Edmund Flashcards
Edmund choosing nature as his goddess bc she does not discriminate against his social status as bastard but Lear (god’s rep), does
‘thou, nature art my goddess’
Old order as disease on nation and if custom lies in social order ordained by God then religion corrupts
Link to old testament - plagues of Egypt that contrasted power of Israelites’ God v power of Egyptian Gods
‘plague of custom’
Misogynistic attributing sins to nature and virtues to God so he worships her
‘lusty stealth of nature’
Reference to eclipses of 1605 seen as providence that God is angered by JI’s reign so far
Edmund takes responsibility for machiavellian actions and rejects the ‘superstitions’ of old order
‘these late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us’
‘we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon and the stars’
Edmund talking to Regan about who he loves
Edmund finishes off Regan’s lines - shows Edm. is in position of power as he provides the answers to her questions
But doesn’t show reimposition of patriarchal natural order bc Edm. is like a woman - bastard - isn’t supposed to inherit
Regan’s questioning contrasts her absolute certainty and brutality until now e.g. ‘all day? all night, my lord’
‘do you not love my sister?
In honoured love’
Edmund talking to Regan about who he loves
Corrupted iambic pentameter = corrupted/fractured love in the shared lines - normal iambic pentameter in individual lines || presents corruption of old order’s notion of emotion and courtly love etc.
‘be not familiar with her
Fear me not-‘
Name meanings
Irony? Presents lack of hope at the end when Edgar becomes kings bc he is symbolic of a weapon - war?
BUT - could provide hope - spear is the symbol of the old order
Edmund should be the protector of his legitimate brother instead of trying to take his inheritance away
Edgar -
Ed = prosperity
Gar = spear
Edmund -
Ed = prosperity
Mund = protector
Edmund’s soliloquy about which sister he should take
Monosyllabic words and spondees (equally weighted) translates words into image of weighing up options in a calculated fashion - brutality
‘both? one?’
Edmund’s soliloquy about which sister he should take
His lust foreshadows fall of new order - King Lear written just after the ‘golden age’ of Elizabeth I who was the ‘virgin queen’ - so successful bc of her virtues - women are polarised but bad cannot rule successfully
‘to take the widow exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril’
Edmund’s soliloquy about which sister he should take
ref to ‘adder’ alludes to original sin and aligns Edmund with being the devil himself
Half rhyme of ‘other’ and ‘adder’ presents dislocation between Edm. and virtuousness
Stung are jealous of adder - those on receiving end of sinful behaviour are jealous that they were not the sinful ones in first place
‘each jealous of the other as the stung are of the adder’
Edmund at the end when it is announced that Goneril and Regan are dead
His hope is gone - no way to take adv. of situation anymore so Edm. is resigned to his fate
Speaks of self in third person - shows how new order is insubstantial - nothing below surface greed and sin - he is now nothing
‘yet Edmund was beloved’
Edmund when he is mortally wounded by Edgar
mortally wounded but helps the old order by trying to prevent deaths of Cordelia and Lear - presents good within bad and vice versa
Aware his actions were wrong but sense of hopelessness and inevitability to Edm.’s actions - as if that’s how he has to be bc of the sin of father in creating him only to have nothing - not his fault
‘despite of mine own nature’
‘the wheel is come full circle’
Edmund when he draws on Edgar
Ref to witchcraft means old order will believe Edgar is evil whereas the new order see it for what it is - ‘we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon and the stars’
Moon is feminine - emasculates Edgar and removes his legitimate claim
Mistress - sinfulness - outside of marriage
All Irony - those who didn’t believe in wc were said to be witches (Edmund), Edmund is a bastard so similar to a woman, he later has affairs with G+R
‘mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon to stand auspicious mistress’
