Cordelia: “We are not the first who with best meaning
have incurred the worst. For thee oppressed King, I am cast down; myself could
else outfrown false Fortune’s frown. Shall we not see these daughters and these
sisters?” (V. iii. 4-8). – It is uncertain as to whether these were
Cordelia’s exact last words because it s
the last time the audience sees her before she is taken away by Edmund’s orders
to be executed. These last lines that Shakespeare writes for her epitomize who
she was as a p-person. Cordelia was
strong-willed, independent, and loyal to her father even though he banished
her. She is down on herself and upset from the loss of the war but that is to
be expected and understood.
Gloucester: “And that’s true too” (V. ii. 13). Similar to Cordelia, the
audience is not certain as to whether these were Gloucester’s actual final
words. We learn from Edgar that his
father eventually dies from grief and physical pain from his eyes being gouged
out. His last line said in the play may appear at first as insignificant or
easily missed, but examining it over, I can see some interesting meaning behind
it. Gloucester responds to Edgar after he keeps persuading him to come with him
to see Lear, Cordelia, and his brother Edgar. After Edmund says, “Men must
endure their growing hence, even as their coming hither” Edmund wants his
father to confront the problems in his life even though his life is coming to
an end. These words show Gloucester’s will to keep living while he is still
alive.
Regan: “My sickness grows upon me” (V. iii. 127). Regan comes down ill
very quickly after events start becoming worse for her. Her “sickness” is a
literal pain that is inside her body but it can also show her sickness as a
person. Her shallowness and deviance is really what kills her in the end, along
with her sister poisoning her.
Goneril: “Ask me not what I know” (V. iii. 194). Since the first act,
Goneril has always been portrayed as dramatic. Whether it was confessing her
love for her father or kissing Edmund when saying goodbye to him, it is almost
always apparent in every scene where she speaks. Her last line is full of
histrionics as well. Upon seeing Albany hand her letter to Edmund, she becomes
hysterical. Instead of confronting both her husband and Edmund about what she
was intending to do with the letter, she runs away and claims to not know
anything, which only magnifies her cowardice. As the scene continues, Goneril
never reappears and thus never confronts anyone about anything ever again.
Edmund: “He hath commission from thy wife and me to hang Cordelia in the prison
and to lay the blame upon her own despair that she forbid herself” (V. iii.
302-305). As Edmund approaches death, he tries to make good as if to maybe
save himself and renew himself as a benevolent person. His last words are
especially significant because it shows how just moments before he was
completely unwilling to tell anyone anything without inflicting some sort of
punishment on the one who questioned him. However, as he lay powerless and
inept on the floor, he surrenders his secrets to seem as though that will fix
all that he has caused.
King Lear: “And my poor fool is hanged! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a
horse, a rat, have life, and thou no breath at all? Thou’lt come no more,
never, never, never, never, never! Pray you undo this button-Thank you, sir. Do
you see this? Look on her! Look! Her lips! Look there! Look there!” (V. iii.
367-372). I felt genuine sympathy for Lear in his final moments. He may not
have been the most likeable character throughout the play but he felt true
sadness and grief when Cordelia died, after truly seeing how selfless and loyal
she is. Lear did really love his daughter all along and seeing her executed is
what really killed him. He even hallucinates at one point really believing that
she was coming back to life. Maybe he was hallucinating or maybe he was seeing
her talk to him again. It all depends on who reads or watches the play, but it
does show that some characters did have hope.
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