I will have my revenge ere I depart his house.
I will have my revenge ere I depart his house.
I will have my revenge ere I depart his house.
I will have my revenge ere I depart his
How, my lord, I may be censured, that nature thus gives way to
loyalty, something fears me to think of.
How, my lord, I may be censured, that nature thus gives way to loyalty, something fears me to think of.
How, my lord, I may be censured, that nature thus gives way to loyalty, something fears me to think of.
How, my lord, I may be censured, that na
I now perceive it was not altogether your brother’s evil
disposition made him seek his death; but a provoking merit, set
a-work by a reproveable badness in himself.
I now perceive it was not altogether your brother’s evil disposition made him seek his death; but a provoking merit, set a-work by a reproveable badness in himself.
I now perceive it was not altogether your brother’s evil disposition made him seek his death; but a provoking merit, set a-work by a reproveable badness in himself.
I now perceive it was not altogether you
How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just! This
is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent
party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason
were not; or not I the detector!
How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just! This is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason were not; or not I the detector!
How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just! This is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason were not; or not I the detector!
How malicious is my fortune, that I must
Go with me to the Duchess.
Go with me to the Duchess.
Go with me to the Duchess.
Go with me to the Duchess.
Scene 3-5 is structured as a pure transaction: information for title. Edmund gives Cornwall the letter that proves Gloucester's treason; Cornwall gives Edmund the earldom. The scene is brief because the transaction is simple. What makes it worth examining closely is Edmund's aside — the performance of regret. Edmund knows that a man who turns in his own father without apparent conflict would be frightening to any patron: too cold, too calculating. So he performs conflict. 'How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just!' reads like genuine anguish if you don't hear the precision of the verb 'repent.' Edmund doesn't repent — he must repent, i.e., appear to repent. The necessity is social, not moral. Edmund is not just amoral; he is a sophisticated reader of what others need to see.
If the matter of this paper be certain, you have mighty business
in hand.
If the matter of this paper be certain, you have mighty business in hand.
If the matter of this paper be certain, you have mighty business in hand.
If the matter of this paper be certain,
True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester. Seek out
where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension.
True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester. Seek out where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension.
True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester. Seek out where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension.
True or false, it hath made thee Earl of
suspicion more fully. I will persever in my course of loyalty,
though the conflict be sore between that and my blood.
suspicion more fully. I will persever in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore between that and my blood.
suspicion more fully. I will persever in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore between that and my blood.
suspicion more fully. I will persever in
I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt find a dearer father
in my love.
I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt find a dearer father in my love.
I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt find a dearer father in my love.
I will lay trust upon thee; and thou sha
The Reckoning
Short and surgical. Edmund's betrayal, set up in 3-3, is now completed. He hands over the letter and watches his father's fate sealed. Cornwall rewards him immediately with the title Earl of Gloucester — his father's title. The scene contains one of Edmund's most revealing moments: 'How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just!' This sounds like regret — but it is the opposite. Edmund is saying that circumstances have forced him into a position where he must 'repent' (i.e., feel the appearance of regret) in order to maintain his reputation as a just man who reported his father's treason. He doesn't actually repent. The word is performance. And the final cruel irony: Edmund will be sent back to find Gloucester, so Cornwall doesn't have to 'be found to have' committed the violence himself.
If this happened today…
A junior employee turns in evidence against a senior colleague to management. The senior colleague trusted him. Management promotes the junior employee to the senior colleague's position on the spot. The junior employee looks appropriately conflicted for a moment — then takes the title.