RECONCILIATION
Shakespeare does not allow us to remain too critical of Lear. We see the king in his best light in his reconciliation with Cordelia. Ashamed of his former unkindness, he humbles himself before his youngest daughter. By the end of the play he seems almost to move beyond himself. He has certainly accepted his powerless, diminished status and now sees himself primarily as Cordelia’s father. His language reflects his progress. Gone is the royal ‘we’. Now Lear uses the first person when he speaks of himself and his feelings. Cordelia is reclaimed lovingly as ‘my Cordelia’ (V.3.20). In Act V Lear clings to his ‘best object’ (I.1.213) protectively. He revenges her death by killing the ‘slave’ responsible for hanging her.
In all of his speeches in Act V Scene 3, the dying king focuses on Cordelia and the overwhelming grief he feels at her passing. Lear’s love for and defence of Cordelia go a long way to redeeming him from charges of egotism. He has clearly learned the value of true emotion. His recognition of the injustice of Cordelia’s death suggests that his judgement has been restored (V.3.306–7). But wisdom comes too late. Watching the final bleak moments of the play, it is easy to feel that Lear’s sufferings have been in vain.
Shakespeare does not allow us to remain too critical of Lear. We see the king in his best light in his reconciliation with Cordelia. Ashamed of his former unkindness, he humbles himself before his youngest daughter. By the end of the play he seems almost to move beyond himself. He has certainly accepted his powerless, diminished status and now sees himself primarily as Cordelia’s father. His language reflects his progress. Gone is the royal ‘we’. Now Lear uses the first person when he speaks of himself and his feelings. Cordelia is reclaimed lovingly as ‘my Cordelia’ (V.3.20). In Act V Lear clings to his ‘best object’ (I.1.213) protectively. He revenges her death by killing the ‘slave’ responsible for hanging her.
In all of his speeches in Act V Scene 3, the dying king focuses on Cordelia and the overwhelming grief he feels at her passing. Lear’s love for and defence of Cordelia go a long way to redeeming him from charges of egotism. He has clearly learned the value of true emotion. His recognition of the injustice of Cordelia’s death suggests that his judgement has been restored (V.3.306–7). But wisdom comes too late. Watching the final bleak moments of the play, it is easy to feel that Lear’s sufferings have been in vain.
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