Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth.

I love your Majesty According to my bond, no more nor less.

The quoted lines have been extracted from Act 1 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare ‘s tragedy king Lear which is the supreme
unique drama not only for its hero's being an old-aged man ,but also for its artistic unification of virtuous and wicked forces
through the entire action-line of the play.

The quoted lines have been uttered by Cordelia when her father,king Lear asks her to give an account of how much she loves
him.King Lear has decided to equally divide his kingdom among his three daughters-Goneril,Regan and Cordelia and for this, he
asks his daughters to present the intensity of their love toward him. Unlike Goneril and Regan, Cordelia surprisingly states that
she does not have anything to say or prove.Hearing this surprised remark Lear resentfully mentions that nothing will come of
nothing.In reply to this Cordelia utters the quoted lines to portray that she loves her father according to her“bond”.Though
Cordelia loves her father more than her two sisters but she fails to“heave”her heart into her mouth,as her integrity prevents her
from making a false declaration in order to gain his wealth.  

The stubborn Lear encounters an equally stubborn Cordelia,as her integrity and pride stop her from taking part in the narcissistic
Lear’s love test in which his daughters must flatter him to gain his wealth.Using a metaphor she says that she cannot express the
feelings of her heart through her mouth She tells him that she loves him as a daughter should love a father and her king, no
more and no less.The"bond"she refers to is the relationship within a family, and also the one between kings and their
subjects.Her response is in keeping with Elizabethan social norms,which expect a daughter to love her father because that is the
law of nature.It is important to note that her two sisters’ words to their father portray even their willingness of surrendering
themselves physically to their father in order to gain property.Cordelia is not like them instead she thinks this portrayal of love
to be insulting for her as feelings can never to sketched through words.

Cordelia´s few brusque syllables give no evidence of affection; they just provide formal information. She understands that her
cold words will cause her father pain but she ignores his feelings. She deliberately wants to annoy him as she has a grudge
against him; she cannot come to terms with the love test which to her is an insult. Why should she,his favourite, be subjected to
a public examination? Her firm belief is that her father already knows that she loves him,so she finds it offensive that he wants
to expose her to this censure.Rosenberg claims that “Cordelia’s troubled asides have minor dissonances in Lear´s
swelling,triumphant mood. He clearly expects a sigh, a laugh, a tear, a gush of love.Instead a shock of silence warns of
threatening dominant”.

The opening scene shows her rebelliousness when she refuses to talk despite the king´s urgent request, but she can never be
accused of dishonesty. She is very realistic in her expression which indirectly expose the exaggeration and hypocrisy displayed by
her sisters.But her father misunderstands her considering her ungrateful and cruel,and consequenly,punishes her.She is
compelled to tell the truth whether it hurts or not.