Lear Fate Quotes

After King Lear’s two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan express their love for their father in a flattering speech they were granted their share of the kingdom, and Cordelia his youngest daughter and favorite daughter refused to play along, Lear felts she was disrespectful and she was banished from his sight. Cordelia bids farewell to her sisters, and tells them that she knows they don’t love him, “I know you what you are, and like a sister am most loath to call your faults as they are named.” (1.2.273-275). “Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides; who covers faults, at last shame them derides. Well may you prosper!” (1.2.284-286). Once Cordelia left, Goneril and Regan revealed to the audience that they had no love for their father.

Upon hearing this, Edmund presents himself as sympathetic and supportive towards Gloucester. After his father leaves, Edmund reveals to the reader his true intentions of betraying his father and taking his title. This abrupt transformation of attitude and objective is part of the theme of “Appearance vs Reality.” Although he appears to be loyal and innocent to Gloucester, the reality is that he is planning to overthrow Gloucester and is apathetic towards his

Edmund is the most methodical in his deceptions. Both he and his brother seem oddly adept at trickery, but Edmund fooled his brother and his father. First he forges a letter to turn Gloucester against Edgar. Then he convinces Edgar to leave, which will only make the legitimate son look guilty. He tells him that he has read the stars and that Edgar should flee. While Edmund does not believe astrology works, he is very intelligent and knows that he can use it to his advantage. He uses this to maintain his visage of innocence. Continuing the charade, he convinces his father to

Edmund writes a fake letter signed by Edgar about a plot to kill Gloucester in order to share the wealth between the two sons. After Gloucester reads the letter, he becomes enraged and is in disbelief of what he read and rejects his legitimate son, Edgar. Edmund at the same time is telling Edgar that Gloucester is angry at him and that he should run off and not return. Edmund’s plan succeeds because he is very good at gaining people’s trust which helps him to manipulate others into doing what he wants. Edmund feels he must use people or else he will always be seen as a “bastard”.

In this soliloquy, the audience gets its first glimpse of the character of Goneril. The full spectrum of her greed and selfishness will not be revealed until later, but this is certainly a good sample of her personality. Her profession of love is so large that it seems almost artificial, and it also seems motivated by the fact that possession of land is involved. Still, Lear seems immensely pleased by her statement, and requests a similar profession of love from his other daughter, Regan. She obliges, and in her declaration she tells her father that she loves him even more than Goneril does. Regan emerges from her

Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester, is very savage and cruel towards his own family. His ultimate downfall is his greedy nature. Even though, Gloucester loves both of his sons equally, Edmund feels that his accidental birth has been unjust and wants to take over all his father’s land and subsequently the whole kingdom. We begin to see Edmund’s greedy nature, when he begins to plot against his own brother, Edgar. Edmund uses a forged letter saying how Edgar wants to take over their father’s land.

Goneril's first underhanded act, falsely professing an exalted love for her father solely in order to gain more land, does not constitute an isolated incident; Lear's blindness to the love of Cordelia fosters Goneril's megalomaniacal tendencies as well as permits likeminded Regan, "of the self-same metal that [Goneril] is," to commit the same trespass (1.1, 69). Although Goneril speaks first and delivers a very calculated response, Cordelia's genuine, candid answer should have trumped the transparent rejoinders of her sisters. Instead, Lear falls victim to their ploy and invests far too much command in Goneril; she responds as would anyone of her ambitious disposition and decides that she "must do something, and i' the heat," meaning take advantage of Lear's burgeoning infirmity (1.1, 308).

Lear was so hung up on the fact that Goneril and Regan were able to tell him how much they love him but Cordelia was not that he had no insight into why Cordelia was doing what she was. Lear now sees how gullible he was to believe what his daughters were saying. Lear unfortunately learns his lesson too late because Cordelia dies soon after and Lear does not get the chance to enjoy the unconditional love that he should have valued in the

In confronting the truth Edmund grew wary, knowing that the father that they shared, Earl of Gloucester, would never see them as equals, although his father did claim him; as it was unusual in the time period it was presented. This displeased Edmund, of course, resulting in a subtle plan to overrule as he manages to display and vindicate the tactful ambition. Furthermore, this expanded into something much greater than the banishment of his only brother, Edgar, but into something battling internally as much as externally with the

Furthermore, Edmund’s words showcase that he plans to inherit Gloucester’s land while avenging his father and does not plan on showing any mercy towards his father. Moreover, Edmund’s words are significant because they make evident that while seeking revenge Edmund abandons the principles, which he was raised on, such as honesty, and being merciful towards others. In addition, Edmund’s words are important because they make evident that Edmund is acting on instinctual impulses instead of planning carefully. It is soon after that Edmund is killed, due to his actions, demonstrating the painful consequences that come with seeking revenge. In conclusion, the relationship between Edmund and Gloucester is a prime example of a relationship between a parents and child in which the child seeks revenge, abandons their values and makes instinctual decisions due to unfair treatment throughout their

Starting the play with the revelation of Edmund’s plans to see his half brother and father’s downfall, we receive an image of a father who cares only for pure bloods of higher class per say. One can conclude that this man is obviously high class and stereo typically favors the older, direct bloodline son, nevertheless, we can’t take a rash conclusion so fast. Thus, we wait for the plot to develop and let us glance into the true selves of the characters further. We come to the knowledge that Lord Gloucester realizes he values his ties with the king to a great extent, him risking and losing his title as lord due to aiding King Lear. Afterwards, we see him come to appreciation of virtues of honesty and his sons after he is captured by the Duke, losing his eyes as punishment. Gloucester as a character has developed greatly, going forth through challenges and misdemeanors against his pride and being, ending disgraced and blind. Yet, he holds a calm sense to himself, valuing what he has left and becoming more than humble with others. This is a transformation worthy of Shakespeare himself, rather impressive at the very least. This man has lived through the betrayal of his bastard child and being blinded violently for helping a distressed king, he has sacrificed much with spiritual values in return. Astounding that he didn’t suicide out of pure remorse that he will never be able to witness the world again. Unfortunately, he does die of a mixture of happiness and shock when he is revealed that Edgar still breathes life, so he has that going for

The power that Lear gives to Goneril and Regan makes them treacherous and deceitful. Lear offers his

Unlike King Lear, Edmund has no power at the beginning of the play. Being Gloucester’s youngest and illegitimate son he is not accepted by society or his father. Gloucester says in front of Edgar, “His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge / I have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am brazed to it” (1.1.8-9).  Edgar, Edmund’s older brother will inherit their father's wealth, land, and title. Knowing this Edmund’s hunger for power has probably grown through the years, giving him the motivation to act the way he did. In 1.2 Edmund tells the audience that he’s going to con

In Act 1 Scene 1 of ‘King Lear’, Gloucester first introduced Edmund to the audience as “the bastard” and also admits that he “so often blushed to acknowledge him that now [he] is brazed to it”, indicating the embarrassment that accompanies having a bastard as a son. In addition, “this knave came something saucily into the world he was sent for”, meaning that his did not have the right to bear any power or authority from the beginning of his life due to the fact that he was conceived by a prostitute. Although he did not have the right to be powerful nor authoritative, he was ambitious and devious; Shakespeare uses him as an example to show his audience how power can be obtained through manipulation without the help of having authority. Through Edmund’s soliloquy, he expresses his dissatisfaction with this low, “base” status as a bastard, whereby “base indicates the concept of degree. The repetition of the noun and the

Edmund , an extremist of evil is emotionally moved by Edgar's account of Gloucester, he shows remourse and regret when he realises the destruction of his actions. Edmund makes a bleated efort to undo some of the evil he has intended by revealing he has signed Lear and Cordelia's death warrants : ''Some good i mean to do despite mine nature''. Here we see that even the villainous Edmund is not entirely devoid humanity