Goneril

Goneril

Facts:

• She is the oldest daughter of Queen Lear
• She is married to Duke of Albany 
• Has an affair with Edmund 
• Wants more of the kingdom 
• Jealous of Cordelia 
• Poisons her sister 
• Kills herself 

I believe that a Goneril is a very complex character when people watch king Lear or read it Goneril is mainly describes as the evil sister but i feel like there is more to her and the reasons she does what she does. 

All her life she had to live with the fact that her mother will never love her as much as Cordelia, this had a big impact on her and how she became who she is. 

I believe that when Goneril was younger she tried to impress her mum just to get a little bit of attention but it never seemed to work, that is when she discovered that the only way to get her mothers attention was to be mean and horrible. Her and Queen Lear never really had a mother, daughter relationship she was never loved as she should be. 

I also think that is why she had a lot of problems in her relationships, especially with Albany it was clear he loved her more than she loved him, this is because Goneril has never actually experienced love to know what it feels like. 

Why does Goneril kill herself:

I feel like Goneril kills herself because she has nothing to live for anymore, She's killed her sister and she knows her mother will never forgive her for all the things shes done. In addition to that I believe that Goneril didn't really think through the actions she was doing and eventually everything caught up to her, all the guilt just consumed her. She lost everything and everyone she ever had, i don't think she wanted to live with the guilt.