Edmund is perhaps the most conniving and clever character in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Armed with the belief that the natural world is injustice, Edmund sets out to bring down the natural order and replace it with his own immorality, which he does not truly realize. In his plot to become the next heir and possible ruler of the kingdom, Edmund puts himself into a complex situation where he has professed love for both sisters, but also has commitments to his mission of eliminating Lear and Cordelia against the wish of Albany. Edmund has fully transformed the natural world so that he is now the one controlling the unnatural world.
In Edmund’s convoluted and exacting thought processes, he has planned out a fate for every single character. “To both …show more content…
(V, i, 54-58).
It seems to shows Edmund in a state of deep contemplation where he has put himself into a complex situation that requires intensive thinking. There are more thoughts that pop up than he can express out loud. This trance-like state shows Edmund’s methodical nature and his ambitions that far exceeds what he is capable of, being a one man show. Ultimately, Edmund cannot win without his clever brain.
In the very beginning, Edmund makes an extremely hypocritical remark by using simile when he accuses Regan and Goneril of “ Each being jealous of the other, as the stung / Are of the adder” (V, i, 45-46). This is a Regan and Goneril’s toxic nature to that of the venomous snake. Although Edmund is able to find fault in others, he clearly is unable to identify his own flaw. Edmund has many similarities to those of the sisters. Edmund strikes out for the kill when he is forced to live as a bastard son. Likewise, a snake strikes out because it feels threatened by another animal in its environment. The remarkable similarities spill out through the use of assonance and alliteration in the last two lines. “Shall never see his pardon; for my state / Stands on me to defend, not to debate.” (V, i, 57-58). The continued “s” sound of assonance emphasizes the hissing of the snake as it prepares to strike. Finally, Edmund delivers the strike phonetically as he brings a punch to the last two words of the last two lines: “for my state” and “not to debate”. It even sets up with how Edmund sees his own image as a person that will defend his principles and thoughts to the very end, disallowing any debates. The bite of the venomous snake will end any
In Edmund’s convoluted and exacting thought processes, he has planned out a fate for every single character. “To both …show more content…
(V, i, 54-58).
It seems to shows Edmund in a state of deep contemplation where he has put himself into a complex situation that requires intensive thinking. There are more thoughts that pop up than he can express out loud. This trance-like state shows Edmund’s methodical nature and his ambitions that far exceeds what he is capable of, being a one man show. Ultimately, Edmund cannot win without his clever brain.
In the very beginning, Edmund makes an extremely hypocritical remark by using simile when he accuses Regan and Goneril of “ Each being jealous of the other, as the stung / Are of the adder” (V, i, 45-46). This is a Regan and Goneril’s toxic nature to that of the venomous snake. Although Edmund is able to find fault in others, he clearly is unable to identify his own flaw. Edmund has many similarities to those of the sisters. Edmund strikes out for the kill when he is forced to live as a bastard son. Likewise, a snake strikes out because it feels threatened by another animal in its environment. The remarkable similarities spill out through the use of assonance and alliteration in the last two lines. “Shall never see his pardon; for my state / Stands on me to defend, not to debate.” (V, i, 57-58). The continued “s” sound of assonance emphasizes the hissing of the snake as it prepares to strike. Finally, Edmund delivers the strike phonetically as he brings a punch to the last two words of the last two lines: “for my state” and “not to debate”. It even sets up with how Edmund sees his own image as a person that will defend his principles and thoughts to the very end, disallowing any debates. The bite of the venomous snake will end any