para 3 Flashcards
what leads to edmunds demise?
-presented as an opportunist and his obsessive desire and greed for power leads to demise
how does he accomplish his plan?
-once he has accomplished his plan and twisted the laws of primogeniture through the riddance of Edgar, new opportunities arise and his ambitions grow when conspiring with other villainous characters
how is his next villainy accomplished?
-through another incriminating letter where gl reveals to edmund a letter detailing an approaching invasion from the French army
what have edmunds ambitions expanded to?
-however edmunds ambitions have expanded to include his fathers title, so he seizes the opportunity to report his fathers ‘treasonous’ acts, to Cornwall to gain the reward of ‘hath made thee earl of Gloucester’
how does edmund reporting gl contrast gl earlier language of him?
-this contrasts gl earlier language labelling edmund as a ‘loyal and natural boy’
why is there irony between the word ‘natural’?
-there is irony between the word natural, as for Gloucester It means loyalty, but for edmund is offers a perfect justification for treachery
how does edmund betray his natural loyalty to gl?
why does he do it?
-so edmund betrays his natural loyalty to gl by confiding. in Cornwall, because his reality is primarily based upon self advancement, his appetite for power and place, and the manipulation of others who may help or hinder this fundamental drive
how is edmund presented as a typical machiavellian antagonist?
-edmund presented as a typical machiavellian antagonist because he beholds a machiavellian attitude for life
why was the Machiavelli prince gaining popularity?
-in Shakespeares time the Machiavelli prince was gaining popularity as it encouraged people to be cunning and manipulative to gain power
how does Shakespeare break down the popularity of machiavelli?
-however this is broken down by Shakespeare in the final emblematic dual where Edgar defeats edmund, thus good overpowers evil
what does o’toole argue?
-o’toole argues that this would have been a conventional moral ending if it was concluded by the single combat of Edmund and Edgar, and edmund finalises it by saying ‘the wheel has come full circle’
what does o’toole say about the ending?
-however the story bursts beyond the moral ending of the play and the overwhelming sense of injustice breaks through the evening balance of good and evil
why would Shakespeare structure this ending?
-it could be argued that Shakespeare structures his play and presents edmund to be defeated as a way to exemplify how deceits and cunningness gets you nowhere in terms of society, so this suggests that edmund didn’t win the battle because he represented oppsition to the social order at the time
