Why Does Cordelia Die?

    As I was reading the end of King Lear where everyone started dropping like flies, I have to admit I was kinda upset when Cordelia died. Since I was focusing my introduction on loyalty in King Lear, I realized that almost all of the characters who end up dying were disloyal to another character at one point in the story. The exception is Cordelia, who was loyal and honest the entire play. Shakespeare had already killed enough of the characters, and I felt that her death was an unnecessary part of the story.

Comments

[Mara B.]

I was equally as confused by her death. I mean literally, it could make sense. But symbolically and in relation to themes, it just throws all my theories off.

[Jared Calvert]

Interesting point about why Cordila should die despite her innocence and devotion to King Lear. I agree her death really does not follow the themes of the book. I think it is less about her and more about the other characters who are less devout. I think it could be argued it was the ultimate act of betryal by both Edmund and the disloyal court, who now stopped targeting Lear and targeted the truly innocent Cordelia.

[Kim W.]

Cordelia's death was really the most tragic part of the story. Her death needed to be in there because I feel that of all the other character deaths she had been the most likable character and in order to completely get the reader/viewer's emotions running wild, she had to be killed.

[Amy P.]

I don't think cordelia should have died but I think it makes a little bit of sense. I think her death is the reason Lear died and in the end of the play Lear had to die. I think Cordelia was just a device used to play on the sympathy of the reader and then kill Lear.

[Jenna R.]

What would happen if Cordelia had not died? All the disloyal and evil characters would have died while the loyal and good characters would have lived. Sounds like a disney movie. Someone innocent needed to die. Cordelia is truely the tragic character. She is exiled by her father, hated by her sisters, and killed unjustly in the end.

[Katie]

If only the really hated characters died, I feel it wouldn't have been a very good tragedy. Everyone who had died so far had been asking for it.

[fhfhfhfhf]

the reason why! cordelia dies is that the nature of tragedy is to see the good person suffer, Cordelia was the most loyal and honest, etc, person in the whole play and main ,she needed to die to complete the tragedy.

[Aspa]

Cordelia has to die for showing toughness of character when she takes up the army and fights for Lear. In the Elizabethan era, women were supposed to be fragile, innocent, mothers and daughters, pathetic creatures that had their fathers and husbands decide for them.This is Cordelia in the forst acts of the play.Later on though, as she takes up the army, she takes up masculine qualities of character.That is she takes the role of the man, while Lear is quite feminine.
The roles of society are thus reversed, that is why Shakespeare has to restore these roles and kill Cordelia.