A2 Scene 3

Summary

The scene opens on Edgar, alone in the woods. In his soliloquy, Edgar relates that he is aware of his outlaw status. Thus far, he has escaped capture by hiding in the "happy hollow of a tree" (II.3.2), but he knows that to remain free, he must mask himself.

Edgar lays forth a plan in which he will disguise himself as a Bedlam beggar, smearing dirt on his face and body, tying his hair in knots, and covering his body with a blanket. In this costume, he will be known as Poor Tom

key themes

Characters

Key quotes

symbols

AO1

AO2

Edgar - "My face I'll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots"

Edgar - "presented nakedness"

Edgar - "Strike in their numbed and mortified bare arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary"

Edgar - "Edgar I nothing am."

In a soliloquy, Edgar explains that he escaped the "hunt" (2.3.3) sent after him by hiding in the hollow of a tree. Now that nowhere is safe for him he intends to disguise himself in the "basest and most poorest shape/ that ever penury in contempt of man/ brought near to beast" (7-9)—that is, as a "Bedlam beggar," or madman escaped from an asylum—and give up his own identity: "Edgar I nothing am" (21).

"basest and most poorest shape/ that ever penury in contempt of man/ brought near to beast"

relevant context

Edgar

animals, clothing

Edgar, after fleeing his father's castle, takes on the disguise of a fool called "Poor Tom" to protect himself from recognition and death. He believes this is the best way to protect himself from the human world of deceit. Edgar's decision to mimic nature, becoming "the basest and most poorest shape," follows in the footsteps of Edmund, seeking protection from a misapplication of legal and moral justice. Shakespeare presents nature as a repository of both productive and counter-productive divergences from human society.

Disintegration, chaos, nothingness

authority and order

fooling and madness

With Gloucester and Cornwall's men pursuing him, Edgar hides in the hollow of a tree. Believing that no one will look closely at a deranged beggar, Edgar covers himself with dirt, signs of injury, and a blanket as his humble attire

During Shakespeare's time, lunatics were assumed to be possessed by evil spirits and unable to feel pain, hence the self-mutilation as part of Edgar's disguise.

The choice to assume a mantle of madness provides Edgar with the perfect disguise, but the decision also parallels the loss of sanity that soon envelops Lear. The difference will be one of choice and invention: Lear will not be pretending.

madness as a way to protect - As Edgar clothes himself in madness, he becomes Poor Tom and ceases to be Edgar. The change is essential if Edgar is to move safely out of hiding while investigating the wrongful accusations against him. As Poor Tom, Edgar has a chance at survival. As Edgar, he is doomed.

To survive under his new circumstances, Edgar must cease to exist. He quite literally becomes "nothing" in becoming Poor Tom. His previous life ceases to exist, to be nothing, and, as Tom, he is also nothing, since those who are mad exist in a world in which nothing is as it seems.

Transforming his outward appearance into that of a nearly animal, naked madman, Edgar seeks to escape the unjust (or blind and misled) workings of the law. Like Lear (whom the Fool calls "nothing" in 1.4), Edgar annihilates his own identity. However, Edgar does so knowingly and purposefully, and in doing so is able to pretend madness without actually going mad, while Lear did so in error, and is therefore slipping into actual madness.

The theatrical convention of the impenetrable disguise
was frequently used in Jacobean drama. Audiences accepted that characters would not recognise someone in disguise. There are many examples of important characters who adopt a disguise in Shakespeare’s plays; for example, in Measure for Measure, Duke Vincentio pretends to be a friar so that he can spy on his people. In King Lear, Edgar and Kent are forced to conceal their identities to preserve their lives.

Despite Edgar’s degradation, it is possible to see something positive in this brief scene. So far Edgar has been easily manipulated by Edmund. However, with his survival at stake, Edgar shows a new side to his character. Just as we saw Edmund cutting himself with a sword in Act II Scene 1 in order to fool Gloucester into believing he had been hurt by Edmund, now we see Edgar self-harming in order to fool his pursuers into believing he is a mentally-disturbed outcast. Has Edgar already matched his brother in cunning?

Edgar puts his faith in his new guise as Poor Tom and proclaims, ‘Edgar I nothing am’ (line 21). ‘Am’ probably rhymes with ‘Tom’ as Edgar slips into a rural accent to conceal his voice. The word ‘nothing’ chimes through the play, as characters are forced to abandon their normal lives and identities, driven ever closer towards breakdown and death. But is Edgar right that he is losing his true self, or does his role as Tom have the potential to equip him with greater understanding, flexibility and opportunity?

In Shakespeare’s day ‘Bedlam’ (Bethlehem) hospital housed the mentally ill. When they were released, Bedlam inmates were allowed to go begging for survival; this is what Edgar has been reduced to by his brother and father.

Edgar’s soliloquy leaves the audience in no doubt as to the difficulties he will face. The fact that he chooses to disguise himself as a social outcast reveals his desperation and the danger he is in. As in the previous scene, we see goodness pushed aside, degraded and punished. While Edgar speaks at the front of the stage, the audience can still see Kent sleeping in the stocks behind him. This juxtaposition creates a visual comparison between the two men, both of whom have to disguise themselves in humiliating ways while the evil prosper. Edgar’s situation also mirrors Lear’s. Edgar is now reliant on charity, his world and expectations turned upside down. We get a glimpse of what Lear will be reduced to. Edgar’s assumed ‘madness’ also points towards what will happen to Lear in Act III.