William Shakespeare 's King Lear

In King Lear, the characters deceive one another constantly. Most of them deliberately misrepresent themselves, but others are naturally difficult to understand. Some are trying to gain power while others are protecting themselves. There is an extreme contrast between reality and what each character appears to be to the other characters. This quality about the characters fuels the plot, bringing it to its ultimate end.

Every good story has a hero and a villain. The villain is usually considered to be evil and have evil intentions, but often has good hidden somewhere deep inside them. This is definitely the case for the character of Edmund in Shakespeare’s play “King Lear.” Edmund betrays and deceives both his brother Edgar and his father Gloucester in order to achieve wealth and power. While his actions are corrupt and wrong, he should not be considered as entirely evil. His personality and his social status are contributing factors to his villainous actions. Throughout the play, Edmund never actually accused others of anything; instead, he planted false ideas in others and guided them towards making the accusations themselves. Also, Edmund’s attempt to save Lear and Cordelia as he is dying shows that he has some good and is not completely evil.

Shakespeare's good characters, in the play King Lear, are considered good because they are loyal even when they are disguised from or unrecognizable by those to whom they owe loyalty. In addition, their loyalty does not waver even when they are banished or mistreated by those to whom they are loyal. Cordelia, Edgar and Kent are all characters that exemplify this goodness and unwavering loyalty.

Of the deaths in Shakespeare’s King Lear, the death of Cordelia and King Lear at the end of Act V are most significant in revealing the development of Lear and how his development contributes to the theme surrounding it. The dynamic King Lear is a tragic hero whose fatal flaw, arrogance, prompts his removal from power and eventually the death of both himself and Cordelia. However, by the time of King Lear’s death, his arrogance has been replaced with a compassion which allows him to mourn the death of Cordelia and die from his own grief. Besides redeeming himself for his flawed judgement, the compassionate King Lear of Act V recognizes the loyalty in characters like Kent and Cordelia, while also seeing through the dishonesty of Regan and Goneril which fools the King Lear of Act I. King Lear’s transition from disowning Cordelia because of his arrogance to recognizing her as his only faithful daughter is demonstrated through Lear’s death, which serves as the culmination of his development and a reversal of his character. Furthermore, his death elaborates the theme of how someone’s arrogance may blind them from the reality of others’ intentions, which can be seen through a more compassionate and humble lens.

There is such an incredible amount of killing, violence, and deceit in King Lear by many characters that it is difficult to choose the most evil character. The most evil character may deceive one into thinking she is less evil than she is, but upon closer inspection it is quite clear that the most evil character is Goneril. Nevertheless, some may think Edmund, Cromwell, or Regan are the worst, but for a variety of reasons Goneril surpasses their evil. First of all, how does one define evil? Anything highly immoral is evil. In terms of the play King Lear, the most common form of evil is deceit and cruelty.

“ No longer does she tempt him with empty promises, but instead treats him like a slave.” (Lewis page 91) Edmund no longer wishes to be a part of her plan or on her side. Still being selfish Edmund is only concerned with the well being of himself. He just wants to get out of the sticky situation he is in. However he is no longer has intent on being evil but has not yet decided to be good. “Everything he had said to make himself believe that her side was really the right side sounded silly now” (Lewis page 110). His unconcern for others is changed when he sees the Witch turn a small group of animals into stone. He yells for the Witch to stop and the narrator says, “And Edmund, for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone else.”

Edmund considers himself an intrusion within Gloucester’s family, with no true placement, as his father continuously refers to him as a bastard, confirming his inability to inherit what Edgar can. Edmund decides, “Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit;/ All with me’s meet that I can fashion to fit” (1.2.180-181). He desires the recognition denied to him by his status as a bastard, causing him to wonder “why bastard? Wherefore base?” (1.2.5) He is required to accept the conventional laws that refrain him from his rights, due to his illegitimacy. Despite his lower status, he believes to be above all others within the kingdom, as he is a product of the most powerful emotion-love, rather than those produced of duty “within a dull, stale, tired bed” (1.2.13), such as Edgar. Edmund is the only character within this play to envision himself as a victim as well as a villain when he states, "Now, God’s, stand up for the bastards…as if we were villains of necessity” (1.2.22, 2.1.121-122). Edmund’s accumulation of anger and neglect drives his ambition to prove to himself, his father, and the Kingdom that he can be as good

Day one of our discussion brought up the catharsis in King Lear (#4). I agreed that with Gloucester’s death there was not so much catharsis as there was sympathy and happiness. As readers, I think we were happier to see Gloucester put out of his misery “Pluck out his poor eyes” (3.7.58) and relieved at the fact that he died “smilingly” (5.3.201). I agreed that we readers were happy about Edgar’s ending since he had so much bad fortune throughout the play he deserved a break, which came in the form of him inheriting power. I thought Joe’s comment was interesting in pointing out that both Edgar and Kent were at the bottom of the wheel at the start of the play with Kent banished “Out of my sight” (1.1.157) by Lear simply

Shakespeare 's King Lear is a play that follows Lear, the aging king of Britain, as he decides to step down from the throne and divide his kingdom evenly among his three daughters. Lear and a handful of other characters encounter many obstacles throughout the story. This play highlights human nature at its highest and lowest. Characters such as Edmund, Regan, and Goneril illustrate the ugliness and horror of man’s persona. While characters such as Cordelia, Edgar, and Kent show the noble, heroic, and moral nature of man.

Edmund is a manipulative bastard in both senses of the word and he knows that deciding to save Lear and Cordelia is contradictory to his personality (“Despite of my own nature,” 24.243). However, Edmund’s devious nature did not come from nowhere. Right from scene 1, the Earl of Gloucester reluctantly introduces Edmund as his “whoreson” (1.22), stressing on Edmund’s illegitimacy. Edmund, in response, takes the verbal abuse in silence, with his only retaliation to remove his legitimate foil Edgar by a plan he devises in 2.1-21. In the same soliloquy, Edmund reveals the Machiavellian motive; to have the birthright of the legitimate son and their “father’s love” (2.17). In other words, Edmund craves for both love and legitimacy, albeit his twisted

A good person is often referred to as an individual whom displays morality, kindness, and faithfulness. On the other hand, a villain is a concoction of evil, selfishness, and carelessness. Within Shakespearean tragedies, the good and evil in humanity is difficult to differentiate. As a series of events results Lear’s current conception of his peers to be altered, he struggles to separate the good and evil within his world. Throughout King Lear, Shakespeare illustrates the pattern of Lear’s archetypal fall from innocence as Lear attempts to differentiate the “good” and “evil” existing in mankind as Lear is betrayed by his family, discovers loyalty within his unusual friends, and reflects on his actions.

King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this

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

Shakespeare’s King Lear questions the inherent nature of human nature: is it good or bad? Shakespeare argues that human nature, or general characteristics considered to be shared by all humans, is driven by love, secrecy, betrayal, and ignorance. Therefore, Lear’s story maintains that human nature is evil and when one does do good it is often only because of a realization of the malice of his or her human nature. Although there are a few purely good characters in Lear, they end up being overcome by evil - by unjust banishment or violent death - and while in the end, order restores itself, good has to first accept defeat by evil. Shakespeare uses the power and control of his villains to stress the malevolence of human nature.

While King Lear is punished for rewarding deception, Edmund sustains consequences within the play by actually being deceptive and greedy within his quest for land, wealth, and power. At the beginning of the play, Edmund sided with nature in opposition to his man-made title of being a bastard. Since everyone is considered equal when perceived by nature, Edmund felt as if his title shouldn’t inhibit him from inheriting some of his father’s land and wealth. Yet, he abandoned this argument, and instead was drawn to gaining wealth and power through schemes and deception. For instance, knowing that his father had gone to help Lear who is considered a traitor, Edmund utilized this opportunity and deviously stated “If I find him comforting the King, it / will stuff his suspicion more fully.-I will persevere / in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore / between that and my blood (III vi 21-24).” Edmund, lured to the riches and land he would obtain, betrayed his father, and therefore his family. Much like King Lear, Edmund disregarded the natural bond he had with Gloucester for the idealization of the potential luxuries he could acquire by calling him a traitor. He also exhibited this greedy behavior earlier in the play when he performed similar acts of treachery on his brother. Due to his deceptive nature, and disloyalty to the natural relationships he has with his family, Edmund increasingly deserved the severe punishment he received at the end of the story.