Introduction:
Cordelia is Lear’s youngest and most beloved daughter. She is the heroine of the tragedy. She is Kind hearted woman and a vivid example of Truthfulness and a sense of duty. As a heroine, she possesses Perfect judgment and self-controlling power but is not free from tragic flaws.
More Notes: King Lear
The tragic flaw in the character of Cordelia:
Cordelia is a woman of few words. She is reticent by nature. She does not believe to express her feeling in an extravagant manner. She is a practical woman. She does not believe in showing off her sentiments toward her father in words. So, when King Lear wants to hear Cordelia’s depth of love for him, she clarifies that she can never describe her depth of love in words for her dad. Cordelia tells her father, King Lear, that,
I love you, “according to my bond, nor more nor less”,
later she tells him that after marriage half of her love, care and duty will go to her husband which is why she cannot declare her whole love to her father as her sisters have done. But Cordelia does not realize that it is not mandatory to expose the truth to all. Sometimes it may cause pain and torture for others that is what happened to old King Lear. She could have declared her love without loss of dignity in a submissive way but she did not do it. So, Cordelia’s stubborn nature and lack of presence wit are the tragic flaws of her character that bring the tragic end to her life at the end of the play.
More Notes: William Shakespeare
Conclusion:
Now we can say, Though Cordelia loves her father very much. But her Incapacity for exposing love to her father is her tragic flaw. Besides her reserve and undemonstrative nature are causes of her misfortune. So, we should expose our feeling in a submissive way in any situation.
