Topic > Character Analysis of Cordielia in Shakespeare's King Lear

An example of these speech patterns is "to obey you, to love you, and many honor you" (1.1.98). She remains silent on the stage as her father cedes all the land to her sisters, as Kent objects to the king's mistake, and as her suitors enter. After her father disowns her and insults her to her suitors, she finally tells her father, "If I want that easy, oily art, speaking and having no intentions," meaning she's at a loss for words to describe his love (1.1.243). She then continues to say, “But even in want of that for which I am richest: a still soliciting eye, and a tongue which I am glad not to have, though not having it has made me lose your sympathy” (1.1.243). She truly believes that this lack of words makes her honorable, even if it causes her to lose her father's love. He has the philosophy that saying little and giving meaning to what you say is more important than being ostentatious. In Shakespeare's works, frank and concise people are usually the ones who possess the wisdom and truth that most characters fail to reach.