King Lear, Act I.1, lines 256-267

FRANCE
Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poor,
Most choice forsaken, and most loved despised,
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon.
Be it lawful I take up what's cast away.
Gods, gods! 'Tis strange that from their cold'st neglect
My love should kindle to inflamed respect.
Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance,
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France.
Not all the dukes of wat'rish Burgundy
Can buy this unprized precious maid of me.
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind.
Thou losest here, a better where to find.

Earlier in this scene, Lear virtually disowns Cordelia and both objectifies and commodifies her. This is evident when he tells Burgundy, "But now her price is fallen" (202). Burgundy likewise sees Cordelia not as a potential partner but as a commodity when he requests that Lear "Give but that portion which yourself proposed" (47).

In contrast, this quote by France demonstrates his love for Cordelia and his absence of desire for selfish economic gain. France heavily uses the pairing of opposite words and phrases to convey this. By stating that Cordelia "art most rich being poor," France notes that Cordelia will profit by gaining his genuine love, despite being monetarily poor from being disowned by her father. In contrast, if she had married Burgundy, she would have been poor in terms of both money and love. France describes her as "most loved despised." By drawing attention to Lear's lack of love for his daughter, France is able to highlight his own love for Cordelia. Similarly, he contrasts Lear's "cold'st neglect" for Cordelia to his own "inflamed respect" for her, to further emphasize his ability to love her without regard for how little she is valued by others. Finally, France states to Cordelia, "thou losest here, a better where to find" (13). This emphasizes that while Cordelia has lost her relationship with her father, and the opportunity to marry Burgundy, she is still gaining a new life with France. By stating that Cordelia is both losing and gaining in her life, he counteracts upon King Lear's earlier description of Cordelia as an object and humanizes her as one who can possess love.