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re: King Lear, BAM - question about Cordelia

Posted by: BruceinIthaca 12:40 am EST 01/17/14
In reply to: King Lear, BAM - question about Cordelia - drummergirl 11:55 pm EST 01/16/14

A Shakespearean scholar with whom I taught for a few years told me that current scholarly thinking interprets the line "And my poor fool is hanged" to refer to Cordelia, not the Fool, as one of the meanings for "fool" at the time was something like darling or dear one. She added that there was speculation that the same actor (a boy, of course) played both Cordelia and the Fool--and that the characters never appear onstage at the same time (obviously, if you divide the parts, you can have the Fool lurking around when Cordelia is there in the opening, but it is not a requirement). Putting aside any literary hay one could make of "doubling" those two characters, Lear's best beloveds, it also gives the actor much more to do if playing both roles.


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re: King Lear, BAM - question about Cordelia

Posted by: perfectlyfrank 01:21 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: re: King Lear, BAM - question about Cordelia - BruceinIthaca 12:40 am EST 01/17/14

I rather like the concept of the Fool and Cordelia being played by the same actor. It adds so much to the emotional weight of both roles within the play, especially the tragic climax.

Even if not played by the same actor, I think there are obvious parallels that Shakespeare makes between the two roles and Lear's treatment of the characters.

I'd love to see the show with the roles played by one actor to see if, indeed, it will play as well as it does in my head.


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re: King Lear, BAM - question about Cordelia

Posted by: drummergirl 12:46 am EST 01/17/14
In reply to: re: King Lear, BAM - question about Cordelia - BruceinIthaca 12:40 am EST 01/17/14

Bruce - this is eye-opening (to me). Thank you ever so. Thus, the two truest people in Lear's life - Kent and Cordelia - are with him throughout the play. Lots of food for thought.

A quick internet search yielded a number of hits, including the following:

Link Cordelia/The Fool

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