What About the Suitors?

Burgundy and France stand on either side of Cordelia in the first scene, vying silently for possession of her and all her soon-to-be-bequeathed lands. In the staging I mentioned before, they would all be downstage centre, and thus very much in focus. Since the audience must form an opinion of them quickly (and amidst much hullaballoo), they should be physically striking in some way that suggests their unsuitability.

And come to think of it, Cornwall and Albany ought to look a little off as well. I don't mean ugly, necessarily--but maybe a bit too old for their respective partners. Albany might come across as a bit dim to start with. All of this needs to add up to the message that Lear doesn't match his daughters up with the suitors they'd prefer. It makes Cordelia's resistance more believable.

I include France in this, even though he turns around and charms the pants off Cordelia anyhow. It's the first of many occasions in the play where appearance and reality collide. We should be put off by France and Albany at first, just as we should be more than a little smitten with Edmund. Then outer layers start to drop away: France reveals that he's a sweet guy, and willing to court Cordelia despite her sudden lack of "value." And Albany, who strikes us as a bit vacuous, ends up becoming one of the strongest moral forces in the second half of the play. And Edmund...well, you know what happens to people who fall for Edmund's charms.