A sovereign shame so elbows him – his own unkindness,
That stripped her from his benediction, turned her
To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights
To his dog-hearted daughters – these things sting
His mind so venomously that burning shame
Detains him from Cordelia.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 4, Scene 3. Kent speaks of Lear’s guilt and shame over his unkindness to Cordelia, disowning her and giving her rightful inheritance to her two cruel sisters Regan and Goneril. Kent uses an apt animal metaphor – "dog-hearted" – to describe the inhumanity of the two sisters. Lear is burning with so much shame that he refuses to see Cordelia in Dover, Kent says.