Cordelia is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragic play King Lear.

The oldest source in print was Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136).

Her father Lear exiles her as a response to her honesty when he asks for professions of love from his three daughters to determine how to divide the lands of his kingdom between them.

Cordelia's sisters, Goneril and Regan, give deceitfully lavish speeches professing their love, flattering his vanity.

The Duke of Burgundy withdraws his suit upon hearing that she's been disinherited, but King of France was impressed by her honesty and agrees to marry her.

Cordelia returns at the end of the play with the intentions of helping Lear, ultimately reversing her role as daughter to that of mother.

In Nahum Tate's revision The History of King Lear (1681), which replaced Shakespeare's original version on stage for decades, the King of France is not mentioned, and Cordelia marries Edgar and becomes ruler of the kingdom.