While reading Acts II and III of King Lear I found it hard to ignore the similarities between the character of Edmund of King Lear and the character Iago from Othello. Edmund has demonstrated that he is cunning and very willing to do whatever it takes for him to achieve his goal of inheriting his fathers land and title. To his father he seems to be the son that cares for him and is the most loyal when compared to Edgar. What Edmund's father doesn't know is that Edmund is putting on an act and is actually very clever in his plot to get rid of his brother and father.
In ACT II we witness Edmund pretend to help Edgar, while he is really just putting on a show to convince his father that Edgar is a traitor. Like Iago, Edmund is able to use one situation in order to be in the good graces of more then one person at a time. While pretending to help Edgar escape from Cornwall, Edmund was able to stage a scene that made it seem to his father that Edgar had tried to kill Edmund. This way Edgar thinks that his brother is helping him, while thier father is turned against Edgar. I'm interested to see where Edmund's schemes and plots are going to lead him. Will he be more successful then Iago who in the end met his demise or will he meet the same end? Being as Iago is my favorite Shakespeare villain I'm interested to see if Edmund takes Iago's spot as number one.
1 comment:
This is an interesting initial response, Ofelia, and I wonder if you see any differences between these characters? Certainly Iago has less motivation than does Edmund, and we will see how his fate plays out in the final moments of the play.
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