Edmund tells Edgar further that Gloucester has discovered his hiding place and that he ought to flee the house immediately under cover of night. When he hears Gloucester coming, Edmund draws his sword and pretends to fight with Edgar, while Edgar runs away. The unhappy Gloucester praises Edmund and vows to pursue Edgar, sending men out to search for him.
Regan then asks Gloucester for his advice in answering letters from Lear and Goneril. Kent roundly abuses Oswald, describing him as cowardly, vain, boastful, overdressed, servile, and groveling. Thus, Edmund makes excuses for betraying his own father. Cornwall's presence serves to reinforce Edmund's choice, when he suggests that perhaps Edgar is justified to seek his father's murder.
Cornwall sees Gloucester's actions as treasonous, and describes him as having a "reproveable badness" III. This pronouncement from Cornwall endorses Edmund's treachery toward his father, and also provides Edmund with a sort of self-righteous justice. As a reward, Cornwall tells Edmund that his father will be punished and that he, Edmund, will become the new Earl of Gloucester. It is clear that Cornwall does this because even he thinks it would be weird for him to capture and torture Gloucester while his son was present.
She kisses Edmund good-bye and swears to send him a message soon. Later, he brags to the audience about how much they both love him, discusses which one he should choose, and wonders if Goneril will kill her husband to be with him. What Edmund does know is if he manages to capture Lear and Cordelia, he'll make sure they don't survive to take over the kingdom.
Edmund has decided that Britain is going to be his kingdom — and he won't allow any competition. When Albany comes in and asks where Lear and Cordelia are, Edmund distracts him while he is praised by everyone else for leading them all to victory. When Regan and Goneril start fighting over him, Albany suddenly announces that Edmund is a traitor; he says he knows that Goneril and Edmund have been plotting his death. It can also be said that Edmund feels insecure about his illegitimacy, and that he loses everything according to the attitude displayed in this soliloquy.
Edmund stabs himself in the arm to make it look like Edgar stabbed him which is just part of Edmund's plan to turn Gloucester against Edmund and retrieve control of Gloucester's land. When Edgar goes back to tell his father this news, Gloucester starts leaning towards the suicide again as the best solution.
Of all of the play's villains, Edmund is the most complex and sympathetic. He is a consummate schemer, a Machiavellian character eager to seize any opportunity and willing to do anything to achieve his goals. Only at the close of the play does Edmund show a flicker of weakness. Although Gloucester had earlier attempted suicide, ironically only Goneril , who initially appeared so strong, succeeds at ending her own life. Albany's order to rescue Cordelia and Lear is given too late.
As the scene opens, Curan , a courier, tells Edmund that Regan and Cornwall will be arriving that evening. Curan also mentions rumors of a feud between Cornwall and Albany.
Edmund expresses excitement over Cornwall's visit because he imagines that he can involve the duke in his plans to discredit Edgar. He schemes against both his father and his half-brother, Edgar. We are told of his status as Gloucester's illegitimate son at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1, and in Act 1, Scene 2, we are given a clear picture of the resentment that Edmund feels at not being his father's legitimate heir. Why does Edmund betray Gloucester? Category: books and literature biographies.
When Gloucester comes in, he's impressed by Edmund's devotion. Edmund promptly decides to betray his father and tell Cornwall both of these things, because he's a villain and that's what he does.
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