Essay
King Lear Essay: The subplot involving Edmund, Gloucester and Edgar adds little to the tragedy.
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The subplot involving Edmund, Gloucester and Edgar adds little to the tragedy.
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Contextual Information for Study of King Lear
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The subplot involving Edmund, Gloucester and Edgar adds little to the tragedy.Shakespearean tragedies are famous across the world for their ability to connect with
audiences. The weaving narratives and plots allow the play to appear realistic to the
audience through the interconnectedness between different characters. In ‘King Lear’, the
subplot weaves around the main plot as it features the characters of the Earl of Gloucester
and his two sons Edgar and Edmund who begin the play on the side lines and eventually
become a focus of the tragedy. As a result, I disagree with the statement posed in the
question and believe that the sub-plot involving Edmund, Gloucester and Edgar adds to and
enhances the tragedy in many ways.
Firstly, within the extract we see the inner conflict of the illegitimate son, Edmund add to the
tragedy of the play; “Wherefore should I stand in the plague of custom?…When my
dimensions are as well compact, my mind as generous and my shape as true.” This opening
of the extract is presented in a soliloquy that traditionally is used to reveal a character’s inner
emotions and feelings and this is exactly what we see here. Shakespeare frequently utilises
personal possessive pronouns in this list of attributes that go to compare Edmund as his
brother’s equal both mentally and physically. However, these statements juxtapose with the
rhetorical question posed, as through the eyes of society the brothers are not equal socially
due to Edmund’s bastardy. It is this conflict between the physical and perceived realms that
lead to Edmund’s internal conflict and rage which takes prevalence in tragedy according to
A. C. Bradley. This maltreatment at the hands of society generates a great sense of pathos
for Edmund’s character and adds to the tragedy of the play.
However, the feelings of Edmund also add to the tragedy experienced in the main plot as we
see Goneril and Regan receive similar social spurn; “Now, our joy, Although our last and
least…” The collective pronouns provide a wider meaning beyond the ‘royal we’ that many
critics would assign to this quote. Instead, they represent the overwhelming positive
sentiments held by all in society of Goneril and Regan’s younger sister Cordelia. As the
youngest, Cordelia would be held as the most insignificant of the King’s daughters yet here
she is the collective singular joy and favourite of the whole court. If the audience reads
between the lines and enter a moment of empathy for the elder sisters, they will see great
anger in them at this comment as the sister of lowly or at least equal status is raised to a
favoured station above those who are entitled to more. This is where the subplot comes in
as it enlightens the sisterly conflict through character pairings. These pairings have been
noted by many literary critics throughout Shakespeare’s tragedies and allow interesting
insight into their doubles. In ‘King Lear’, Edmund can be grouped with both Goneril and
Regan from the start of the play as they are treated unjustly when compared to their
siblings. Therefore, the anger of Edmund seen in the subplot extract confirms the anger and
resentment of Goneril and Regan which in turn heightens pathos for the sisters’ tragic fall
into evil. These character groupings hence demonstrate how the subplot enhances and adds
to the tragedy of the play.
Furthermore, another example of the subplot adding to the tragedy through these character
groupings is how they enforce the tragedy of others through the heightening of the
manipulative forces in the play; “I hope, for my brother’s justification, he wrote this but as an
essay or taste of my virtue.” In these lines, we see a change in character in Edmund, his
angry tone previously directed towards his brother has dissipated and has become
wholehearted support for his brother as seen by the lexis in this quote. It is this contrast in
Edmund’s characterisation that depicts him as a force of manipulation. This is furthered by
the contents of the letter, “If our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his
revenue for ever, and live the beloved of your brother, Edgar.” The contents of this letter
provoke a great sense of dramatic irony that increases the tragedy of Gloucester. We have
already seen the two-faced, manipulative characterisation of Edmund but through the letter
prop, we see Edgar, Gloucester’s loyal and favoured son, apparently wish to usurp his father
by murdering him (with the actual killing depicted euphemistically). This revelation would
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