Continuing with our grand survey of Shakespearean plays, so far we’ve studied Shakespeare’s background, sonnets, Julius Caesar, Henry V, madnesses of Richard III and Hamlet, the similarities of As You Like It and Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Much ado about Nothing, Othello, and Macbeth.
After a Shakespearean interlude at the dentist, Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter had so infused my thoughts, that my latest Homeschool Mother’s Weekly Journal featured The Bard.
Opening our copies of King Lear, we annotated the literary elements key to understanding the story.
So, we seem to be on a running track on tragedies, doom, and gloom, galore!
At this point I’m thinking I’ll have the kids vote on the most depressing of the tragedies.
Set in the mythical land of 8th century BC land of Leir…that would one day become Britain…a king begins the story with a bad decision that ends in tragedy.
Diving his kingdom among his three daughters, two of whom flatter him (but do not love him) while the third, Cordelia, respects him but refuses to flatter him (even though she truly loves him).
Thinking Cordelia does not love him, he disowns her.
And everything comes apart.
TOO DEPRESSING
Considered too depressing for audiences of the 1660s, the play was softened.
By the 19th century the play’s original bleakness returned to tougher audiences.
What was the difference?
The people of England in the 1660s saw Parliament dissolved, their king beheaded, and Oliver Cromwell’s rise to power.
They had enough misery in their lives to watch King Lear in it’s original depressing state, unless it was tamed.
Perhaps 19th century England had enough peace to explore darkness.
In an 1821 essay Percy Bysshe Shelly hailed King Lear: the most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world.
WHERE DID ANNE OF GREEN GABLES LEARN OF CORDELIA?
I have no idea if Anne Shirley first heard of Cordelia from reading King Lear, but Anne certainly admired the name, as revealed in her request to Marilla, in this passage from Anne of Green Gables:
“Well, don’t cry any more. We’re not going to turn you out-of-doors to-night. You’ll have to stay here until we investigate this affair. What’s your name?”
The child hesitated for a moment.
“Will you please call me Cordelia?” she said eagerly.
“Call you Cordelia? Is that your name?”
“No-o-o, it’s not exactly my name, but I would love to be called Cordelia. It’s such a perfectly elegant name.”
“I don’t know what on earth you mean. If Cordelia isn’t your name, what is?”
“Anne Shirley,” reluctantly faltered forth the owner of that name, “but, oh, please do call me Cordelia. It can’t matter much to you what you call me if I’m only going to be here a little while, can it? And Anne is such an unromantic name.”
“Unromantic fiddlesticks!” said the unsympathetic Marilla. “Anne is a real good plain sensible name. You’ve no need to be ashamed of it.”
“Oh, I’m not ashamed of it,” explained Anne, “only I like Cordelia better. I’ve always imagined that my name was Cordelia–at least, I always have of late years. When I was young I used to imagine it was Geraldine, but I like Cordelia better now. But if you call me Anne please call me Anne spelled with an E.”
“What difference does it make how it’s spelled?” asked Marilla with another rusty smile as she picked up the teapot.
“Oh, it makes such a difference. It looks so much nicer. When you hear a name pronounced can’t you always see it in your mind, just as if it was printed out? I can; and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A-n-n-e looks so much more distinguished. If you’ll only call me Anne spelled with an E I shall try to reconcile myself to not being called Cordelia.”
QUALITIES OF CORDELIA
In King Lear, Cordelia’s character qualities consisted of beauty, faithfulness, service, and honesty.
Abandoned by the father she loves, and who once loved her, Cordelia loses her inheritance, and in those days, her provision.
Despite losing all she holds dear, Cornelia cannot waver from honesty.
However, the King of France, impressed with her honesty, marries her even without her inheritance (which was so important in those days).
Later Cornelia’s sisters turn on their father, who loses his kingdom.
Leading the French army to Britain to reinstate her father to the throne, Cordelia discovers he has become insane.
In Cordelia’s care, Lear’s madness passes.
Then tragedy in Act V…
ANNE’S QUALITIES
If Anne had met the Cordelia of King Lear, she’d have admired her beauty, strength in adversity, and honesty.
Mourning her lack of beauty, she never saw riches, only home and imagination.
For her, imagination meant escape from a difficult world, as evidenced by this passage from Anne of Green Gables:
ANNE: My temper will never get the better of me again, even though I am red-haired.
MARILLA: I hope not. Good behavior in the first place is more important than theatrical apologies afterwards.
ANNE: Since I had to do it, I thought I might as well do it thoroughly.
MARILLA: Save your thoroughness for prayer. And the praying that counts, is the praying that’s sincere; God does not want you for a fair-weathered friend.
ANNE: The only real friend I ever had was Katie Morris, and she was only my window friend.
MARILLA: Window friend?
ANNE: I discovered her in the window of Mrs. Thomas’ bookcase, which was the only window which hadn’t been smashed by her intoxicated husband. I lived with them before the Hammonds. I used to wish I knew the spell to step through the glass into Katie’s world, which was so beautiful.
One thing everything could rely on from Anne was her honesty, which often got her into trouble, especially with Rachel Linde, as seen in this passage from Anne of Green Gables.
MARILLA: This is a friend and neighbor of mine, Mrs. Rachel Lynde. Anne Shirley.
ANNE: How do you do, Mrs. Lynde?
RACHEL: Well, her looks are certainly nothing to consider. I mean she’s terribly skinny and homely, Marilla. Come here, child. Lawful heart! Her hair is as red as carrots!
ANNE: How dare you say I’m skinny and…carrots! You’re a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman, and I hate you!
MARILLA: Anne Shirley!
ANNE: How would you like to have nasty things said about you? How would you like to be told that you’re fat, and ugly, and a sour old gossip.
Anne Shirley had much to learn about patience and kindness in the face of adversity, but over time she learned, as fans who’ve read the books and seen the Sullivan produced movies can testify.
Who was the Cordelia that inspired Anne Shirley?
If not the Cordelia of King Lear, I still see some interesting similarities.
