Blog 1

How do you understand the relationship between Cordelia and Lear? He seems to love her, and she him, but how? Why is she unable to speak when her very survival depends on her speaking? Why is he unable to hear her truth?
To take the same concept from another angle…. While her sisters’ speeches are excellent examples of verbal manipulation, the one person (Cordelia) who goes in honestly with Lear’s best interests at heart is punished because she doesn’t want (or know how to) “play the game.” Have you seen situations like this? Have you used your powers of manipulation to get what you want? Have you been the loser in a game like this?

The relationship between Cordelia and Lear is one of love the only problem is that they both express their love differently. Cordelia tends to give herself to someone and is by them to show them that she cares while Lear wants someone that will flatter him as much as they can. Because Cordelia sees this as an untrue representation of love she cannot bring herself to flatter him. She instead says that she cannot express herself other than her actions. She also disproves her other sisters that are saying that they have given themselves to Lear even though they are married and in all reality they must have given at least part of themselves to their husband.

I have been in a situation like this where I am able to verbally make someone believe me. When this happened I simply took something completely unrelated to the subject and would bring it into the conversation. This simply draws attention from me towards someone else and also destroys credibility. Verbal manipulation really does not work too often simply because it is a fight of logic not of anything else