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Comments on Act V, scene iii
Cordelia's death has long been a point of debate among critics. The 18th century scholar Samuel Johnson was so disturbed by the scene that he avoided re-reading the end of the play for years. For most of the 18th and 19th centuries a version of Lear by Nahum Tate, which added a fortunate rescue at the conclusion and the marriage of Edgar and Cordelia, was the only one seen on stage. As T. S. Eliot once said, "Humankind cannot bear very much reality."
Cordelia's death is not in Shakespeare's sources, so he must
have had good reason for inserting it. Earlier attempts to remove it only
diminish the power of the tragic conclusion.
Her death is especially shocking
because it subverts the usual pattern of expectations about tragedy.
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,
believing she may still be alive.
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. 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 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).