hears Gloucester coming. Edmund says:”I hear my father coming; pardon me;

In cunning I must draw my sword upon you;

Draw; seem to defend yourself; now quit you well.

Yield; come before my father. Light, ho! here!

Fly, brother. Torches! torches! So, farewell.”

II.i.28-32Edmund tells Gloucester that he was attacked by Edgar and that he even drew

blood from Edmund. The motive behind this is also greed and envy. Edmund

is envious of the fact that he will not inherit any title from Gloucester

because he is a bastard and not the biological and rightful son that Edgar

is. Edmund goes on to say:

“With his prepared sword he charges home

My unprovided body, lanch’d mine arm:

And when he saw my best alarum’d spirits

Bold in the quarrel’s right, roused to th’

encounter,

Or whether gasted by the noise I made,

Full suddenly he fled.”

II.i.50-54He incriminates Edgar for attacking him and gets Gloucester to sympathize

with him and send out a warrant for Edmund and the death to anyone who helps

to hide him. Edmund is just as bad as Goneril and Regan by what he does and

does not win in the end. Gloucester is so taken with the events that have

just occurred that he plans to give all of the land that he has to Edmund

now because Edgar is no longer considered to be his son. Edmund has the same

plan as Regan and Goneril had and has done a good job so far as playing the

victim instead of the victimizer.

Throughout all of King Lear, the children plan to overthrow and get rid of

their parents. Their motive for doing this is sheer greed and lack of feeling.

In the end, Lear is saved from his insanity because Cordelia, the one that

Lear liked most, comes back to take care of him. She was the one thing that

really filled Lear because of her honesty and he did not realize this until

she was gone and none of his other daughters would take him in. They just

left him to rot. The real tragedy is that poor Cordelia is hung in the end

and suffers the greatest lost. She is killed for being true and sincere.

A similar thing happens with Edgar. He comes back disguised as a madman in

order to prevent his father from harm and warns him of the evil plans that

Edmund has in store for him.

I think that King Lear was a great play and showed the reader that although

you are a false person you can fool people who are blind and think that you

are incapable of doing harm. This was certainly the case with Goneril and

Regan. They showered Lear with such great words of flattery that he reagarded

them as his true daughters and left them everything because he really felt

that they deserved it. He did not leave Cordelia anything because she did

not flatter him like the others and therefore felt that she did not love

him at all. In truth, she loved him more than her other sisters because she

really did feel the “bond” that they had as father and daughter.

Dominic Russo February 24, 1997

ENLU 1000.02 Professor S. Fox

The Deception in King LearWilliam Shakespeare’s play King Lear is a play full of deceit, betrayal and

meaningless promises. This becomes evident in the first few lines. We first

learn of the empty words of Goneril and Regan as well as their hatred for

their father, King Lear. This becomes the center of the play and also leads

to the madness that the king suffers from.

The first words that Goneril speaks are totally empty and are the complete

opposite of what she really feels. She says, “Sir, I love you more than word

can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty;” (I.i.54-55)

The reason why there are no words to express her love for her father is that

she has no love for him and it does not exist. The same goes for her sister,

Regan, who is plotting against her father as well. She says that she feels

the same way as her sister and expresses how Goneril has named her very deed

of love. Regan adds a little twist to this and professes that she loves Lear

more than her sisters and that Goneril’s affection for her father “comes

too short.” (I.i.71) By uttering these words, Regan shows that her love is

even less true than that of her sister’s. She goes even farther to say:

“…that I profess

Myself an enemy to all other joys

Which the most precious square of sense possesses,

And find I am alone felicitate

In your dear highness’ love.”

I.i.71-75This goes to show that she is more greedy than her sister and her words are

also falser. She wants more than her sister and will do anything to attain

her goal. Her ambition to get what she wants is evident in the words that

she speaks. She claims herself to be “an enemy to all other joys” but she

is really the enemy to her father.

The next person King Lear calls to speak is his soft-spoken daughter, Cordelia.

Lear does not have much respect for her because she does not flatter him

and put him on the pedestal that he feels that he should be put on. This

is exactly what his other daughters do and he feels very strongly that Cordelia

should do the same. Because of all the flattery that was given him by his

other two daughters, he gives them most of his possessions. The first thing

that Cordelia says when the King asks her to speak is “nothing.” The king

is enraged by this remark and says that, “Nothing will come of nothing: speak

again.” (I.i.89) When Cordelia speaks again she says that she does love him

but according to their bond, no more no less. The king is also angry by this

remark and tells her to “mend” her speech a little. The king really means

that he wants to be flattered more and that she is not doing so by saying

what she does. In the speech that Cordelia gives beginning on line 95, she

says:” Good my Lord,

You have begot me, bred me, lov’d me:I

Return those duties back as are right fit,

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.”

I.i.94-97This speech professes that she loves him for all that he has done for her

including raising her and the bond that they have to each other. It is the

bond that keeps them together. Throughout the entire play, the bond is the

only thing that helps Lear in the end. Cordelia takes him in and does whatever

she can to ease his pain. She does not do this out of sympathy but because

of the bond that they have as father and daughter. In line 106, Cordelia

says, “So young, my Lord, and true.” (I.i.106) She is saying that the love

that she has for the king is true and sincere. She is the only one out of

all of her sisters that speaks the truth and shows that she really is sincere.

Because of her sincerity and her wish not to flatter him like the rest of

his daughters, Lear proceeds to ridicule her and then takes away her dowry.

This is what she meant when she utters the words “nothing.” She has nothing

to say that will flatter the king because she is true and sincere. She is

not like her sisters who would do anything to get what they want. After he

does this, he continues to badger and ridicule her for her lack of affection

and love for him. he does this to anyone who does not put him on the pedestal

that he feels that he rightfully deserves to be on.

Cordelia is finally courted by the King of France even though she is “rich

for being poor.” She is the only true person in the play, and in the end

pays for this by dying. This shows that you cannot always be truthful and

get what you rightfully deserve. Cordelia deserved her dowry but does not

get it because she is not the type of person that the king wants her to be.

The ones that prevail in the first act of the play are those that are dishonest

and false. This helps set the stage for the rest of the play.

The next deceitful person in the play is Edmund. He is the bastard-son of

Gloucester and wants everything that Edgar has. In the beginning of Act 2

he draws his sword on Edgar and tells him to pretend like he is protecting

himself because he hears Gloucester coming. Edmund says:”I hear my father coming; pardon me;

In cunning I must draw my sword upon you;

Draw; seem to defend yourself; now quit you well.

Yield; come before my father. Light, ho! here!

Fly, brother. Torches! torches! So, farewell.”

II.i.28-32Edmund tells Gloucester that he was attacked by Edgar and that he even drew

blood from Edmund. The motive behind this is also greed and envy. Edmund

is envious of the fact that he will not inherit any title from Gloucester

because he is a bastard and not the biological and rightful son that Edgar

is. Edmund goes on to say:

“With his prepared sword he charges home

My unprovided body, lanch’d mine arm:

And when he saw my best alarum’d spirits

Bold in the quarrel’s right, roused to th’

encounter,

Or whether gasted by the noise I made,

Full suddenly he fled.”

II.i.50-54He incriminates Edgar for attacking him and gets Gloucester to sympathize

with him and send out a warrant for Edmund and the death to anyone who helps

to hide him. Edmund is just as bad as Goneril and Regan by what he does and

does not win in the end. Gloucester is so taken with the events that have

just occurred that he plans to give all of the land that he has to Edmund

now because Edgar is no longer considered to be his son. Edmund has the same

plan as Regan and Goneril had and has done a good job so far as playing the

victim instead of the victimizer.

Throughout all of King Lear, the children plan to overthrow and get rid of

their parents. Their motive for doing this is sheer greed and lack of feeling.

In the end, Lear is saved from his insanity because Cordelia, the one that

Lear liked most, comes back to take care of him. She was the one thing that

really filled Lear because of her honesty and he did not realize this until

she was gone and none of his other daughters would take him in. They just

left him to rot. The real tragedy is that poor Cordelia is hung in the end

and suffers the greatest lost. She is killed for being true and sincere.

A similar thing happens with Edgar. He comes back disguised as a madman in

order to prevent his father from harm and warns him of the evil plans that

Edmund has in store for him.

I think that King Lear was a great play and showed the reader that although

you are a false person you can fool people who are blind and think that you

are incapable of doing harm. This was certainly the case with Goneril and

Regan. They showered Lear with such great words of flattery that he reagarded

them as his true daughters and left them everything because he really felt

that they deserved it. He did not leave Cordelia anything because she did

not flatter him like the others and therefore felt that she did not love

him at all. In truth, she loved him more than her other sisters because she

really did feel the “bond” that they had as father and daughter.

Dominic Russo February 24, 1997

ENLU 1000.02 Professor S. Fox

The Deception in King LearWilliam Shakespeare’s play King Lear is a play full of deceit, betrayal and

meaningless promises. This becomes evident in the first few lines. We first

learn of the empty words of Goneril and Regan as well as their hatred for

their father, King Lear. This becomes the center of the play and also leads

to the madness that the king suffers from.

The first words that Goneril speaks are totally empty and are the complete

opposite of what she really feels. She says, “Sir, I love you more than word

can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty;” (I.i.54-55)

The reason why there are no words to express her love for her father is that

she has no love for him and it does not exist. The same goes for her sister,

Regan, who is plotting against her father as well. She says that she feels

the same way as her sister and expresses how Goneril has named her very deed

of love. Regan adds a little twist to this and professes that she loves Lear

more than her sisters and that Goneril’s affection for her father “comes

too short.” (I.i.71) By uttering these words, Regan shows that her love is

even less true than that of her sister’s. She goes even farther to say:

“…that I profess

Myself an enemy to all other joys

Which the most precious square of sense possesses,

And find I am alone felicitate

In your dear highness’ love.”

I.i.71-75This goes to show that she is more greedy than her sister and her words are

also falser. She wants more than her sister and will do anything to attain

her goal. Her ambition to get what she wants is evident in the words that

she speaks. She claims herself to be “an enemy to all other joys” but she

is really the enemy to her father.

The next person King Lear calls to speak is his soft-spoken daughter, Cordelia.

Lear does not have much respect for her because she does not flatter him

and put him on the pedestal that he feels that he should be put on. This

is exactly what his other daughters do and he feels very strongly that Cordelia

should do the same. Because of all the flattery that was given him by his

other two daughters, he gives them most of his possessions. The first thing

that Cordelia says when the King asks her to speak is “nothing.” The king

is enraged by this remark and says that, “Nothing will come of nothing: speak

again.” (I.i.89) When Cordelia speaks again she says that she does love him

but according to their bond, no more no less. The king is also angry by this

remark and tells her to “mend” her speech a little. The king really means

that he wants to be flattered more and that she is not doing so by saying

what she does. In the speech that Cordelia gives beginning on line 95, she

says:” Good my Lord,

You have begot me, bred me, lov’d me:I

Return those duties back as are right fit,

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.”

I.i.94-97This speech professes that she loves him for all that he has done for her

including raising her and the bond that they have to each other. It is the

bond that keeps them together. Throughout the entire play, the bond is the

only thing that helps Lear in the end. Cordelia takes him in and does whatever

she can to ease his pain. She does not do this out of sympathy but because

of the bond that they have as father and daughter. In line 106, Cordelia

says, “So young, my Lord, and true.” (I.i.106) She is saying that the love

that she has for the king is true and sincere. She is the only one out of

all of her sisters that speaks the truth and shows that she really is sincere.

Because of her sincerity and her wish not to flatter him like the rest of

his daughters, Lear proceeds to ridicule her and then takes away her dowry.

This is what she meant when she utters the words “nothing.” She has nothing

to say that will flatter the king because she is true and sincere. She is

not like her sisters who would do anything to get what they want. After he

does this, he continues to badger and ridicule her for her lack of affection

and love for him. he does this to anyone who does not put him on the pedestal

that he feels that he rightfully deserves to be on.

Cordelia is finally courted by the King of France even thou

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