No blown ambition doth our arms incite But love, dear love, and our aged father’s right. (Cordelia, lines 27–28)
Questions:
In each case, support your point with suitable reference to and quotation from the play.
1. Do you think there is any significance to the weeds Lear has chosen for his crown?
2. What does Cordelia call on nature to do in this scene? What does this tell us about her?
3. Why do you think Shakespeare goes to such trouble to ensure that we know Cordelia is not intent on conquering Britain?
4. Based on your reading of this scene, what are the main differences between Cordelia and her sisters?
? Writing task
You are a gossip columnist who has spent the last year following Cordelia and you are now in the French camp. You do not have loyalties to either side and were present in Act 1 when Cordelia defied Lear and was banished. Write the article you would submit to your tabloid paper in which you analyse Cordelia’s response to the news about her father. Feel free to be as biased and scurrilous as you like!
