A wretch whom Nature is ashamed
Almost t’ acknowledge hers.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1. Lear says this about daughter Cordelia to Burgundy, one of the suitors for Cordelia’s hand in marriage. He condemns what he sees as her unnaturalness. He fails to recognize her worthiness due to his blindness and closed mind. But it is really Lear who is upsetting the natural order by rejecting his child and falsely calling her a wretch that nature is ashamed of.