Examples Of Sacrifice In King Lear

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In a novel such as “King Lear” one of its major themes is sacrifice. In this novel we can interpret how the youngest of King Lear’s daughters, Cordelia, sacrifices her love and affection for her family by not telling her father what he wants to hear from her. Cordelia lost her father’s love and her family, which were probably the most important in her life, because she answered her father with honesty. This sacrifice by Cordelia illuminates her values by showing honesty, courage, and no selfishness from her behalf.
To begin with, in the first act, the reader can right away define who Cordelia is and what her character will bring into the story. For example, as King Lear asks each of his three daughters to give him their best answer in describing their love for him in return of most of his inheritance. After asking the two oldest daughters he is pleased with their answers, yet deep down in his heart -his favorite daughter Cordelia- is who he is rooting for and hoping to get the best answer, for he knows she out of them all, loves him the most. As Cordelia responds to his question, she answers him with honesty, sincerity, and most of all with words coming from her heart. Unlike her sisters, she …show more content…
For example, in the first act of this play she says herself that she will not follow her siblings footsteps and lie to her father like they do. She explains in her answer that if they are married they cannot love you -King Lear- more than their love to their husbands. Because Cordelia did not care about the kingdom and the inheritance she would be getting from her father, to her belief the only things she valued were honesty and her love towards her father. Her two sisters, in contrast, were saying anything that would please King Lear in order to obtain what they wanted which was the kingdom. They were able to lie in order to get what they
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