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This 3 page paper discusses the usage of the words “nothing” and “something” in “King Lear,” and argues that the playwright uses them in powerful new ways. Bibliography lists 1 sources.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVnotsom.rtf
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way in which that usage gives these ordinary words additional meaning. Discussion To anyone familiar with the play, the word "nothing" will immediately spring to mind as being associated with
Cordelias declaration in Act I. When the play opens, Lear is about to make a disastrous mistake, and divide his kingdom among his three daughters: Regan, Goneril and Cordelia. There
are several things wrong with this plan, the most important being that Lear cannot just give up being king because hes getting old. Kings at that time were considered to
rule by divine right; they were kings, in other words, because God wanted it so. For him to give up the crown is not only political suicide, its a kind
of blasphemy. It also immediately sows the seeds of jealousy, greed and hatred, proving that Lear doesnt know his offspring at all. Many critics have noted that there are
no other women in the play besides the three sisters, no wife or mother of Lears age and experience to guide and help him. He is literally at the mercy
of his two poisonous daughters, Goneril and Regan and doesnt see the goodness in Cordelia. The "nothing" here occurs when he asks each of them to tell how much
she loves him. Goneril goes first and gushes all over the old man, telling him she loves him so much she cannot speak: "A love that makes breath poor, and
speech unable: / Beyond all manner of so much I love you" (I.i.60-61). This pleases Lears vanity greatly; he asks Regan how she feels and she does much the same
thing: "I am made of that self metal as my sister, / And prize me at her worth" (I.i.69-70). Then its Cordelias turn, and all she says is "Nothing, my
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