Good versus evil is one of the most common motifs. Shakespeare’s work, however, explores the downfalls of both ‘pure good’ and ‘pure evil’ characters, insinuating that only characters who are flawed will survive, that people must lie to survive. The character Cordelia in Shakespeare’s King Lear furthers the idea that an honest person in a prideful world will destroy their relationships, leaving them with nothing but the truths and deceptions of those around them. Cordelia is the only character in King Lear who exhibits pure honesty. Her unwavering truthful nature, however, only serves to destroy her relationship with her proud father. Rather than indulging his pride, lying to him about the depth of her love for him, as her sisters had, she
