The Role Of Stereotypical Villains In King Lear

Stereotypical villains are a concoction of selfishness, insensitiveness, and manipulativeness. Shakespeare creates his villains with a predetermined requirement of characteristics. His villains are outsiders within their society of whom are mistreated within their past. His evil characters have ambitions and desires, mainly bred from resentment, anger, bitterness, or pain. Throughout King Lear, Edmund’s villainous, analytical mind allows him to set up disputes between characters, while standing back and watching his schemes unfold themselves. Shakespeare allows wicked Edmund of King Lear to portray a villain whose motivation is merely fuelled by a lifetime of being the illegitimate son of Gloucester, causing him to feel no remorse as he betrays his family and manipulates and capitalizes on the misfortune of others. Edmund “came saucily to the world” (Shakespeare …show more content…
With this newly built trust of Gloucester in Edmund, his father secretly informs him that “there is division/ between he dukes” (3.3.8-9) and “there’s part/ of a power already footed; we must incline to the/ King. Gloucester will look him and privily relieve him”, although he is already in unity with Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan’s plot to rid their father, King Lear. Due to Edmund’s belief that Gloucester is now a threat to his plan and inheritance, he plans on ridding his father before it is villainous actions are clear. Edmund achieves this by betraying Gloucester through discussing his father’s strategy to rescue Lear with Cornwall. This places Gloucester in danger and ensures, through Cornwall, that Edmund is “Earl of Gloucester” (3.5.16). As Edgar is in hiding and his father is under arrest by Cornwall, Edmund thoroughly betrays his family through manipulation to ensure his father’s