Gloucester & children

• Shakespeare uses the Gloucester subplot to mirror the main plot allowing the audience to focus on and reflect on the tragic consequences of the loss of parent/child relationships
• Gloucester’s favouritism toward Edgar and subsequent rejection of Edmund serves a the main reason for the loss of family relations and catalyses the familial tragedy.
• What does Gloucester call Edmund in Act 1, Scene 1?

  'whoreson'
• 'Whoreson'


  • insult to Edmund's mother
  • said in front of Edmund - Gl as an insensitive father who doesn't care about how Edm feels or whether he is hurting him
  • lack of parental warmth & compassion presents a ruptured family dynamic - loss of family relations inevitable
• Edmund reveals plot - fool his father into believing Edgar is plotting against him using letter that is allegedly from Edgar but really from Edmund (1.2)
• Act 1 Scene 2 Gloucester and his sons, in some ways a parallel to the first scene. There are clear variations of course (Edmund is presented as an active schemer) but the audience meets another older father who misjudges the characters and loyalty of his children.
• 'Edgar I nothing am' - Edgar (2.3)


  • rejects his previous identity as son in order to survive
  • loss of status & expulsion from his family as a result of rejection by father
  • but his suffering & descent into 'nothing' becomes the basis for rebirth - he will rise again, later in play, as moral agent & restorer of order
  • like Lear he must be reduced to bare humanity in order to grow
• 'The younger rises when the old doth fall' - Edmund (3.3) 


  • Edm decides to betray father for political gain, after learning he is helping Lear against the wishes Cornwall - reveals he will tell Cornwall what ab Gl after he has just confided in Edm
  • takes advantage of father's trust - betraying him will provide Edmund with the position & wealth he craves
  • backstabber, opportunist & selfish individual - willing to do anything to achieve goals - only loyal to himself & his self-interest - places no value on family
  • plotting downfall of father - wicked revenge - evil villain
• 'I am almost mad myself. I had a son,/ Now outlawed from my blood' - Gloucester (3.4)


  • parallel to Lear's situation - both men manipulated by children & suffering from their actions - both wrongly identified children & blind to who truly cares for them
  • difference is that Gloucester remains his sanity - though he recognises how easily he might lose his mind & fears it may happen, he still has an inner strength that Lear does not have, which permits him to survive
• 'This is the letter which he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France' - Edmund to Cornwall (3.5)


  • family betrayal - violation of family loyalty
  • interlink evil daughters w evil of Edm - natural bonds between father & child are disintegrating, replaced by self interest & deception
  • Edmund gains power by masquerading as a loyal son, showing how truth is powerless in a corrupt world
  • catalyst for Gloucester's tragic downfall - like Lear's banishment of Cordelia set his tragedy in motion - both fathers suffer because they misread their children
• 'He childed as I fathered' - Edgar (3.6) 


  • ties together parallel plots & similarities between his situation & that of King's
  • King has cruel children, while Edg has a cruel father
  • though Edg realises his situation is insignificant compared w that of King who has lost both rule & his mind
• 'When false opinion, whose wrong thoughts defile thee,/ In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee' - Edgar (3.6) 


  •  Edgar resolves to wait near Gloucester’s house for an opportunity to protect his slandered reputation
  • people have defiled his reputation with false claims but truth will reveal itself & he will be w father again
  • idea that there will be some moment of justice - hoping things will get better - link to 3.7 when Gl realises - idea of reconciliation links to 4.7 between L & Cordelia
• 'It was he that made the overture of thy treason to us' - Regan (3.7)


  reveals it was Edm as the real villain & who was the son that actually betrayed Gloucester
• 'O my follies! then Edgar was abused. Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him' - Gloucester (3.7)


  • anagnorisis - sees error in judging sons inaccurately
  • tragic irony that recognition comes only after his literal blindness - knowledge comes but is too late to avert suffering - enlightenment comes with destruction
  • shows love & humility in calling on gods - however in this bleak universe there are no 'kind gods' - still blind to fact that there is no divine justice
• What happens in Act 4, Scene 1 in relation to Edgar & Gloucester?

  • Edgar as Poor Tom takes charge of his blinded father, who acknowledges his mistake & now wants to meet his wronged son, Edgar, again
  • Edgar stays in disguise - perhaps still feels like he has lost identity beyond reclamation 'Edgar I nothing am'
• 'The clearest gods... have preserved thee' - Edgar (4.6)


  • Edg shifts identity again as he collects Gloucester from bottom of cliff. Edgar claims some 'fiend' tempted him to suicide
  • Edgar tricks father into thinking gods have saved him, though this deception is not cruel, but an act of mercy & emotional wisdom
  • Edg still in disguise - perhaps lost identity & still suffering; OR believes if he reveals identity for Gl now his opportunities for growth will be cut short - Gl first needs to continue to learn about himself before resolving conflict w Edg at this point
  • Gl deceived by both sons but motives are different - Edg deceives Gl to help save him
• 'I'll bear affliction' - Gloucester (4.6) 


  • Gl is being stoical
  • been tricked by Edg into thinking gods saved him & decides to continue living - Edg restores order & justice
  • emotional & moral rebirth - he is physically blind but gains moral & emotional vision
  • through suffering, characters can find spiritual renewal or deeper truth
• 'I see it feelingly' - Gloucester (4.6)


  • recognises Lear
  • can only see if you feel emotionally - change in perception
  • feels life w depth & intensity
  • has achieved self-knowledge & created a larger vision of the world
  • character growth - grown from mistakes
  • 2 former nobles, who were once powerful & respected, now meet as broken men - earthly power is fragile & wisdom often comes only through loss
  • suffering has humbled both men & made them more profoundly human
• 'Burst smilingly' 'Twist two extremes of passion, joy and grief' - Edgar (5.3)


  • Edgar finally reveals identity to Gloucester - leads to his death - Edg then narrates death
  • Gl died happy - split into joy & grief - split kills him - joy knowing Edg alive; & grief/ guilt knowing he suffered
  • reflects intense emotional turmoil he has endured
  • 'bursting' signifies final release from pain - death comes w sense of fulfilment as dies in presence of his loyal son
  • link to Lear's death both undergo recognition before deaths & die in presence of loyal children experiencing joy & grief