The story of King Lear, despite its original portrayal, is apocryphal. The mythological aspects that send us to the ancient origins of the story are the numbers of the daughters he had – three. The three children is the common theme in the myths and fairy tales all over the world. Another common motif in mythology is the “natural order” the main character so often refer to. It is natural for father to love his children and for them to return the love.
The main conflict in “King Lear” that drives all the plot and causes the tragedy that brings most of the cast to their death is the desire of the King to test this natural order. He sets the test for each of his daughters: each of them has to prove her love to her father. The self-obsession of King Lear and his desire to be flattered and praised means for him more than the daily work and calm affection that is the real part of the true family love.
The daughters of King Lear differ drastically one from another. Two elder ones named Goneril and Regan can be seen as selfish and lying, pretending to maintain a pretty picture of family love and not really caring about the feelings. The younger one, Cordelia, is kind and gentle, though shy and modest and unable to express her affection to her father in such a loud and public way. We can see this motif in lots of fairy tales and can predict the further story of the daughters and King Lear himself.
The older ones shall suffer and the younger shall be rewarder. Usually, we look at such characters through the black and white filter, clearly defining who is good and who is evil. But are Goneril and Regan really evil, or are they simply the daughters of their father? As we can see, the “natural order” of King’s Lear family allows the father to disown his daughter, who fails to please him. Unconditioned love is something of a miracle here.
