A commentary on Edmund’s soliloquy in Act I Scene ii.
David Newsome 18/09/03
The second scene of the opening act of ‘King Lear’ starts with Edmund on stage alone. He goes on to deliver a speech in which he tells the audience that he is a bastard, that he has a brother and that he has an aim to gain his brother Edgar’s inheritance. This is the sub-plot to the main play, which runs along similar lines to it. This is shown by the fact that this soliloquy outlines Edmunds grievances at being a bastard and his plan to “top the legitimate”. The way that Edmund says “I must have your land” suggests this is going to be a story that has the theme of inheritance and the rights of it at its core. This is a theme echoed from the main plot, as in the scene just before this speech we have witnessed Cordelia being disinherited by Lear for a very rash reason, namely that she didn’t over emphasise her love for him in the same manner that her sisters did in his little ‘love test’. Before this speech Edmund has been portrayed as a polite young man who was taking abuse from his father Gloucester, in a somewhat feeble manner. This is a contrast here as he now expresses his true feelings, and a lot of pent-up anger.
This speech is delivered to the audience alone, as there are no other actors on stage. Because of this one has to bear in mind if Edmund is talking to the audience? Because if he is then Edmund is getting their sympathy and we as a reader are being made to feel sorry for him as he tells us how his life has been lived under the cloud of being marked a bastard, which leads to him being treated badly like we witnessed in the first scene. His first line of this scene is “Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law/My services are bound.” This shows how Edmund acknowledges himself to be nature’s son, which is how bastards were seen in Shakespeare’s time, as they were not seen to have legitimate parents if born out of wedlock. The use of the word “nature” here is very important because it not only refers to contemporary beliefs about bastards, but it sets up one of the main themes of the play. This is the question of what governs the events of the play, and weather it is down to individual actions or the actions of fate. The fact that both patriarchs who are bought down by their children have a hand in their own downfall is both ironic and a clever means by which Shakespeare introduces the idea of nature into the play. Nature also refers to the natural bond between parent and child, bonds that are continually being tested in the main play, as well as in the sup-plot. The way that Edmund says that his “services are bound” to nature suggests that he has accepted the life of a bastard, but wants to do something about it. We are told what he wants to do later on in the speech where he talks about taking his brothers lands. The “plague of custom” to which he refers to is that way that in Shakespeare’s time the bastard son is not entitled to his fathers inheritance, or at least his share of it. This is curious, as Edmund is the younger son, who wouldn’t have had inheritance rights anyhow. This reference as well as “deprive me” shows very strongly how Shakespeare wants to get across Edmunds grievances and he outlines very plainly what they are. The way that this speech is not written with a rhyme scheme suggests it is more contributory to the plot, and is more important for what it is saying than how it is said.
