My essay will be about how King Lear is dying and sets a challenge for Regan,Goneril and Cordelia [his three daughters]. The challenge is for the three daughters to explain to King Lear about how much they love him. Cordelia is the nicest of the bunch and is expected to win. Regan and Goneril on the

other hand are just saying these nice things to him even though they do not really mean it. they just want the land. They each take turns to speak and give different opinions about why they love him.

In my opinion Shakespeare presents Goneril as false and manipulative. My evidence is that she says ‘Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty’. Goneril is saying things that she does not actually mean to say. I know this because she is exaggerating how much she loves her father. She is exaggerating by using a triplet to show her love. If she really loved her father she would keep it nice and short. Therefore, that is why she does not really love her father. She is only saying these nice words to get most of the land.

In my opinion Shakespeare presents Regan as false as well. My evidence is that she says ‘Sir, I am made of the self-same metal that my sister is’. She is saying that she agrees with her sister. This means that they are both evil and are telling lies to their father. She is saying that she thinks her sister is right but she loves her father even more. Herself and Goneril are talking from their mouth and not their heart. They are both playing a game because they are greedy. They are trying to act charming and loving to get most of the land from their father.

In my opinion Shakespeare presents Cordelia as crazy and surprising. She feels she does not need to express her love for her father with hundreds of words because her true love comes straight from her heart. King Lear is surprised as he thought she would easily win by far, as being the nicest of the bunch. She says ‘I am sure, my love’s more richer than my tongue’. She means she is not blabbering lies with her tongue unlike her mean and horrible sisters.

In my opinion Shakespeare presents King Lear as old and crawling towards death. My evidence is that he says ‘crawl towards death’. As he is dying he sets a challenge for his three daughters. They must explain how much they love their father. King Lear thinks Cordelia will obviously win as being the nicest of the bunch. He is then surprised when she comes up with ‘nothing’. King Lear will give the largest piece of the kingdom to whom can come up with the best speech.

In my opinion I think that Cordelia should get most of the land because Regan and Goneril will just take everything they said back if they got their hands on the largest piece of land from their father. Cordelia on the other hand is polite and does actually loves her father more than anything else unlike her sisters. Cordelia would use the land for good, not bad. Goneril and Regan do not deserve the land because they do not mean anything that they have said to their father. Therefore, that is why I think that Cordelia deserves the most land.