Terms: Wheel of Fortune
Edmund. Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base? When my dimensions are as well compact, My mind as generous, and my shape as true, As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base? Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take More composition and fierce quality Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed, Go to th' creating a whole tribe of fops Got 'tween asleep and wake? Well then, Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund As to th' legitimate. Fine word- 'legitimate'! Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top th' legitimate. I grow; I prosper. Now, gods, stand up for bastards!
This quotation (1.2.16-22) is that Edmund speak to himself. In this soliloquy, Edmund asks nature why the social customs deprive his rights simply because he is not his father’s legitimate children, like his brother Edgar, who stands to inherit their father’s estate. Edmund’s monologue reveals his plan to undermine his brother’s position by tricking his father with a forged letter, which he presents to Gloucester.
Edmund is a bastard, and is located at the bottom of the wheel of fortune. His legitimate brother, Edgar, is sitting on top of the wheel. With the forged letter and his plan, he will make the wheel turning and let him move up and bring Edgar down.
Plot development: This is the shift of the play’s focus to Gloucester and Edmund, which parallels between this subplot and Lear’s familial difficulties. Edmund will make Gloucester believe him that Edgar will murder his father and share half of his revenue with Edmund. This is the beginning of another tragedy. Gloucester will betray his older legitimate son and will be betrayed by his younger illegitimate son.
Character development: This soliloquy shows that Edmund is an intelligent opportunist with disloyalty to his father and brother.
Terms: Wheel of Fortune
Edmund. How malicious is my fortune that I must repent to be just! This is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France. O heavens! That this treason were not- or not I the detector!
This quotation (3.5.7-11) is that Edmund speaks to Cornwall. In this conversation, Edmund betrays his father and obtains Cornwall’s approval by releasing the letter from his father, which shows the details of France’s plan to aid the king Lear. Also this lets Cornwall see Gloucester’s action as treasonous.
After using the forged letter and other plans, Edmund promotes himself up from the bottom point of the wheel of fortune. By showing the letter to Cornwall and betraying his father, Edmund will mount himself on top of the wheel.
Plot development: Gloucester and Lear are both victims of two men – Edmund and Cornwall. Edmund makes excuses for betraying his father with the loyalty for his country. Cornwall appoints Edmund the Earl of Gloucester and asks him to find and arrest Edmund’s father. This is the development of Gloucester’s tragedy.
Character development: This soliloquy shows that Edmund is an intelligent opportunist with disloyalty to his father.
Terms: Pathetic Fallacy
Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks! You sulph'rous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Strike flat the thick rotundity o' th' world, Crack Nature's moulds, all germains spill at once, That makes ingrateful man!
This quotation (3.2.1-9) is that Lear speaks to himself about the nature. In this quotation, a literary device, pathetic fallacy, is applied to assume the inanimate nature with human reactions, to amplify the tension of the characters’ struggles by elevating human forces to the level of natural forces. Lear associates himself with the storm and joints his cures with the noise of the thunder. Lear's emotions, feeling, intentions, and thoughts match the intensity of nature's turbulence as he is very angry with his daughters' abusive treatment. Lear wanders around in the wind, rain, and storm. As he calls upon the storm to free its anger on the world, he also cries out for the destruction of careless man.
Plot development: The chaos reflects the disorder in Lear’s increasingly crazed mind, and the language represents Lear’s angry and despair on the outside world. Also, this political chaos is mirrored in the natural world.
Character development: Lear is an angry man, with broken heart and crazy mind. Also it is the starting point of Lear’s madness.
Terms: Pathetic Fallacy
Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm Invades us to the skin. So 'tis to thee; But where the greater malady is fix'd, The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a bear; But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea, Thou'dst meet the bear i' th' mouth. When the mind's free, The body's delicate. The tempest in my mind Doth from my senses take all feeling else Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude! Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand For lifting food to't? But I will punish home! No, I will weep no more. In such a night 'To shut me out! Pour on; I will endure. In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril! Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all! O, that way madness lies; let me shun that! No more of that.
This is quotation (3.4.6-22) is that Lear speaks to Kent. In this quotation, a literary device, pathetic fallacy, is applied to assume the inanimate nature with human reactions, to amplify the tension of the characters’ struggles by elevating human forces to the level of natural forces. The storm powerfully symbolizes the chaos in Lear’s crazy mind and his suffering. Lear resists going inside the hovel, and says that his own mental anguish makes him hardly feel the storm. His speech demonstrates that part of his mind is still clear and that the symbolic connection between the storm outside and Lear’s own mental disturbance is significant.
Plot development: Lear is changing madness. The political chaos is aggravated.
Character development: Lear’s mental disintegration and madness.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Edmund always had a difficult relationship with his alcoholic mother, who forced him to live in the basement. She was wary of him that he might hurt his sisters…
- 2234 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
4. In this first scene of the play, how does Shakespeare establish the parallels between the stories of Lear and his daughters on the one hand and the story of Gloucester and his sons on the other hand?…
- 349 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Loyalty doesn't run in Edmund's blood. In Act 3 scene 3 Gloucester believes by telling Edmund he's been helping Lear is a good thing. The things he doesn't know is that Edmund is a "snake" and will tell Cornwall this information. The audience knows that Edmund is a "snake" but Gloucester is blind in the mind. When an opportunity is there for Edmund he grab this opportunity and betrayed his…
- 71 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Papa Edmund had some difficulties, in part because he, not being an eldest son himself, did not inherit the bulk of the Tavistock lease. He also seems to have gotten into some legal trouble, perhaps involving petty crimes. Additionally, there have long been rumors that protestant Edmund was the victim of some sort of religious persecution. In any event, when Francis Drake was still a young boy the family left Tavistock and moved to Kent, nearer the sea, where they lived in the hulk of an old ship and where Edmund made a bare living as a preacher to the sailors of the navy. So, young Francis now was living (and learning) among the ships and seamen that would become the focus of his life.…
- 656 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Edmund begins his journey as a greedy, self-entitled, deceiving bully. It is because of these terrible faults in his character that he is so easily swayed by the White Witch. By bribing him with Turkish Delight and a chance to become a king, something bigger and better than his highly successful and well-respected brother Peter could seemingly ever be, he betrays his…
- 481 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In this passage taken from King Lear by William Shakespeare, Edmund the illegitimate son of Gloucester and brother of Edgar, has clear rage for the stereotype he is placed under. Edgar, Gloucester’s legitimate son, will inherit all of his father’s land. By presenting the rage of Edmund Shakespeare carefully takes advantage of effective rhetorical devices in order to promote Edmund’s argument and further his stance on the issue. In this passage Shakespeare makes tactful use of repetition, and ponders multiple rhetorical questions in order to capture the extent of Edmund’s beliefs of jealousy and revenge.…
- 352 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Edgar saves Gloucester’s life and gives him hope to live. When Gloucester wants to commit suicide, Edgar leads him to what Gloucester believes is the edge of a cliff. Edgar’s response to Gloucester after he asks if he has fallen makes Gloucester believe he is saved from falling by some divine power: “From the dread summit of this chalky bourn … Therefore, thou happy father, think that the clearest gods, who make them honors of men’s impossibilities, have preserved thee” (IV.vi.71, 89-92). Edgar’s actions seem mad and cruel at first, but are then proven helpful for his father by making Gloucester believe he is pushed to attempt suicide by a fiend inside of him that failed by the hands of the gods: “That thing you speak of, I took it for a man. Often ‘twould say ‘the fiend, the fiend!’ He led me to that place” (IV.vi.95-97). Gloucester believes Edgar when he says that “some fiend … parted from [him]” (IV.vi.89,84) so he claims to have heard the fiend telling him to kill himself, therefore convincing himself that he wants to live on. Because Gloucester believes he actually attempted suicide and was saved, he has found a reason to live in that if the gods wish him alive, then surely there must be a valid reason for him to live on. In addition to some divine power wanting him to live, he also justifies living on by convincing himself that he only attempted suicide in the first place because he was pushed to do so by some evil creature with “a thousand noses…
- 369 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
How does Gloucester’s appearance at the hovel illustrate the parallel structure between the Lear-daughters plot and the Gloucester-sons subplot?…
- 1017 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Edmund feels a desire for the recognition denied to him by his status as a bastard.…
- 654 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
analysis: Edmund is devising a plan to make his father turn on the true heir of the land, Edgar.…
- 1723 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Edmund is the most Machiavellian character in "King Lear" for many reasons. Edmund was born as illegitimated son of Gloucester. He had elder brother named Edgar who was legitimated son of Gloucester and beloved suitable heir. Edmund shows his avarice, greed, and envy towards Edger. Edmund states soliloquy "Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law, ... now, gods, stand up for bastards."(I, ii, 1-22) This shows that he blame the nature that he never meant to born as an illegitimated, such as bastard son. He also decides that as concern everything think as a bastard, he will act as a bastard, the way of being Machiavellian as manipulating and taking advantage of others. Especially from the part of soliloquy, "legitimate Edgar, I must have your land." (I, ii, 16) He is showing his jealousy towards Edgar, and all that he has. Back in Shakespeare's time, land ownership was a form of wealth. Wealth equaled political power. Acquiring political power is a Machiavellian trait.…
- 937 Words
- 3 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Many characters can contribute to the events of a story in several ways. In the play, King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, several situations are presented which leads the audience to conclude that Edmund is a manipulative and deceitful character, whose actions contribute to the outcome of King Lear’s death. Edmunds plans to steal land and legitimacy by manipulating his father, Gloucester, and brother, Edgar, against each another, resulting in the need for Edgar to adopt a role as a crazed beggar. Also, Edmund betrays his father’s trust by revealing, to Cornwall, a letter that makes Gloucester accountable for treason, thus making Edmund promoted to the Earl of Gloucester. Lastly, Edmund promises his love to both Goneril and Reagan, which untimely leads them to their deaths. Through his misleading behaviour and his manipulation of other characters, Edmund has an intense influence on the outcome of many events in the play.…
- 1200 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
His diabolical plan is outs his brother as a criminal trying to kill their father. Edmunds cleverly not only betrays his brother but the father also. With Edgar on the run and disguised as a crazy beggar, Edmund sees a way to accelerate his plan and gain even more. Edgar learns of Edmund betrayal and lies that have gotten their father to believe that he was out to kill him, and Edmond has betrayed his father by turning him over as a trader.…
- 480 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
During Edmund’s rise to power, Edgar is forced into hiding, and his father is branded a traitor. Gloucester’s eyes are put out when he is caught by Regan and Cornwall, and dies later in the play, knowing what Edmund has done. It is Edmund who orders the death of Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter, and Lear. It is also because of him that Goneril and Regan are both dead, due to his promise of marriage to both of them causes them to fight over him, and ends up with Regan being poisoned, and Goneril committing suicide. Edmund’s power is short-lived, as he is defeated by Edgar shortly after taking the power for himself. Edmund realizes that what he has done is wrong, saying, “I pant for life. Some good I mean to do, / Despite of mine own nature” (5.3.280–81). In saying this, Edmund recognizes that the end results did not justify his actions, and that he wishes to repent for his wrongdoings. This is another example of how Albany’s quote comes into play, as when Edmund is “striving to better,” and become better than his brother, he made what was fine before into a tragedy.…
- 1499 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
When Kent and Gloucester enter, Kent asks if Edmund is Gloucester’s son, Gloucester responds affirmatively, however he mentions that Edmund is only his illegitimate son. Gloucester tone here is a cold and distant. This illustrates…
- 1862 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays