King Lear: His Daughter's Differences, Act I

Thus far, two of King Lear's three daughters-- Goneril and Regan-- are largely lumped together, and are not specifically differentiates as characters with differing motivations, emotions, or personalities. However, the youngest, Cordelia, differs greatly from her two sisters in most regards.

Cordelia is evidently hailed as the most morally pure and lofty of the three. She, unlike her sisters, loves her father in a way that is deep enough so that she recognizes the nature of her love for him. She understands her love enough such that she knows she cannot degrade it by putting into words her immense love, and she knows she must be honest in that her love will divide to include a future husband. This her sister's neglect.

Goneril and Regan may be perceived as having selfish personalities since their outward motivation is to obtain a dowry by declaring their love for their father. However, the two sisters may simply have personalities which value obedience and conformity, unlike Cordelia, which could be viewed as positive. Alas, their benevolently obedient personalties are undermined by their determination to 'do something' about their senile father. In this way, Goneril and Regan appear to be hypocritical, for after having expressed their boundless love for their father, they conspire against him. Cordelia, at least, is quite the opposite of hypocritical, as she takes her loving stance towards her father and remains firmly by it despite the consequences.

Goneril's character is delved into further in Act I, and she appears to be increasingly hypocritical in her conspiring against her father-- or, is Goneril nobly and cleverly fighting against her unjust father in an active way, which Cordelia could not do, having been banished? Goneril drives her father to guilt and great agitation by means of trickery. Cordelia, meanwhile, drives her father to agitation by honesty. Here, the personalities and emotions of Goneril (and Regan, though she is less expressed in Act I) are, to my belief, most clearly juxtaposed with those of Cordelia. Cordelia is honest, fair, loving, and realistic, and resolute, motivated by love and virtue, while her sisters are irresolute, hypocritical, and conspiratory, and are driven by motives of much lesser nobility: want of possession.