In Shakespeare's sources, the character Cornelia (Shakespeare's Cordelia) lives to become queen. Productions in the 18th and 19th centuries also gave the play a happy ending, keeping the major characters alive and staging a marriage between Cordelia and Edgar. Why do you think Shakespeare changed his sources? How does Shakespeare's ending affect your understanding of the play as a whole and/or the major characters? What did you think about it? What might a different type of ending gain or lose?