Edmund In Julius Caesar Essay

This quote is additionally critical as it shows the extent he is will go to not be viewed as an illegitimate child and inconsequential. Which shows that Edmund fears the thought of conforming to his insignificant title and demonstrates his actual insatiable, remorseless and manipulative

What begins as a simple plan to get all of his father's inheritance, becomes more and more complicated as Edmund becomes progressively greedier.  When Edmund encounters Edgar in the first scene of Act II, Edmund makes Edgar leave and then injures himself so that he can tell his father that he was injured by his bloodthirsty brother.  His blatant cunning becomes extremely obvious in a short exchange between himself and his father.  Gloucester, after Edmund decided that "some blood drawn on me would beget opinion of my more fierce endeavor" (2.1.33-34), asks Edmund "But where is [Edgar]?" (2.1.40).  Rather than answering how one might expect, Edmund chooses to focus attention on the made-up battle and his injury, and therefore responds, "Look sir, I bleed" (2.1.41).  This answer continues to demonstrate to the audience the amount of avarice that fills and continues to grow within Edmund.

The name Julius Caesar makes people think of a lot of things. A kind and honest leader, “the unconquerable god”, leader of Rome, the man who was brutally stabbed and murdered. The name is fairly recognizable; Julius Caesar was one of Rome’s greatest leaders and also one of the world's greatest plays. In the play and in real life, he was great and kind to all citizens of Rome, either poor or rich. When Julius Caesar died, it was one of the most iconic deaths of all time and would be remembered for the ages to come. Though this begs the question, what are the differences from what happened in David White’s article, to the famous Shakespeare play? Is Caesar killed in the same manner, do they follow the same timeline, can we safely call the Shakespeare play creditable?

Hobbes’ description of this restless desire for power proves to be consistent with the actions that Regan and, especially, Goneril take throughout the play. Not satisfied with only the power that comes along with ruling a sector of the kingdom, Regan and Goneril each seek to win the heart of Edmund, the bastard of Gloucester who is granted the title of Earl of Gloucester following his betrayal of his father to Regan’s husband, the Duke of Cornwall. The desire to take Edmund’s hand in marriage, thereby claiming a stake in the land that Edmund governs, resulted from Edmund’s seduction of each of the two sisters as part of his own plot to eventually claim the entire kingdom of Britain for himself. Thus, a parallel occurs throughout the play as Goneril, Regan, and Edmund each seek the aggrandizement of their own power, as Hobbes claimed all humans desire, creating a twisted triangle of seduction and betrayal.

Starting the play with the revelation of Edmund’s plans to see his half brother and father’s downfall, we receive an image of a father who cares only for pure bloods of higher class per say. One can conclude that this man is obviously high class and stereo typically favors the older, direct bloodline son, nevertheless, we can’t take a rash conclusion so fast. Thus, we wait for the plot to develop and let us glance into the true selves of the characters further. We come to the knowledge that Lord Gloucester realizes he values his ties with the king to a great extent, him risking and losing his title as lord due to aiding King Lear. Afterwards, we see him come to appreciation of virtues of honesty and his sons after he is captured by the Duke, losing his eyes as punishment. Gloucester as a character has developed greatly, going forth through challenges and misdemeanors against his pride and being, ending disgraced and blind. Yet, he holds a calm sense to himself, valuing what he has left and becoming more than humble with others. This is a transformation worthy of Shakespeare himself, rather impressive at the very least. This man has lived through the betrayal of his bastard child and being blinded violently for helping a distressed king, he has sacrificed much with spiritual values in return. Astounding that he didn’t suicide out of pure remorse that he will never be able to witness the world again. Unfortunately, he does die of a mixture of happiness and shock when he is revealed that Edgar still breathes life, so he has that going for

Upon hearing this, Edmund presents himself as sympathetic and supportive towards Gloucester. After his father leaves, Edmund reveals to the reader his true intentions of betraying his father and taking his title. This abrupt transformation of attitude and objective is part of the theme of “Appearance vs Reality.” Although he appears to be loyal and innocent to Gloucester, the reality is that he is planning to overthrow Gloucester and is apathetic towards his

The power that makes Edmund corrupt is trust. He uses the trust to manipulate and control his father for the benefit of himself. He frames his brother by composing a false letter to his father implicating a plot to kill Gloucester, that when “our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue forever.” (1, 2, 55-56) Gloucester replies with “this villain of mine comes under the prediction of mine: there’s son against father” (1, 2, 112-117) This shows that Gloucester had great faith and trust in his son Edgar. To better his plan he goes to Edgar and convinces him to run away. The thought that he would frame his own brother for the chance to gain power shows his corruption, and that he will do anything to have more power. Edmund writes another letter, except this implicates his father in a plot with France to kill The Duke of Cornwall. He does this so that “the younger rises [and] the old doth fall” (3, 4, 25) and he will become the Earl. Edmund is so corrupted and blinded by his quest for power that he is willing to jeopardize his father’s

In Act 1 Scene 1 of ‘King Lear’, Gloucester first introduced Edmund to the audience as “the bastard” and also admits that he “so often blushed to acknowledge him that now [he] is brazed to it”, indicating the embarrassment that accompanies having a bastard as a son. In addition, “this knave came something saucily into the world he was sent for”, meaning that his did not have the right to bear any power or authority from the beginning of his life due to the fact that he was conceived by a prostitute. Although he did not have the right to be powerful nor authoritative, he was ambitious and devious; Shakespeare uses him as an example to show his audience how power can be obtained through manipulation without the help of having authority. Through Edmund’s soliloquy, he expresses his dissatisfaction with this low, “base” status as a bastard, whereby “base indicates the concept of degree. The repetition of the noun and the

Shakespeare enlists speech, rhythm and repetition to create a portrait of the character of Edmund in Act 1 Scene 2 of King Lear. Shakespeare uses the character of Edmund to establish an opposition between the natural and social order. Edmund is resentful of his status as a bastard, and as a result seeks to assert his natural primacy over society by establishing an allegiance with nature. He rejects any order sanctioned by society. Edmund knows and embraces his own identity; he never questions himself, only society.

Unlike King Lear, Edmund has no power at the beginning of the play. Being Gloucester’s youngest and illegitimate son he is not accepted by society or his father. Gloucester says in front of Edgar, “His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge / I have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am brazed to it” (1.1.8-9).  Edgar, Edmund’s older brother will inherit their father's wealth, land, and title. Knowing this Edmund’s hunger for power has probably grown through the years, giving him the motivation to act the way he did. In 1.2 Edmund tells the audience that he’s going to con

Much like Lear, Gloucester opens the play by shunning his role – that of a father. He embarrasses his illegitimate son, Edmund, when he says to Kent "I have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am brazed to ‘t" (1.1.10-11). He then goes on to minimize his affection for his legitimate son, Edgar, by saying that he ". . . is no dearer in my account" (1.1.20-21). A father has two choices regarding a child conceived through an affair; he can either deny the child’s existence or accept the child into his family as one of his own. Gloucester lamely attempts both with Edmund. In addition, his comment about Edgar send a mixed message regarding the son he considers his heir. In the Olivier version of this play, the stage direction has Edmund standing nearby while Gloucester converses with Kent. When Gloucester speaks the words in 1.1.10-11, he throws his arm around Edmund’s shoulder and laughingly taps him on the chest. The stage direction here works well because the

     As an example of one of the wholly evil characters in the play, we shall turn to the subplot of Edmund's betrayal of his father and brother.  Edmund has devised a scheme to discredit his brother, Edgar, in the eyes of their father, Gloucester.  Edmund is fully aware of the vileness of his own nature, and revels in it:

King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, has been known as the greatest, and most tragic, of Shakespeare’s plays. Social status plays a major role in the development of the play and even in Elizabethan/Jacobean England. King Lear could have been described as vain and foolish, a pathetic old man, incapable of controlling emotions, and rash in judgement. However, since he was established as King, people looked up to him regardless of his mental state. This is why as he grew older, he became insistent on maintaining social status. Edmund was Earl of Gloucester’s illegitimate son and Edgar was Gloucester’s legitimate heir. Because of Edmunds birth right, he was lower in social status than Edgar and didn’t receive the same treatment. He spent the entire play trying to climb up the social ladder. Social status is a rampant conflict throughout King Lear.

Edmund’s frustration at the treatment of illegitimate children was present from the start of the play, as he exclaimed: “Why ‘bastard’?/ [..] When my mind as generous and my shape as true / As honest madam’s issue?” (I ii 6-7). He considered himself an

Edmund, the illegitimate son, the bastard child, is the character in the play that has felt a loss of