Cordelia's Growth as a Person

[nerd4hire]

To me Cordelia's life change from the shallow, self-involved Queen C, to the woman of large purpose is a result of the occurrences of To Shanshu in LA.

Cordy hands Angel the cup with the blood: "You too. (Angel looks up at her) Don't be embarrassed. We're family."
Angel accepts the cup. Cordy notices Wesley staring at her.
Cordy: "What?"
Wesley: "It's just I... - I'm not used to..."
Angel: "He is not used to the new you."
Cordy: "I know what's out there now. We have a lot of evil to fight, a lot of people to help. - I just hope skin and bones here can figure out what those lawyers raised *sometime* before the prophecy kicks in and - you croak. - That was the old me, wasn't it?"
Angel: "I like them both."

Am I wrong though. Was her evolution as a human being inevitable? Was it just helped along by the pain? Was TSILA only the beginning of the process? Was she beginning to grow before Shanshu. Was it something else responsible for her growth, or a series of something elses?

[What happened to good TV?]

I gotta disagree that 'Cordelia's life change from the shallow, self-involved Queen C, to the woman of large purpose is a result of the occurrences of To Shanshu in LA.' I think we saw change before, even in Buffy, and also the change wasn't permanant. There were times later in Angel when she was self involved queen C. I mean there were times in Buffy when she helped out the gang, even if she didn't amit she wanted to, or needed to, she helped. And I felt Buffy showed her fall from Queen C. From the moment she found out her growth began, when she dated Xander, when her and Xander broke up, her parents not paying there taxes...ever...and many other events throughout both of the shows her characters growth. I don't think it was a result of one thing, I think it was gradual throughout.

[Bored of the Dead]

See i'm gonna agree and disagree, but it will most certainly take forever to write this(maybe read too) cause i've gotta find episodes...so bear with me.

The Best, most simple way to do this is simply 'chart' Cordelias on-screen journey.

Let us start at the beginning, way way back nearly a decade(where has that time gone?) ago, when Miss Cordelia Chase first graced our screens.
In 'Welcome to the Hellmouth', we are introduced to a character, one of simple dimensions, that we shall call Cordelia 90210. Rich socialite with a gaggle of 'friends', emphasis on the more expensive things in life. She is quick witted, often bullying, rarely without a condecending comment towards those she deems inferior to all, this girl is pure 'Class'.
She has little time for plebs, because she is an 'It' girl of sorts, what she says, 'It' is 'law'.
However, this is called into question by the arrival of someone, someone who Cordelia initially takes under her wing as someone she could be seen with, but then drops faster than she'd drop an ounce after a Christmas of excess in Aspen. This is Buffy Summers.
Buffy and Cordy are opposites of each other.....or so we are lead to believe.
We know that in a past life, Buffy WAS Cordelia, that sans some Mythic Intervention Buffy would still be this girl, this woman. In the magnificent 'Out of Mind, Out of Sight', we see Buffy come to a certain realisation about Cordelia, which is exactly when we come to it too.
These two women are more alike than we knew.
They have a Burden of responsibility, one that they cannot pass to anyone else, one they must at the end of the day, bear alone.
One is Slaying and Fighting the Demon the Other is maintaining the Social Equilibrium, keeping the Order of things which help grease wheels of the societal norms so things run (as much as possible) smoothly.
By the end of this episode we are left with no doubt that there is more to Cordelia than meets the eye. She isn't just the selfish, money and status seeking girl we thought we knew.
By the End of Prophecy Girl we see this Cordelia erupt ever more to the screen.
She is in a relationship with someone and is losing some of the control she holds dear, giving into emotion, to feeling. She feels she should be annoyed that she isn't actually annoyed at behaviour shown. However, something truly terrible happens to this relationship that puts on hold this burgeoning evolution and, with the exception of the helping at the Library of PG, next we see of Cordelia she is pretty much the girl we first met.....except a little more adult. In 'When She was Bad' we get to see Cordelia give Buffy, who is now playing a party girl(Faith?), some sage advice, something we would not have seen pre-'OOM,OOS'. She doesn't stay like this for long, but long enough for us, the viewer, to see a positive shift in the way this girl is growing and expressing herself.
We have moments over the next few episodes of this differing Cordelia, but the biggest shock to come happens in the 'Whats my Line' double.
Shock Horror, Cordelia Chase kisses Xander Harris. He is everything she doesn't want in a man. He is poor, unpopular with her friends and dresses extremely bad, but she sees something in him. She sees that though he is ALL of these, he is also someone who 'fights' for his beliefs, for his friends and thanks to the demon stuff, for just about anyone.
She sees this because they are constantly put in these situations where Xander is forced to step up, even though he has very little chance of doing anything.
This then draws out another visible change in Cordelia. by the season 3 episode 'Anne', Cordelia is a fully fledged member of the Scoobies, a group by all rights she should avoid like the plague. She even enjoys to an extent the safety of this group, the fact she can be with them and not put on the 'Cordelia 90210' persona that she must don every day.
However, this is taken away from her because of the events in 'Lovers walk'.
The fact that Xander Harris, this guy she has sacrificed so much for, could betray her with someone she feels a certain superiority over in everyway she feels is still important to her, puts the new changing Cordelia on hold, reverting back to our original version.
This Cordelia stays with us for most of the rest of the season, until we learn that Daddy has lost everything. The one person Cordelia doesn't want to learn this, is the one person that does, Xander.
Even through everything these two have endured, the new bout of ridicule she has suffered and exacted on him even, he still holds her secret. He even does something honourable for her without need of some form of recompense.

Part One of the Cordelia Evolution over...Part Two coming soon;)...LOL(actually i'm just tired)

[Randy Giles]

Personally I don't think Cordelia was EVER simply a shallow, self-oriented bitch. Except maybe in the pilot because all of the characters were really stereotyped in that. But other than that, haven't we seen little moments throughout the episodes where she does seem to care? And also, it could've been because of her friends, after she starts hanging out with the Scooby gang she changes a lot. When she stops hanging out with them, I don't think she changed back to her old ways INSIDE, I think she just acted like that because she felt so betrayed and hurt by them.

But even though I liked Cordy's growth as a person, how can ANYONE resent the fact that throughout Buffy/Angel's runs that the Old Cordy would come out now and then?! The old Cordy is usually hilarious.

Cordelia is probably my favorite character. Not only is Charisma hot, but Cordy is funny, charming - even when she's acting like a bitch, sometimes sensitive and caring, sometimes clueless, sometimes smart...she was just so many things but always enjoyable. And she matured a LOT in Angel, while meanwhile over on Buffy, Buffy was becoming more and more UNLIKEABLE. I mean, I must be the ONLY one who got annoyed by Buffy's whining later on the show. But that's another topic.

[HeaTk]

im just gonna say
could it be any sweeter of angel to say "I like them both." ?!

[boreanaz]

I understand what you mean *big smiles* I didn't like her much in (BUFFY) although , I'm adoring her in (ANGEL) she's growing on me .

[Cloey]

Personally I don't think Cordelia was EVER simply a shallow, self-oriented bitch. Except maybe in the pilot because all of the characters were really stereotyped in that. But other than that, haven't we seen little moments throughout the episodes where she does seem to care? And also, it could've been because of her friends, after she starts hanging out with the Scooby gang she changes a lot. When she stops hanging out with them, I don't think she changed back to her old ways INSIDE, I think she just acted like that because she felt so betrayed and hurt by them.

But even though I liked Cordy's growth as a person, how can ANYONE resent the fact that throughout Buffy/Angel's runs that the Old Cordy would come out now and then?! The old Cordy is usually hilarious.


^Wow, I completely agree .. you took the words out of my mouth : popcorn:

[Nabila]

I believe that it was a series of events that led to Cordelia's growth. She started to change when she had a relationship with Xander. But she started to learn some humility during her reversal of fortune. It was quite surprising and admirable how Cordelia dealt with that without becoming bitter.

What happened to her in TSILA was, for me, the defining moment for her. After that horrible experience she could have just spent the rest of her life cursing her fate or cherish the visions as a gift. To her credit, she chose the latter. She finally understood the importance of the visions and embraced her destiny. She wouldn't give up the visions even when they eventually started slowly killing her.

[palabravampiress]

She grew up, that's all. How many of us can look back and say we're the same people we were in high school? Heck, how many of the scoobies can look back and say they're the same people they were when they first showed up in the Buffyverse?

I think Cordy's progression from Queen C to higher power girl made a lot of sense. It didn't bother me at all. She sort of had Buddha's experience. He was rich and privileged and protected. One day, he left the palace and saw all of the suffering in the world around him. He was really thrown for a loop. He was humbled. Something similar happened to Cordy. She was humbled. She was sort of thrown from the palace. She saw the suffering in the world and then she decided her purpose was to ease that suffering -- not in a Buddhist way, but still -- and then she became a higher power. It made sense to me. She grew up and became more concerned with the big issues and how she can help than with her highlights. Granted, she still liked her highlights and nails and all that stuff. Her priorities just shifted. That's all. I think that happens to all of us -- albeit to a lesser extent.

[Keanoite]

Personally I love Cordy! Every Cordy well when she is actually being Cordelia and not jasmine...I have issues with that storyline...anyway I would have been quite happy to watch bitchy Cordy for 7 or 8 seasons, whats not to love?? but I do think her maturing was inevitable, I can't remember the name of the ep now but its the one when she chooses to be part dmon, anyway when we saw her as a successful tv actress she wasn't a bitca or anything like that, infact sh was very sweet so I think she just grew up, I don't think TLADILA determined her progression as a character

[SliqueEvents]

I hated Cordelia after Season 2 of Angel...

[celestialarrow]

You know what alawys amazed me about cordy was in such a short time she evolved into a wonderful person all before the age of 23 which is when she died. I look back and wonder how could a person be soo sweet at such a young age. especially in season 3 she's 21 when she takes on so many challenges becoming part-demon, maternal duties, and a rizing relationship with a great guy(angel) all the while remaining an old school champ.

[eunsoma]

i think there were a few pivotal factors that changed Cordy, One being her family losing all the money.. after this, she had to live like everyone else - and I think that she began to see the world like everyone else. Two; working with Angel in LA, she began to see the pain people were suffering and felt the rewards being a champion could bring and Three; getting the visions. She was forced to feel the pain of the people Angel Inc. intended to save and she couldn't turn her back on this.. Of course, maturity had a lot to do with it.

[Xin Rong]

She grew up because she had to deal with some pretty bad stuff and decided to do something about it, thats why she'll always be my hero, for me she had the biggest and best transformation in both shows

[palabravampiress]

i think there were a few pivotal factors that changed Cordy, One being her family losing all the money.. after this, she had to live like everyone else - and I think that she began to see the world like everyone else. Two; working with Angel in LA, she began to see the pain people were suffering and felt the rewards being a champion could bring and Three; getting the visions. She was forced to feel the pain of the people Angel Inc. intended to save and she couldn't turn her back on this.. Of course, maturity had a lot to do with it.


Kinda like Buddha, huh?

I mean, according to myth, he grew up sheltered behind palace walls. Then he went out into the world and saw pain and suffering. That took him on a spiritual journey during which he became enlightened. He had the opportunity to return home, but he rejected it and chose his lineage as a Buddha over his lineage as a warrior prince. Similarly, Cordy lived a relatively sheltered life until poverty (hers not self-inflicted, as was the Buddha's) forced her into the real world. She saw suffering and, even though she had the chance to pursue her selfish and worldly desires, chose, instead, to ascend and become a champion of the PTBs.

Of course, then some PTW arranged to make her lose her memory and get her knocked up by Greek Tragedy Spawn and the analogy falls apart.

[Joyce Summers]

Of course, then some PTW arranged to make her lose her memory and get her knocked up by Greek Tragedy Spawn and the analogy falls apart.

Unless there's a part of the Buddha story that got edited out and so has never been told. Maybe Joss had inside info. Haha.

I am very impressed with your comparison of Cordy to Buddha though, even if the mental image is hilarious (I don't think Cor would be too happy with the comparison either! haha). I'd never ever looked at in that way before, or even thought to, but now you've put pen to paper over it so-to-speak it all fits. And needless to say, I totally agree.