King Lear the realm of which the king is head, not to Lear himself, and he tells Lear to behave better for the good of the realm. By contrast, Lear makes an argument similar to James that as king, he holds absolute power and could disregard the views of his subjects if they displease him whenever he liked. In the play, the characters like the Fool, Kent and Cordelia, whose loyalties are institutional, seeing their first loyalty to the realm, are portrayed more favorably than those like Regan and Goneril, who insist they are only loyal to the king, seeing their loyalties
Cordelia (King Lear) Cordelia (King Lear) Cordelia is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragic play, "King Lear". She is the youngest of King Lear's three daughters, and his favourite. After her elderly father offers her the opportunity to profess her love to him in return for one third of the land in his kingdom, she refuses and is banished for the majority of the play. Shakespeare had numerous resources to consult while writing "King Lear". The oldest source in print was Geoffrey of Monmouth's "The History of the Kings of Britain", c.1136. This is the earliest written record of Cordelia. Here she