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English A: Language & Literature

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Written Task II

Candidate name: Mariam Aslam Bhatti

ternationalBaccalaureateInternational
Candidate number: 050133-0010
Session: May/June 2016

BaccalaureateInternationalBaccalaure
Roots International Schools, Wellington Campus

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Written Task II Candidate Number: 050133-0010
English A - Language & Literature

Outline
 Prescribed question

How and why is a social group represented in a particular way?

 Title of the text used for analysis

King Lear by William Shakespeare

 Part of the course to which the task refers

Part 3: Literature – text and context

 Topic

“Representation of women belonging to the monarch family in King Lear by Shakespeare”

 The written task covers discussion upon following aspects of representation of women
in King Lear:

 How are the monarch women, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, represented by
Shakespeare? (inspirations/goals/priorities in life)
 How and why are the elder sisters portrayed as emotionless and cruel women?
 How and why is Cordelia different from the sisters and unaffected by the
materialistic world?
 How and why has Shakespeare created sexually ambiguous female characters?
 How/why are the female characters relatable, if they are so?
 How/Why has Shakespeare managed to construct extremely strong female
characters and at the same time objectified them through the male characters in
the play?

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Written Task II Candidate Number: 050133-0010
English A - Language & Literature

Written Task II
Shakespeare embraces the totality of female traits in King Lear by incorporating
them in his three major female characters. Regan, Goneril and Cordelia are women with
extremely strong but different point of views. They’re neither ordinary nor play single and
defined roles in the play. The three sisters are presented not only as daughters, sisters and wives
but also, most importantly, they are portrayed as leaders each in her unique way. Being
princesses they’re naturally entitled to leadership, which is the focal point in their personalities
for Shakespeare. The power and privilege to control is used by the writer to further shape their
personalities for their other roles as daughters, wives or sisters.

The two elder sisters are mostly seen together. To an extent, Goneril, the “eldest
born”, and Regan posses comparable personalities as Regan admits that she’s “made of that self
metal as [her] sister” (25). Both are incited by property and authority therefore, throughout the
play they’re determined to achieve these assets. Shakespeare allows the reader to understand the
intentions of these ladies from the very beginning. After the unjust division of the kingdom,
Goneril and Regan start planning their future move. According to them Lear can be a threat to
them in the future and therefore they, “must do something” (33). The portrayal of the two sisters
as having extremely articulate and political minds is immensely interesting. In addition the
blindness caused by the lust of power is so extreme that Goneril and Regan stop at nothing from
having the ultimate of it even if they have to become immeasurably malicious and cruel. The
need to rule is so strong that it even surpasses the value of blood relations. Goneril betrays her
own father and plots his murder. It’s quite evident that the two elder sisters can go to any extent
to achieve a sense of supremacy and command and eradicate any threats that come their way.

Contrastingly, Cordelia is not interested in property and power. In act I King Lear
asks his daughters, “Which of you shall we say doth love us most,” (24). It isn’t simply a
question of public display and admission of daughters’ love but a criterion to determine their
inheritance. This unusual ceremony is integral in terms of character assessment for the audience.
Besides being aware that “nothing will come of nothing” and that she risks losing an enormous
amount of land and leadership along with it, even a chance of getting married well off, Cordelia

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Written Task II Candidate Number: 050133-0010
English A - Language & Literature

holds on to the truth. Although her inability to “heave [her] heart into [her] mouth” fails to win
her any property and power, Cordelia remains one of the strongest figures in the play (26). Her
absence from the stage doesn’t let her affect peter out from the audience’s minds. The impact
that she makes in the first act is continued till the last. Shakespeare demonstrates Cordelia as the
ultimate leader amongst not only the sisters but also the men in King Lear not to forget she
literally becomes one towards the end leading the French invasion.

Cordelia, Goneril and Regan are complex and ambiguously constructed female
characters that defy the conventional interpretations of gender identity, for their time. Several
aspects of their personalities can be considered masculine but they also have an extremely
feminine and vulnerable side. At one point, when Goneril orders to “pluck out [Gloucester’s]
eyes” (92), she seems so cruel that it’s unimaginable for a woman to relate to her. But ultimately
she’s ready to lose everything for the sake of love. She kills her sister due to jealousy, an
emotion generally linked to women, for her love for Edmund. Regan also behaves like Goneril
both defy the hierarchy of nature, which calls for daughters to respect their fathers. She disowns
her father and lets him suffer in the storm. Similarly, Cordelia refuses to marry Burgundy, a bold
move for a princess who just lost her status. Cordelia’s role in the French invasion further
highlights the daring aspect of her personality. Back then when women were supposed to be a
certain way these characters are headstrong and independent, characteristics that at the time were
associated with men.

The strength of the female characters in King Lear is un-deniable and yet at
several instances women have been objectified by the male characters. Lear gives away Cordelia
to Burgundy as if she is a thing and not a human; he says “her price has fallen…she is yours”
(29). It’s demeaning towards a lady to determine her “price”; it seems like a trade rather than a
marriage proposal. When Burgundy refuses to marry dowerless Cordelia because “Election
makes not up in such conditions”; the mentality that the worth of a dowerless woman is non-
existent is reinforced (30). France, portrayed as a sensible man, refers to Cordelia as Lear’s “best
object” instead of daughter (30). This shows that women were merely a show piece for the men.
They were supposed to please the men whether as husbands or even fathers to be worth

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English A - Language & Literature

something and to be loved. As Lear says to Cordelia, “Better thou hadst not been born, than not
t’ have pleas’d me better” (31).

The purpose of this representation of women can be interpreted in two ways.

Firstly, it’s an attempt made by Shakespeare to demonstrate the audience the gender bias
embedded in our society. It’s possible that the emotionless and cruel behavior of the elder sisters
is a consequence to Lear’s discriminatory nature towards women further enhanced by his
partiality towards Cordelia. The fact that these women have to please men for even their basic
needs and birth rights and for the determination of their worth, is enough to turn them bitter.
Shakespeare’s representation of women in King Lear clearly defines the status of women and the
treatment they receive in a patriarchic society. Furthermore, creation of complex female
characters with several different aspects to their personalities helps the audience to relate to
them, at some point.

Word Count: 994

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English A - Language & Literature

References:

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. London: Penguin, 1994. Print.

1. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I, Scene I, p. 25.

2. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene I, p. 33.

3. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene I, p. 24.

4. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene I, p. 26.

5. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act III Scene VII, p. 92.

6. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene I, p. 29.

7. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene I, p. 30.

8. Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene I, p. 31.

Bibliography

Cupitt, Cathy. "Daughters of Chaos: An Examination of the Women in King Lear and
Ran." Cathy Cupitt. N.p., 04 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.cathycupitt.com/daughters-of-chaos-an-examination-of-the-women-in-king-lear-
and-ran/>.

Cox, Catherine S. "An Excellent Thing in Woman: Virgo and Viragos in King Lear." Enotes.
N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2015. <http://www.enotes.com/topics/king-lear/critical-essays/an-
excellent-thing-woman-virgo-and-viragos-king>.

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. London: Penguin, 1994. Print.

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Written Task II Candidate Number: 050133-0010
English A - Language & Literature