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.