Cinderella/Cordelia- Family betrayals and Character Endings
There seems to be a small sense of a Cinderella story behind Cordelia. She seems to be the only honest and good daughter who is cast aside for her two wicked and deceitful sisters. We have seen the actions of Lear towards his daughters and that is furthered during the last 3 acts of the play. First, he compares his daughters to a storm saying “Rumble thy bellyful. Spit, fire. Spout, rain./ Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters" (3.2.14-15). Cordelia was most noble and yet, she was neglected and the “two wicked sisters” get to have all the fun (or inheritance).
Leading to one of our themes, madness, Lear blames it on his daughters and their betrayal to him in Act 3 (3.4.59-61). He hints that it is not his fault he is going crazy, but instead, it is his daughters who have done him wrong and caused him to turn out this way. It is not until after he is transported to Dover that he starts to redeem and rebuild himself. Two other characters were considered madmen as Lear, and they include Edgar and Lear’s Fool. Edgar fakes a madness which shows a great difference from Lear's madness which makes the audience question what is real madness and how did the audience in Shakespeare’s time look at madness? Was it a good or bad thing?
The last thing I saw as a repetitive theme in the play was whether the characters were considered “good” or “evil” characters, and if one over the other, what were their parentages like? ¬¬For example, the characters of Regan, Edmund, and Goneril could be suggested as evil characters. Goneril and Regan can be seen as evil because they inevitably and mutually destruct one another because of their attraction to Edmund. Power drove them to their destiny. They wanted nothing but power. At the same time, they were bitter to their fathers and anyone else who had power. Edmund continues to be seen as evil. This negativity is shown when he orders for Cordelia to be hanged. Albany is another character. He was not necessarily evil but he seemed to expand and transform as the play goes on. Cordelia, of course, stays as the perfect character. She was honest, trustworthy, and she continues to hold a sense of integrity over all the other characters. She says “We are not the first/ Who with best meaning have incurred the worst./ For thee, oppressèd king, I am cast down;/ Myself could else outfrown false Fortune's frown" (5.3.3-6).
4 comments:
These are some great reflections on the "fairy tale" quality of this story, Caitlin! You're absolutely right that Shakespeare is adapting a story that shares many of the same structures and archetypes of the fairy tale. It's interesting to think about what the difference is between the fairy tale and tragedy. Often times, the fairy tale hinges on the point of tragedy, but then recovers for a happy ending.
I like your comparison of this tale to the story of Cinderella. It is amusing when fairy tales link up to tragedies; it allows us to see how much true-to-life information there is in a fairy tale, and likewise, how much "fantasy" can exist in our everyday tragic lives.
I would also like to consider your point about the perception of madness. It seems that Shakespeare is presenting a dual representation of insanity here: that of Edgar's exaggerated, fake form and of Lear's slow, real demise. You had asked the question of how people at this time viewed madness. I would venture to say that people viewed it negatively, and stereotypically thought of madness in the sense that Edgar portrays it: completely loony and nonsensical. Shakesepeare, however, seems to be mocking this kind of "put on" craziness. In addition, he presents someone who is truly going insane (Lear) in order to show what causes this state of mind, and how sad and pitiful mad people can be.
I don't know how I missed the correlation between Cordelia and Cinderella! You are so right, Cordelia is the only one that seems to be honest and upfront; right from the beginning she said she wasn't going to play this game of what daughter loved him more. She seems to be the only one that is honest yet she is the only one outcasted! What's up with that? Great comparison!
I had never considered viewing Cordelia as Cinderella, but as soon as I read just the subject of your post, it made perfect sense to me. The fact that we are able to connect something like Cinderella to something written by Shakespeare thousands of years ago is truly amazing and reiterates again why Shakespeare is still so widely studied.
I also was really interested in the comment you made about the characters in this play and whether or not you can categorize them as either good or evil. I feel like this is a tactic that can be used in almost every play that Shakespeare writes. It is a consideration that I take into account when thinking about characters such as Shylock. Is he really evil or just a victim of his circumstance? Just something else that Shakespeare gives us to think about.
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