King Lear Group

Question:


banquo
Student

Does Edmund have legitimate cause for complaint?

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Posted by banquo on Friday January 26, 2007 at 3:03 PM and tagged with characters, king lear, lear.

Answers:

  1. kathleendeshotel
    kathleendeshotel Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    Absolutely, he has cause for complaint. Even at the outset of the play, Gloucester says that he has become accustomed to the embarrassment of the bastard, the whoreson whose mother grew round wombed ere she had a husband. "Do you smell a fault?" And, Edmund is even introduced as The Bastard rather than as Edmund, son of Gloucester. No doubt, this grates on his nerves and his emotional stability. Perhaps this would be less noxious to Edmund were it not for the fact that he has a brother so close in age who got all the attention and the good life as the son of an Earl. The fact that Edgar was a good person, who earned his father's love and everyone else's respect, did not make Edmund feel any better about his bastard status; it probably made him feel even more dejected and unloved. Yes, Edmund becomes evil, but his father has lost sight of goodness long before Cornwall gouges out his eyes. Lack of sight is a main theme of this play. Gloucester could not see his legitimate son's goodness and allows himself to be tricked by Edmund, and he also lacks the sight to "see feelingly" how his illegitimate son would suffer by his inconsiderate behavior. It is expected that in the course of the play he would first align himself with the base Cornwall then with Lear's less preferred sisters, who like him plan to push out their father and take everything for their own. All three end up married and in death, two fathers without sight have destroyed their children and pay the price.

    Sources:
    http://criticsandbuilders.typepad.com/collegeenglish10/20...
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear
    http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/06-2/gilbedm.htm
    http://www.bemyastrologer.com/ursamajor.html

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    Posted by kathleendeshotel on Thursday February 22, 2007 at 12:54 PM

  2. revolution
    revolution Teacher
    Doctorate

    Yes, he has some cause of complaint. Despite being a bastard and even more villainous than the king's other unfaithful daughters, Shakespeare give him a lot of evil and horrible tasks to do that the genuine of the complaint against Gloucester is neglected despite the senseless undermining of him against his own character

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    Posted by revolution on Saturday July 25, 2009 at 9:53 PM