Thursday, January 20, 2005
Quantity Versus Quality of Love
Can love be measured? I find that Lear has fallen in this “unrealistic” device by testing the love of his daughters. Like any parent, he wishes to be loved and appreciated in response to the kindnesses he has performed. However, the way he does it is ridiculous.
Lear thought that he could measure the standard of his daughters’ love by the flattery words from them. Goneril and Regan are content to flatter and promise obedience, knowing they will turn him out once he has relinquished his authority. On the other hand, Cordelia refuses to flatter him like her two daughters though she has true love for her father. As a result, she loses her share of his kingdom and her father.
Then Lear has problem with his two elder daughters for maintaining the number of his attendants. He brings a hundred knights with him to stay with Goneril. When Goneril wants to reduce the numbers to fifty, he goes for Regan. However, Regan is even worse, she does not allow fifty, but twenty-five. Lear is so angry that he utters to Goneril,
“I’ll go with thee:
thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty,
And thou art twice her love.”
At last, Lear wants to stay with Goneril because her love is twice as much as Regan. Isn’t it ridiculous? Lear seems to be interested in number and he thinks that the more number his daughter allows the more her love is. But we know that this is not true. Love comes from the heart, not by flattery words or the measure of compromising. We should focus on love that has quality rather than quantity.
Lear thought that he could measure the standard of his daughters’ love by the flattery words from them. Goneril and Regan are content to flatter and promise obedience, knowing they will turn him out once he has relinquished his authority. On the other hand, Cordelia refuses to flatter him like her two daughters though she has true love for her father. As a result, she loses her share of his kingdom and her father.
Then Lear has problem with his two elder daughters for maintaining the number of his attendants. He brings a hundred knights with him to stay with Goneril. When Goneril wants to reduce the numbers to fifty, he goes for Regan. However, Regan is even worse, she does not allow fifty, but twenty-five. Lear is so angry that he utters to Goneril,
“I’ll go with thee:
thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty,
And thou art twice her love.”
At last, Lear wants to stay with Goneril because her love is twice as much as Regan. Isn’t it ridiculous? Lear seems to be interested in number and he thinks that the more number his daughter allows the more her love is. But we know that this is not true. Love comes from the heart, not by flattery words or the measure of compromising. We should focus on love that has quality rather than quantity.
# posted by Dr. Yee Bee Choo @ 5:24 PM 
