King Lear Group

Question:

choice37
choice37
Student
High School - 12th Grade

Why is the disguise of a Bedlam beggar the safest one for Edgar in King Lear, Act 2, Scene 3.

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Posted by choice37 on Thursday October 1, 2009 at 5:34 PM and tagged with act 2, act 2 scene 3, bedlam, beggar, disguise, edgar, king lear.

Answers:


  1. kc4u Teacher
    College - Senior

    eNotes Editor

    In Act 2 Scene 3 of King Lear, Edgar portrays himself as "poor Tom," a Bedlam beggar. Covering his face with filth, turning his hair into knots, and hiding his nakedness behind a blanket, Edgar thus assumes a safe disguise. Edgar was being hunted by his unlawful brother, Edmund, and the disguise of a Bedlamite would have given him a chance to escape the law as well as the conspiratorial Edmund. The Bethelhem Hospital was a notorious mad-house whose inmates were called the Bedlams, and these beggars used to roam about in Shakespeare's London. Dressed as a mad man begging and speaking nonsense, Edgar thought that he would be able to protect hiself from Edmund and the law conpiratorially invoked by Edmund.

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    Posted by kc4u on Friday October 2, 2009 at 5:18 AM