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1.2 Edm's machinations 1. (Edmund (however, also villainous qualities…
1.2
Edm's machinations 1.
Edmund
pledges allegiance to "Nature", not social (
the plague of custom
) order
he is illegitimate, shunned by society (and religion too?)
commands Gods to "stand up for bastards".
being
sick in fortune [is] often the surfeits of our own behaviour
– evil is down to individual actions, not divine orders. Explains Cordelia's death (which is at Edm's hands).
insight?
alt interp: this is Edm's own tragic flaw
victim?
rails against his status as an illegitimate
plosive lang > anger?
lots of rhetorical questions --> no answer
if not a victim, he has clear
motivations
for his crime – environmental conditioning
bound to his status by his birth
I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing
could add that his immorality is too? then assuming
alt interp: manipulative?
evoke pity in aud.
however, also
villainous
qualities
could be considered
exhibitionist
showing off his evil plan
rhetorical questions, power of 3, and volley of plosive language:
why brand they us with base, with baseness, bastardy, base, base
stage villain: communicates directly with audience
#
announces his plan to the audience in soliloquy
sarcasm and irony
to deride social structures
fine word, legitimate
sarcastic term of endearment for Edg
my legitimate
hyperbole
got to creating a whole tribe of fops
exaggeratedly pompous expressions for humour?
spherical predominance
Alt interp: makes him attractive to aud
/// or charming facade; psychopathic?
affirms the prejudice of illegitimate children being base
effective manipulator
disguise
metadrama: treats Edg's appearance as an opportunity for acting. Announces, then a pause as he assumes his role.
My cue is villainous melancholy, with a sigh like Tom o'Bedlam. --
Edm pretends to Edg he believes in the eclipses. Dramatic irony – his soliloquy immediately preceding shows he doesn't.
takes control
offers actions,
interrupts Edgar's light-hearted talk about astronomy -- doesn't answer his bro's q but instead:
When saw you my father last?
offers Edg his
service
and gives him the key to his house
imperatives
subtly leads characters on
overcomes Gl's incredulity with:
conditional
durst
accepts
his hand
but not
his heart in the contents
then introduces context -- Edg's supposed opinion that
the father should be as ward to the son
alt interp – Gl rashly accepts the letter and Edm actually seems reticent.
visual cue: has the letter out then deliberately puts it away
earnestly
to cause suspicion
theatrical context:
machiavellian villain
a cold, power-hungry villain. Manipulative.
gleeful
no sense of shame
A credulous father; and a brother noble... on whose foolish honesty my practices ride easy.
partly a
false hero
(
Propp character type
) - pretends to be the hero (fighting Edg and protecting Gl); commits more evil; unmasked and defeated.
however aud aware of his evil from beginning; characters not (dram irony)
Gloucester
hamartia
importunate: intrudes into Edm's private business; repetitions show his impatience (
LEt's see
)
wrath
repetition of
villain
etc. with various derogatory adj wie
abhorred, unnatural
usw.. Violence in lang:
brutish
alt interp: the repetitions could be Gl gradually coming to terms w/ the devel. could be too credulous like Edg.
#
= Lear plot
gullible?
tricked so easily... or is Edm a brilliant actor
family bonds
Edg and Gl could be considered to show similar behaviour – parental conditioning
all potentially similar to Lear plot
Edg suggests the letter may be a love test:
to feel my affection to your honour
parental love appears to be unreturned
To his father , that so tenderly and entirely loves him.
Edgar
too credulous? staged?
is S merely using a plot as a vehicle for portraying most extreme responses? not credible plot?
or
whose nature is so far from doing harms that he suspects none
#
initially plays along with his brother's actions
brevity of his speeches show Edm's power
natural control of fate
Edm largely denies that natural Fate can influence human actions
mocks Gl:
the excellent foppery of the world
.
Long list suggests a rapid pace.
wants to defy prejudice relating to his birth situation
his evil actions actually prove that
Gl believes in Fate.
Gl and (when pretending) Edm list the destructive and disorderly effects that the eclipses should have on the nation. They describe perfectly the plot of Lear. e.g.
unnaturalness between the child and parent
of course, S has arranged this on purpose. So the characters foreshadow events of the plot although Edm speaks against the power of fate.
there are further examples of foreshadowing.
Gl:
if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles
. He shall not need to see if it is nothing. Motif of blindness/insighti nto the world
with a sigh like Tom o'Bedlam
Edgar's transformation into PT - Edg picks up on this consciously or is a coincidence arranged by S?
