Introduction
King Leah is a play written by shake spear. The play consists of three female characters who are Goneril, Regan and cordelia. These are the daughters of King Leah. As Leah nears to his retirement, his decides to divide his power among his three daughters based on their love for the king (Danby, 21). The king loves his daughters very much but she loved the youngest more the other two. The king expected the same love from his daughters in return of his love towards them.
Although he loves the youngest daughter Cordelia very much, this daughter does not show any love for him but she talks the truth. She is honest and she does not want to flatter his father with love. However, the other two daughters flatter their father with love. King gets angry on Cordelia because she does not mention how she loves her father. Out of his anger, the king did a judgment concerning his three daughters (Kahn, 29).The king considered to love his eldest two daughters as they were very important than the last born. This is because the two daughters flattered their father with love but Cordelia d not shown any sign of flattering him with love. He decided to give heritage the two. The decision he made was not good, as he could not get what he expected from the daughters. These women play different important roles.
In this play, these women played very important roles concerning morality in the society. Although the two elder daughters flattered their father by showing love towards him, they did not truly love him. They just utter these words of love from their mouths but in the real sense, these words of love were not from their hearts. In the play, the youngest played a very important role as she could flatter her father through love (Danby, 46). She did not hate his father she was only honest on what is happening. In that context, therefore she did not want to flatter her father through love. This woman was an example to her elder sisters as she was not greedy, cruel and she was honest. More so, she was responsible for anything she did. She also ensure that everything she did was perfect and to the best of her knowledge.
Although her sisters were blind about their fathers economic and they were still in love with him, Cordelia could not be blindfolded and she could do everything honestly unlike her sisters. The writer uses this woman to show how women should be independent. Cordelia could not follow her sister’s ways and thus did anything she did to please and accomplish her desires. The writer passes the message to women to follow this women’s behavior but not that of her sisters (Callaghan, 68). The role of this woman is to portray good behaviors and independence contrary to her sisters. Although she was hate and forgotten by her father, Cordelia portrayed good behaviors as she did not replicate the hatred to her father. She did everything honestly.
The death of Cordelia represents a tragedy to the whole play as depicted by the author of the play. Although she shows concern to her aged father, she dies for no apparent reason. Cordelia is seen as capitalist especially when she tries to restore her father to his throne after her sister planned Monarchy to their father’s throne. Here the author uses Cordelia to represent power in the minority (Danby, 49).
Goneril and her sister Regan role is that the author uses them to show how women become submissive to male power. Both of them flatter their father who is in a throne by showing love to him (Callaghan, 69). Although they show the love to their father, the love was not true, as it was not coming directly from their hearts but only from their mouths. This appeal to women that even though they can become submissive to male dominated society, they should not fully be blinded but they need to be vigilant about the male activities which can undermine their efforts.
Although female are known to be submissive and silent, Goneril and Regan contradict this by acting aggressively and violently throughout the play. They depict that women can act like their male counterparts (Danby, 51). By acting violently they instill their female roles with the characteristics of male. The writer uses these women to portray a male dominated society that places women’s level on wild animals. Thus they show that women for their equal representation in the society.
In the play, the author uses these three daughters of King Leah to represent different women roles in the society. Women should not be submissive to male dominated society but should fight for their right. This is depicted by both Goneril and Regan who act aggressively and violently throughout the play fighting for their right to be represented (Callaghan, 72).On the other hand, Cordelia shows how women should fight for their right by not being submissive to male power but they should be independent and honest to the best of their ability.
Power can be defined as the ability of control and manipulate what one desires. It is the ability of a person to perform without answering to the authorities. The power that corrupts the female characters in the play is extensive especially the desire for power itself. In King Lear, female characters are power figures that seem to be ruthless and aggressive than the male characters in the play. Cordelia is unflinchingly loyal, unselfish, pure and more standard Shakespearean woman hers sisters, Regan and Goneril who seem strong, violent, conspiratorial and assertive. Her father disowns Cordelia after she refuses to prove and declare her love for her father. However, she is held in an extremely high regard by all other good characters in the play. The power of her character and virtue makes her being married by French King despite her bankruptcy (Callaghan, 78). Although, her father was cruel to her Cordelia remains the only loving and loyal daughter to her father. She is one of the characters in the play who represent the powerfulness of women in terms of wits and virtue as Cordelia general description of aural royalty, uncompromising stubbornness, courage and dignity confirms this power.
The other Lear’s daughters are a replica of their father. They are very different in personality and virtue from their younger sister Cordelia. They seem to be clearly villains. Goneril and Regan are similar in character in that they are arrogant, temporal and prudent. They are actually the propellers of the plot as they go to an extent of killing. It is unusual for women to kill but Regan kills by sword (Kahn, 36). Women in the play are that powerful as they conformity that they can kill and thus powerful in terms of physical power and mental power to with stand the killing.
Regan and Goneril power of destruction is exhibited on their action after putting their father into storm at the end of the second acting. They had power over opposition thus crushed their opposition. In Act 3, they viciously also put out the eye of Gloucester’s. They are representation of women desire for power as they destroyed everyone who stood between them and power. However, their detrimental exercise of powers led to their own destruction due to sexual harbor for Edmund. It is thus clear that women in the play were that power as they did all that they wanted without contacting anyone. They use power and force to satisfy their desires.
The female characters in the play are the drivers of the play since the whole issues or main themes intended by the play writer are expressed using women desire for power. The power that King Lear wants to divide among her daughters drives the whole play as two of his daughters manipulate every within their reach using their power (Kahn, 40). Power absolutely corrupts Goneril and Regan because they seem to be certain that once they are in power they are in a position to control everything and will always use power to acquire more. However, when they acquired the power, they took the path of deceit and treachery.
Women characters in the play especially Regan and Goneril represent the greed that people could in desire for power. They use all that they have to acquire power be it killing or maneuvering the feelings of the protagonist. They faked their love for Lear for the sake of power though it was clear that they never liked him. The two just pretended to love because Lear laid love for him as a condition of giving out power over his properties and the land. Goneril on his pursuit to appeal to her father’s emotions she says “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, beyond what can be valued rich or rare, no less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor, as much as child loved or father found. A love that makes breath poor and speech unable beyond all manner of ‘so much’ I love you.’’(Danby, 55). The writer of the play makes it clear that this was all meant to flatter King Lear. The two girls are a representation of how the desire and love for power can destroy. The two daughters though they loved each other they destroyed each other over their common desire for Edmund.
In conclusion, women play a major role in propelling the play as they for the core characters in the play and the subjects of all themes. The female characters in the play are in both sides of human character that is the bad or evil and the good. Regan and Goneril are the representatives of the bad as their desire for power control all their evil acts including performance of the various atrocious acts to other characters in the play. They also extended the same evil to their own destruction. Lear and other female characters in the play are the representation of the good.
Works Cited
Callaghan, Dympna. Woman and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy: A Study of King Lear, Othello, The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil. Harvester Wheatsheaf, 2004.
Kahn, Coppelia. "The absent mother in King Lear." Rewriting the Renaissance: The discourses of sexual difference in early modern Europe (2002): 33-49.
Danby, John Francis. Shakespeare's doctrine of nature: a study of King Lear. Faber and Faber, 2007.
