Once upon a time, there was a king in England. He had three daughters. One day, he made up his mind to divide his kingdom among them. So he called them in the court and asked each of them how much they loved him. The king decided to give the largest bounty to the one who loved him most. So the king asked for his daughters’ expression of love and affection for him. At first, Lear asked his eldest daughter, Goneril. Goneril declared that she loved him more than she could say. The king was satisfied. He called for the map of his kingdom and drew his finger round one-third of it. Then the king asked his second daughter, Regan. Regan replied that her love for him would never end and change. Lear was very pleased and gave her another one-third of his kingdom. Then it was the turn of Cordelia, his youngest daughter. The king loved her the most. So he expected that she would express her affection and love for him much more than her elder daughters. With great hope, the king asked his dearest daughter. But Cordelia spoke the truth. She did not flatter her father like her other sisters.
At this, the king grew angry and he disinherited Cordelia and also banished her from his kingdom. Among the suitors, the prince of France married Lear’s dowerless daughter, Cordelia. Then the king divided the kingdom between the two daughters and decided to pass the rest of his life with his two daughters by turn. But later on, both Goneril and Regan betrayed their father and drove him away. The king became a helpless beggar. He suffered a lot. He became mad out of sorrows.
At last Cordelia came forward with the French army to rescue his father and they got reunited. Though both of them died, later on, the king realized that he had made a mistake in identifying the true daughter.
