So Sad...

"Go to, go to. Better thou
Hadst not been born than not t' have pleased me better"
This was said to Cordelia by King Lear after her proclamation of love was said to be inadequate by the old King. One aspect of Shakespeare that is not very much focused in the writing is the real emotional effects that some events or actions, that take place in the play, have, or would have had, on people. I find it easier to think about literature (especially older pieces... like Shakespeare) in a more modern sense. This is done by taking the events that take place and placing them into one's own life. This helps to bring the events of the novel or play to life, and it helps the reader to understand what it is that the characters are truly experiencing.
For me there were many saddening moments that took place in the play. One of them was during Act I, scene i when King Lear decides that his daughter Cordelia does not love him enough (even though she really is the one who loves him the most). But wealth, power, and the ego got in the way of his love for his daughter and he ended up disowning her "medieval style" by giving her away to the first man that would take her as a wife. It is so upsetting to me that all that it takes to come between a parent-child bond is power and ego. I put myself in her position of having my father, who I have loved my whole life, decide one day that I am not fluffing his ego enough and kick me out. This would be not only be confusing, but very, very upsetting.
I'm sure that parent child relationships in the medieval times, especially those in royal families, were a little different than those today, but because I am living in modern times, and I have no other way to connect myself to the characters in older literature, I use this method to help me understand exactly what the people in the novels are feeling about certain decisions.