King Lear: Q. 1

Act 1
Question 1:
Identify with Edmund. What do you know about family dynamics and parents’ treatment of children that might make him act the way he does? What is there to respect about him? Why do you think Gloucester treats him the way he does? Is there any modern day equivalent to this?

Edmund is an interesting character in King Lear. He is apart of the Gloucester family, who is going through an internal conflict of what it means to love and trust your family. Part of the family’s dynamic that greatly affects Edmund being a bastard son while his older sibling Edger is legitimate.

Depending on how the first scene is interpreted - or rather, staged – the audience identifies with Edmund differently by how his relationship with his father is portrayed. For example in a conversation about Edmund, Gloucester reveals to Kent that while his relationship with Edmund’s mother was very enjoyable, he is embarrassed of Edmund. Edmund either hears this and most likely won’t like his father, or he is called over half way between and his relationship with his father is clearly different.

In the second scene, Edmund’s true character is revealed by his actions. He has a bit of an obsession with being the illegitimate son and knows when Gloucester dies, Edger is going to inherit all of his father’s land. In order to prevent this and for Edmund to get anything, Edger has to die.

I don’t view Edmund as a respectable character. He tries to play the ‘good’ son and that isn’t who he really is. He composes a letter supposedly from his brother Edger that says he wants to kill Gloucester in order to take over the Kingdom. It also says if Edmund helps he will be rewarded. Gloucester now trusts Edmund and thinks Edger is the ‘bad’ guy, which is what Edmund wants.

The reality is just the opposite though. Edmund tells Gloucester not to question Edger and says Edger wrote it to test Edmund. He makes it look like he is defending Edger, when in reality he is trying to destroy him. Edmund tells Gloucester he’ll talk to Edger and Gloucester can ease drop. This creates a large rift between the family.