Do your duty or speak your love

         The choice of whether to use the word ‘speak’ or ‘do’ in the line “Cordelia. What shall Cordelia variant? Love and be silent. (67)” is strikingly important to the character of Cordelia. Is Cordelia conflicted over what she ought to speak, or what she ought to do? Is the difference between Cordelia and her sisters that she cannot communicate her thoughts, or that she cannot act out her desires? Before we can choose which word is preferable in the context of the play in communicating the correct meaning, it is essential to understand the usage of each word in the play.

GLOUCESTER
Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone:
Thy comforts can do me no good at all; (4.I.18-20)

         There are many contexts in the play in which the words speak and do are not so interchangeable. Here is a line from Gloucester using ‘do’ to signify ‘serve’ or ‘act in the pursuit of’. In the same act he uses the word several times more, “Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure” (4.1.54-56) Where do can be interpreted as act or pursue. To do, in Shakespearean language, means to either pursue or act in the pursuit, how should Cordelia act in this pursuit? Changing to the meaning of ‘speak’, Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘speak’ as “To utter or pronounce words or articulate sounds; to use or exercise the faculty of speech; to express one's thoughts by words.” (OED) The word is used quite often in the first act, where King Lear demands everyone speak to prove their love. “A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.” (1.I. 93) quickly followed by “Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.” (1.I.112) The dictionary definition functions in each case, to speak is to express one’s thoughts. But, Ironically, King Lear is not asking to hear their thoughts, but to receive their duty. There is a tension of whether Cordelia ought to speak as commanded, or act as commanded.

        Which word, then, better serves the play? What makes Cordelia different from her sisters is not that she does not know her purpose, or she does not know her thoughts. The truth is, she does not know how to express her thoughts, her love for her father. She seems more confused over how to express her feelings than how to act. But King Lear is not asking his daughters to express their feelings, he asks them to act out their duty. As such, Regen and Goneril know what to ‘do’ without having the correct feelings, and Cordelia has the correct feelings but cannot express them. Regen and Goneril ‘do’ their duty, and Cordelia tries as best she can to ‘speak’ her thoughts- an impossible task. With such an understanding of the play, from the perspective of Cordelia, ‘speak’ seems more appropriate. She knows what to do- she should express her thoughts, but she does not know how to express her love, since this is an impossible demand. “Cordelia. What shall Cordelia speak? Love and be silent. (67)” is the more meaningful interpretation. Cordelia knows what to do: to elevate truth above duty. But she does not know how to express her love, since this demand is impossible.