THEMES

Sibling Rivalry

Edmund and Edgar are as an intriguing set of brothers as can be found anywhere in literature.

We have Edmund, the master schemer who controls the evil intrigue in the play from the centre, outmaneuvering everyone else.  He even dupes his own brother Edgar, and Edmund’s failure to kill him when he had the opportunity eventually causes his downfall.

Edgar never felt threatened by his brother and clearly trusted him.  However, Edmund felt threatened by Edgar because of Edgar’s legitimacy and the fact that Edmund was a bastard clearly played on his mind and drove him to his evil course.

Edgar remains honorable throughout the play and he inherits the prize in the final scene.

The three daughters of Lear were initially in two camps – Goneril and Regan worked as a team against Cordelia. They resented the fact that she was her father’s favorite. Cordelia’s fate would have been uncertain if she had remained in Britain, but like Edgar, she too was able to escape from the evil, and her survival leads to the deaths of Goneril and Regan, but she makes the sacrifice of losing her own life in the process.

Goneril and Regan become rivals when the dangerously attractive Edmund comes on the scene.  They both lust after him, their pact soon crumbles and they become adversaries. Consumed by evil they both die.