Lear, however, descends into raving with grief over Cordelia: "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,/ And thou no breath at all?" he asks. "Thou'lt come no more,/ Never, never, never, never never" (370-2). He faints with grief; as he does, Kent prays that Lear's heart break, finally releasing him. Lear dies.
Second, Cordelia dies for no reason. The person who wanted her dead, Edmund, has changed his mind and is dying himself, so her death serves no political purpose. Finally, Lear dies before he can reconcile himself to his loss. His last words are: “Look on her, look, her lips, / Look there, look there!” (V.
Lear, howling over Cordelia's body, asks, “Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, / And thou no breath at all?” (5.3. 305–306). This question can be answered only with the stark truth that death comes to all, regardless of each individual's virtue or youth.
Lear sees Cordelia's reply as rejection; in turn, he disowns Cordelia, saying that she will now be "a stranger to my heart and me" (I. 1.114). King Lear then divides his kingdom between Goneril and Regan, giving each an equal share.
Perhaps Cordelia's death is an expression of the playwright's tragic vision. It might also be a final example of man's inhumanity to man in the world of King Lear . Shakespeare perhaps wants to show the full horror of the consequences of Lear's folly. For some, Cordelia's death is the real tragedy of King Lear .
Cordelia's death highlights the injustice and brutality of the world in which the play is set. Her death ends Lear's last hope of happiness, and exposes fully the foolishness of his efforts to force his daughters to express their love for him.
In the 1623 Folio, the King's last words are “Look on her! Look, her lips! Look there, look there!” No one but Lear sees what he points us to envision. Is it epiphany or delusion?
In Act 4 Scene 7 When Lear is finally reunited with Cordelia he redeems himself by fully apologizing for his actions towards her and his subsequent death is therefore even more tragic. Cordelia's death finally hastens the demise of her father first to madness then death.
This fleeting moment of familial happiness makes the devastating finale of King Lear that much more cruel, as Cordelia, the personification of kindness and virtue, becomes a literal sacrifice to the heartlessness of an apparently unjust world.
Cordelia does not make flattering speeches. Lear wants Cordelia to talk to him in the flattering way everyone else does, and when she refuses, he is angry. The extremity of his anger seems to surprise everyone, and his rage may be a sign that Lear is becoming senile or losing his mind.
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty According to my bond; no more nor less.
Cordelia sacrificed herself so that Mallory could rise as Supreme, going back in time and killing Michael before he could come into his own as the ender of days. But unbeknownst to the witches, another Antichrist was born to take his place—to Timothy and Emily, the lovers seen in Outpost 3.
I love your Majesty according to my duty as a daughter. No more, no less. My honourable lord, you have conceived me, raised me up and loved me. I return those duties as is fair – obey you, love you, and honour you entirely.
The situational irony at this moment highlights the ignorance of King Lear and is amplified when Cordelia ends up being the only one to stay loyal to him. The two eldest daughters whom he had praised for their flattery actually ended up betraying him, as a result of his blindness towards their false motives.
Tragically, the messenger arrives too late and Lear enters carrying Cordelia's dead body. As he mourns the death of his daughter, Lear also learns that Gloucester has died and that the Fool has been hanged. The agony of loss upon loss breaks Lear's heart and he too dies.
Lear says publicly that he loved Cordelia more than his other daughters and hoped to spend most of his retirement with her.
Edmund orders his officer to stage Cordelia's death as a suicide. Without hesitation, the officer accepts Edmund's orders, seemingly unconcerned about killing the king and his daughter.
In "Inside Out", Skip explains that Jasmine is his master, and a higher being who possessed Cordelia before her returning to Earth, manipulating events to be born in a new body of her own. Cordelia falls into a post-natal coma for the remainder of season four.
Unable to let her friend suffer, and realizing that fighting evil was her true calling, Cordelia had Skip return the timeline to normal, and accepted his offer to become a half-demon.
Cordelia cannot decide how to respond to Lear's demand that she declare her love for him. In this aside, she makes it clear that she does love Lear. Cordelia just doesn't know how to express her love. One of King Lear's central themes is the difficulty of truly expressing feelings in language.
An angry King Lear sends Cordelia away. Quickly it is revealed that Cordelia does not, in fact, love her father less than Goneril or Regan. They quickly turn on him, while Cordelia remains loyal to him despite his harsh treatment of her and returns toward the end of the play to assist him against her sisters.
Shakespeare's The Tragedy of King Lear raises these questions. There we encounter, first, the painful interaction of Cordelia and Lear and, finally, Cordelia's response, "No cause, no cause," to a dying Lear's begging her forgiveness for having initially treated her cruelly.
Lear: Nothing can come of nothing, speak again.
According to Truskinovsky[4] the case of Lear warrants the diagnosis of bipolar I disorder, most recent episode manic, severe with psychotic features. The manic episode was primary and the psychosis developed on its background, provoked by the increasing agitation and physical exertion.
It reminds us that life is very hard and uncertain, that one can never fully plan for all eventualities, and that there is no substitute for moral rectitude, wisdom, understanding, and patience. King Lear is widely regarded as Shakespeare's crowning artistic achievement.