King Lear Edmund Quotes

Die: die for adultery! no:
The wren goes to ‘t, and the small gilded fly
Does lecher in my sight.
Let copulation thrive.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. Lear pardons Gloucester for his crime of adultery, saying that he shouldn’t die for it, that the birds and the flies do it. Still morally blind, Lear excuses adultery and goes on to say that Gloucester’s bastard son was kinder to his father than were Lear’s daughters who were conceived in lawful marriage: "Gloucester’s bastard son Was kinder to his father than my daughters Got ‘tween the lawful sheets." This is ironic because Edmund was the one behind Gloucester’s downfall.

To both these sisters have I sworn my love,
Each jealous of the other as the stung
Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take?
Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enjoyed
If both remain alive.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 1. Edmund is put on the spot by Regan and Goneril who demand that he choose which one of them he loves. Edmund makes it clear that he has promised his love to both. Torn between two loves, he almost wishes that one of them dies so the choice will be made for him. A very apt simile is used to describe the sisters’ jealousy, each being suspicious of the other as if they both were poisonous snakes. This passage shows the callousness of Edmund who is only ever interested in pursuing his own self-interests. It also shows the foolishness of the sisters, who are competing for the love of someone who has sworn love to them but really cares nothing about them.

To take the widow
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril,
And hardly shall I carry out my side,
Her husband being alive.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 1. Edmund weighs up which of Lear’s daughters he should pick to marry, as both love him. It is clear that he loves neither, his only concerns are which of them will give him the least trouble and who will advance him most. If he chooses the widowed Regan he can become Duke, but this will anger Goneril. If goes for Goneril who has a husband he will not be able to advance himself. The self-serving Edmund is focused soley on his quest for power, feelings of affection never enter these matters for him.

Sir, I thought it fit
To send the old and miserable king
To some retention and appointed guard,
Whose age had charms in it, whose title more,
To pluck the common bosom on his side
And turn our impressed lances in our eyes,
Which do command them.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. Edmund lies to Albany. He claims that he sent Lear and Cordelia to be detained by armed guard, as Lear’s old age and title could attract the common people’s sympathy and turn their soldiers against them. Edmund says that both are ready to appear for trial whenever Albany wished. What he doesn’t tell Albany is that he has secretly ordered their execution.

Draw thy sword,
That if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice. Here is mine.
Behold, it is my privilege, the privilege of mine honours,
My oath, and my profession. I protest,
Maugre thy strength, place, youth, and eminence,
Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune,
Thy valor, and thy heart, thou art a traitor,
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father,
Conspirant ‘gainst this high illustrious prince,
And from th’ extremest upward of thy head
To the descent and dust below thy foot,
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou "no,"
This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,
Thou liest.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. A disguised Edgar draws his sword and accuses his half-brother Edmund of committing treason and being a liar before they duel. Edmund has been exposed as a traitor for plotting against the Duke of Albany with Albany’s wife Goneril, with both intending to murder him and marry each other. Edgar says that Edmund has betrayed the gods, his brother, his father and plotted against the noble Duke. The duel between the brothers in the last act is symbolic of the ongoing war between good and evil.

In wisdom I should ask thy name,
But since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,
And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes,
What safe and nicely I might well delay
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn.
Back do I toss these treasons to thy head,
With the hell-hated lie o’erwhelm thy heart.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. Edmund says this to the mysterious knight who has come to prove Edmund’s treason in trial by combat. The challenger is his half-brother Edgar in disguise. Edmund says that since he does not know the challenger’s name, by the rules of knighthood he should refuse to fight him. But he agrees to the duel because his opponent "looks so fair and warlike." Putting on an act of injured innocence, Edmund throws the accusations of treason back in Edgar’s face and hopes that the "hell-hated lie" poisons his heart.

ALBANY: Shut your mouth, dame,
Or with this paper shall I stop it – Hold, sir:
[Gives the letter to Edmund] Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil.
[To Goneril] No tearing, lady: I perceive you know it.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. This passage by Albany comes after Edmund is wounded by Edgar and Goneril becomes hysterical. Albany shows his moral mettle and takes charge and is not the meek and mild-mannered man we met earlier in the play. Having arrested Edmund and his wife Goneril for treason, he tells Goneril to shut up and brandishes the letter that she wrote to Edmund plotting against Albany’s life. At this stage Albany is the last remaining figure of authority in Britain. He is also a highly moral person.

My name is Edgar, and thy father’s son.
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us.
The dark and vicious place where thee he got
Cost him his eyes.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. Edgar reveals his true identity to Edmund after mortally wounding his half-brother in a duel. He says that the gods are just because they punish human beings for their wrongdoings. He believes that Edmund got what he deserved. But Edgar seems to suggest that Gloucester’s blinding is punishment from the gods for his illicit love which resulted in Edmund’s conception. Edgar claims that the woman Gloucester committed adultery with, Edmund’s mother, cost Gloucester his eyes and he calls her a "dark and vicious place." Not everyone would agree with Edgar’s belief that such divine retribution for Gloucester’s adultery is fair and proper justice. His blinding is the plays’s greatest act of cruelty and one of the most violent and shocking scenes in all of Shakespeare’s dramas. However, few would quibble with the justice of killing the evil Edmund.

I pant for life: some good I mean to do
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send –
Be brief in it, to th’ castle; for my writ
Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia.
Nay, send in time!

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. As Edmund takes his last breaths he makes an effort to redeem himself by showing his desire to do good despite his evil nature. He admits that he has ordered the executions of Lear and Cordelia and urges that a messenger be quickly sent to the castle to intervene to save them. Even though Edmund is one of the villains in the play, he shows in the face of imminent death that he may still possess some small shred of humanity.
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