ABSTRACT
Freud's idiosyncratic interpretation of the three caskets in The Merchant of Venice concludes with his thoughts about Lear and Cordelia—Cordelia, the Goddess of Death. All sorts of losses are presented in the play: a loss of kingdom; a voluntary divesting of authority, power and privilege; an involuntary divesting of subjects' love and love of children; ultimately an involuntary divesting of sense, sensibility and sanity. The power of the role is undiminished, even if the faculties of the person himself are. The graceful departure is, of course, not unknown, but there are other interesting examples, both in family and in business life, where the senior member cannot retire gracefully, and hovers like a ghost over those to whom the reins of power and authority have supposedly been given. Lear illustrates a number of important psychodynamic themes, both in the family and in organizations.
