Gloucester
Who is gloucester
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A02
The Earl of Gloucester is a leading figure at court, whose illegitimate son Edmund convinces him that his loyal elder son Edgar intends to kill him.
When Lear’s life is threatened, Gloucester arranges his escape, but Cornwall blinds Gloucester in punishment.
The disguised Edgar guides his blind father, helping him work through his suicidal feelings. When Edgar reveals his true identity, Gloucester is overcome by emotion and dies.
In the 1983 Granada TV production, the Dover cliff episode is presented through a series of tight close-ups. As we switch between Gloucester’s face and Edgar’s, we see very
clearly the development of their feelings and their reactions to one another, assuring us of Edgar’s benevolence and
Gloucester’s renewed determination to live. In a theatre production, where this technique of presentation is not
available, how else might the audience interpret this
episode and how might the actors try to control the viewers’ reactions?
It is important to note that while Gloucester has some individual features – his superstition, his adultery, for example – his character is determined largely by the parallel role he plays to the king. He is a foil to Lear, emphasising features which they have in common. Like Lear, he is a complacent father, used to assuming an unquestioned authority. Like Lear, Gloucester acts rashly and ruthlessly when he believes that his son Edgar has rebelled against him, and in so doing puts himself in his evil son’s power. Like Lear, Gloucester fails to ‘keep his house in order’. His adultery, which he jokes about in the opening moments of the play, might be seen as a failure to take his patriarchal responsibilities seriously. He is as blind as his ruler and, like him, consequently suffers a tragic fall.
In shadowing Lear’s folly so closely, Gloucester perhaps suggests to us that the king’s behaviour is not totally abnormal, but what we might expect from someone who has
had authority so long that they have come to take their superiority for granted. Set in their ways, sure of themselves and used to being deferred to by those around them,
Gloucester and Lear are complacent about the wisdom of their decisions and desperately unaware of their own vulnerability.
Gloucesters Qualities
For much of Act II Gloucester seems to lack resolution. He tries vainly to keep the peace between Lear and his daughters; it is difficult not to judge him harshly when his doors are shut against the king. Faced by the new rulers and their ruthless orders, all he can offer are faint- hearted protests (II.4.299–301). Where Lear responds to tragedy with a range of emotions, including raging at the elements, Gloucester is more straightforwardly downcast and suicidal
Gloucester also displays more positive qualities, however. When he takes action he is brave and determined. He helps Lear on the heath, providing a litter to transport him to safety. Gloucester is heroic in Act III Scene 7, denouncing Goneril and Regan ferociously. He proves that he can be stoical in the face of monstrous cruelty: ‘I am tied to th’stake, and I must stand the course’ (III.7.53).
When he learns the truth about Edmund, Gloucester’s tormented desire to be reconciled with Edgar redeems him. Like Lear, Gloucester becomes increasingly generous as he suffers. He expresses great pity for Lear in Act IV and is genuinely concerned about the dangers the old man and Poor Tom face when helping him. His developing concern for social justice mirrors that of Lear.
EXAM TIP
Shakespeare is not generally considered a realistic writer, so when writing about his characterisation it is not appropriate to speculate at length about his characters’ inner motives and psychology. Examiners will be much more impressed if you focus on the details of how the characters are conveyed through the drama and how they contribute to its development.
More sinned against than sinning
To some extent, Gloucester’s pain and despair reflect Lear’s. While the king raves about his daughters, Gloucester confesses sadly that he is ‘almost mad’ (III.4.167) himself, thinking about Edgar’s supposed treachery. Even after his ‘fall’ at Dover cliff and his agreement to ‘bear / Affliction till it do cry out itself / “Enough, enough”, and die’ (IV.6.75–7), Gloucester remains suicidal. He welcomes Oswald’s threat to kill him and is still deeply depressed as late as Act V
Scene 2. His dark thoughts play a key role in establishing and maintaining the bleak atmosphere of the second half of the play. His willingness to die perhaps points towards the
carnage of Act V Scene 3, preparing us for the final tragic outcome.
Gloucester’s death can be seen as a ‘dry run’ for Lear’s. Some critics see Lear’s passing as a mirror image of Gloucester’s. The old earl dies when his ‘flawed heart – / Alack, too weak the conflict to support – / ’Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, / Burst smilingly’ (V.3.196–9). The reconciliation with Edgar is too much for him to bear.
Gloucester is punished very harshly for his misjudgements of character. Edgar’s verdict, that he dies for adultery, is not easily accepted. For all his faults, Gloucester will probably be viewed by most audiences as a character more sinned against than sinning.
Key Quotes
After he has been blinded, Gloucester tells the old man who is leading him, ‘I stumbled when I saw’ (IV.1.19). When he had the sense of sight, he failed to see the truth that Edgar
loved him and Edmund was a lying schemer. Now he has been blinded, and seemingly lost everything, he has at least gained in understanding.
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Gloucester is depicted as a foolish old man, whose inability to see through Edmund's lies parallels Lear's own difficulties. By mistaking Edmund's motives, Gloucester is blind to the events occurring around him, even before Cornwall gouges out his eyes. Clearly, he is not intuitive or quick enough to understand the plotting or undercurrents present around him. Gloucester blames events on the stars, and thus, he absolves himself of any responsibility for his actions.
Later, Gloucester is willing to sacrifice his own life for the king. This heroic behavior sets Gloucester apart from his youngest son, Edmund, who is merely an opportunist. Like Lear, Gloucester feels despair and questions a god, and like Lear, Gloucester finds his humanity in the midst of his tragedy. The blinded old man who asks that clothing be brought, so that Bedlam Tom might be covered, is a very different man from the Gloucester of Act I, who in the play's opening scene, bragged of the good sport to be had at Edmund's conception. Instead of a thoughtless braggart, Gloucester is filled with compassion for Poor Tom. This compassion for his fellow man indicates that Gloucester regrets the behavior of his past, as he seeks to make amends by sharing with those he never noticed before the recent events.