have a thankless child This line shows her cruelty Goneril s ambition and greed destroy her family She also becomes jealous of her sister for Edmund s love Her end is tragic She kills herself after poisoning Regan Regan The Image of Cold Cruelty Regan is very similar to Goneril She also flatters Lear and says I am made of that self mettle as my sister Her words prove true She is hard and pitiless Together with her husband she blinds Gloucester and mocks his pain Regan s heartless behavior shows her evil nature She later competes with Goneril for Edmund s love Goneril poisons her out of jealousy Thus Regan s false love and cruelty bring her own destruction Cordelia Symbol of Truth and Love Cordelia the youngest daughter is pure honest and loyal When her father asks her to speak of her love she answers I love your Majesty According to my bond no more nor less Her words show that she cannot flatter falsely Her silence comes from truth not pride Lear misunderstands her honesty and banishes her in anger Yet Cordelia forgives him and later returns with love and compassion to save him Even in death she remains noble and kind Cordelia represents purity sacrifice and moral beauty She is the soul of truth in a world of falsehood Contrast of Evil and Good The three sisters stand as two sides of humanity Goneril and Regan represent greed and wickedness Cordelia represents goodness and loyalty The evil sisters use their father for gain and then betray him Cordelia though punished remains true to her values The conflict between falsehood and truth makes the play powerful The deaths of Goneril and Regan show the fall of evil while Cordelia s death brings moral sadness Their contrast teaches that goodness may suffer but never loses dignity Role in Lear s Tragic Journey The three daughters shape Lear s path from pride to wisdom Goneril and Regan cause his pain and madness Cordelia gives him peace and forgiveness before death Through their actions Lear learns the meaning of love and humanity His cry Howl howl howl howl over Cordelia s body shows his deep sorrow and awakening The daughters good and evil together make Lear s fall tragic and meaningful In termination the three daughters of Lear represent three kinds of love false cruel and true Goneril and Regan bring destruction while Cordelia brings grace Their contrast gives King Lear moral beauty and emotional depth Shakespeare uses them to show that real love lives in truth not in words and that false love always destroys itself