Comments on Act V, scene iii

Cordelia's death has long been a point of debate among critics. The 18th century editor of Shakespeare's works, Samuel Johnson was so disturbed by the scene that he avoided re-reading the end of the play for years: Shakespeare "seems to write without any moral purpose ... he makes no just distribution of good or evil." Johnson admitted that Shakespeare's ending might be true to life, but thought such cruelty should not be presented on the stage. From 1681 - 1838 an adaptation of King Lear by Nahum Tate, which added a happy ending with the marriage of Edgar to Cordelia and Lear on the throne for several more years, was the only one seen on the English stage. As T. S. Eliot once said, "Humankind cannot bear very much reality." 

Cordelia's murder is not in several earlier versions such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and the anonymous King Leir, so Shakespeare must have had good dramatic reason for adding it. Her death is especially shocking because it subverts the usual pattern of expectations about tragedy.

1. Since the time of the Greeks, one theme of tragedy has been that suffering produces wisdom or greater self-understanding in the protagonist. In Aeschylus' Agamemnon, the chorus sings, “Zeus, whose will has marked for man the sole way where wisdom lies, ordered one eternal plan: man must suffer to be wise” (Vellacott translation). However, Lear has already learned something from his ordeal, both in his recognition of those less fortunate than himself (III.ii, III.iv) and in his reconciliation with Cordelia. His final suffering only leads him back into delusion, possibly believing she may still be alive.

2. Unlike in the case of Hamlet, the defeat of evil does not depend on her sacrificial death, as Edmund and her sisters are already gone. Her death plays no part in restoring order to the situation.

3. Earlier in this scene, several characters affirm their belief in a moral order to the universe. Over the fallen body of his brother, Edgar says, "The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices make instruments to plague us" to which even dying Edmund agrees. Then immediately before the entrance of Lear with his daughter in his arms, Albany shouts, "The gods defend her!" but to no avail. This "final" affirmation of divine justice is no sooner spoken than the principle is subverted (or at least called into question). We are reminded of Gloucester's despairing cry, "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport" (IV.i). Critic C. J. Sisson says the play destabilizes our theological and moral assurances (Shakespeare's Tragic Justice, 1962).