Type
Text
Type
Thesis
Advisor
Huffman, Clifford | Videbaek, Bente
Date
2014-12-01
Keywords
Literature
Department
Department of English.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77562
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
This paper looks at King Lear and its tragic ending. Shakespeare's King Lear is based on various accounts, but interestingly he changes from the happy endings of his sources into his own tragic ending by putting Lear and Cordelia to death. This tragic ending has been criticized, but no one could be certain why Shakespeare ends his play in the way he does, especially why he makes Cordelia die. As a result, many critics tried to discover why Cordelia dies in the end. This paper will analyze the various criticisms on Cordelia's death, and show the opposing views of critics' arguing that Cordelia's death is just meaningless. Furthermore, it will prove that Cordelia's death is meaningful and crucial to King Lear based on the persuasive grounds which many other critics propose. | 45 pages
Recommended Citation
Jin, Hyewon, "A Necessary Death in King Lear" (2014). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3362.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3362