King Lear, Act I: Love and Consequence
Five days we do allot thee, for provision
To shield thee from disease of the world;
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom...
(Lear, 1.1.174-77)
But just as Cordelia's love for her father remains despite his rejection, so does Kent's allegiance. He will do what is necessary to help his king, even at the risk of his own life ("The moment is thy death. Away! by Jupiter,/ This shall not be revoked." Lear, 1.1.179-80). For his king, Kent disguises himself as a knight to offer his help, his counsel, one which had been so easily dismissed prior:
If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemned,
So may it come, thy master, whom thou lovest,
Shall find thee full of labors.
(Kent, 5-7)
For both Cordelia and Kent, their love proves true as it does not change even when confronted with Lear's harsh words and harsher actions. They remain loyal, though turned away. Their love does not protect them, but it does keep them strong within -- a strength needed to help them rise above the treatment they receive. In Cordelia's case, love also plays a role in her choosing a husband. While Burgundy's courtship of her was dependent on her dowry, France's was pursued out of genuine feeling, and his choice to stand up for her is all Cordelia needs to make her choice.
The third example of love in Act I is found in another parent/child relationship. Gloucester has two sons: the illegitimate Edmund and the legitimate heir, Edgar. In his attempt to usurp Edgar's place, Edmund sets about a plot to discredit his brother in the eyes of their father, and by doing so, free the family fortune for himself. To hurt Edgar most, Edmund decides to destroy the bond between father and son, and as was the case with Lear and Cordelia, the pain a parent experiences from feeling betrayed by a child seems to be the worst possible wound. And for a child who loves his/her parent, to be the cause of that pain is something that he or she would never wish:
This hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment.
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sounds
Reverb no hollowness.
(Kent, 1.1.151-4)
A credulous father, and a brother noble,
Whose nature is so far from doing harms,
That he suspects none; on whose foolish honesty
My practices ride easy!
(Edmund, 1.2.163-6)
The love Edgar holds
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