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Comments on Act II, scene iv
According to Marianne Novy, "The contrast between Goneril and Regan on the one hand and Cordelia on the other owes something to the traditional tendency in Western literature to split the image of woman into devil and angel, Eve and Mary. Goneril and Regan are much less psychologically complex than most Shakespearean characters of comparable importance. Few of their lines carry hints of motivations other than cruelty, lust, or ambition ... Shakespeare gives them no humanizing scruples like those provoked by Lady Macbeth's memory of her father [preventing her from killing the king]. He does not allow them ... to question the fairness of their society's distribution of power as articulately as Edmund [I.ii]."
Being in a position of dependence for so long, due to their sex, Goneril and Regan despise this trait in others. "Rather than attacking tyranny, they prefer to attack weakness ... [displaying] a hatred of others they consider weak because of a fear of being weak themselves." Later Lear notes how often we condemn others for our own faults (4.6 here and here).
"Cordelia by contrast with her sisters is much less stereotyped. Shakespeare's presentation of her shows sympathy for the woman who tries to keep her integrity in a patriarchal world ... refusing pretense as a means of survival" (Love's Argument: Gender Relations in Shakespeare, 1984).
To avoid giving the impression of Cinderella's wicked step-sisters, creative actresses have found ways to emphasize differences between Goneril and Regan. The elder sister is sometimes played as more head-strong, even masculine, having tried for years perhaps to be the son her father never had. She takes the lead in her marriage, criticizing Albany's "milky gentleness" (1.4), "the cowish terror of his spirit" (4.2), and says that she "must change names at home and give the distaff [sewing tool] into my husband's hands ... A fool usurps my bed" (4.2). In contrast, Regan has become accustomed to getting her way by feminine charm, handling her upset father with calculated consideration, repeatedly calling him "sir," "good sir," attempting to calm him down rather than confront him (at least at first).
