Does Cordelia's simple "Nothing" bring an entire kingdom to ruin? From Cordelia's silence to the Fool's relentless wordplay, language itself becomes the medium through which Lear's authority, identity, and kingdom are gradually hollowed out. By: Coach Ken Introduction: Why does King Lear fly into a fit of rage when Cordelia answers his extortions of praise and love with nothing? What bearing, then, does language have upon Lear’s descent into nothingness and losses as the pla