Editing Lear

        The critic Stanley Cavell wants us to notice that the first scene in King Lear immensely pertains to false love. It is the idea that Lear is giving, a bribe in this instance, because “he wants something that he does not have to return in kind…he wants to look like a loved man-for the sake of his subjects,” (Cavell, pg.61-2). In this light, Cavell views Cordelia’s first line in the play as an admonishment of her father’s wishes. Cordelia’s difficulty stems from her inability to “speak” the same pretend love of her sisters for, “to pretend to love, where you really do love, is not obviously possible,” (pg. 62).

         Bearing this is mind it is interesting to note that Cavell is working from the Folio and thus uses the line “What Shall Cordelia Speak? Love, and be silent,” (1.1 67). In the Quarto, Cordelia’s words become those of action as “speak” becomes “do.” How does this alter Cavell’s reading of Cordelia’s lines? I would argue that this simple change in words completely changes the way we view Cordelia and Lear’s preceding lines. The word “do” implies that Cordelia is concerned not only with her own actions, but with the actions prior to her line and those that she sees taking shape before her. “What shall Cordelia do?” makes Cordelia look a lot more powerful and it gives her a greater presence on stage. As we’ve seen before, powerful characters take action in Shakespearean plays, be it tragic like Hamlet’s or heroic like Edgar’s. Furthermore, the change has the effect of cheapening Lear’s opening speech. This is because Lear’s speech is comprised of pure words that are only requesting his daughters to speak false love. Lear is unable to act on his love because his goal is, as Cavell argues, to deceive his kingdom into believing that there exists true love between him and all his daughters. Thus by saying “do” Cordelia is highlighting her father’s inability to take action towards recognizing the true love that she has for him.

        Cavell concludes that Lear is torturing Cordelia by forcing her to help him betray true love by falsifying it publicly (pg.63). However, I would argue that the simple change from “speak” to “do” implies that Cordelia is, in return, torturing her father as well by refusing to act on his mere speech that she knows to be false. Her sisters take action and use their speeches to take land while Cordelia remains a silent refusal to portray her love as anything remotely false. We should remember that saying nothing and doing nothing is not the same thing, for even refusing to take action is action in itself. This is how we should view Cordelia’s line, as taking action against her father’s quest for false love. Perhaps it is through that action that Cordelia can return back to words and the line, “Restoration hang / Thy medicine on my lips,” (4.7 26-7).