A Comparison of Edmund and Edgar as Foil Characters in Shakespeare's Play "King Lear"

A Comparison of Edmund and Edgar as Foil Characters in Shakespeare's Play "King Lear"

Edgar

Edmund

Generic

Legitimate Son of Gloucester

Illegitimate "Bastard" Child

Names

• Being the legitimate son of Gloucester allows Edgar to become a relatively naive and trusting character, as he receives overwhelming benefits and is treated fairly through his whole life.

Edmund and Edgar's names closely resemble each other

• Shakespeare's play focuses on the differences in legitimacy of these two characters, and amplifies the effects by assigning the title of "illegitimate" to Edmund.
• Edmund struggles with this concept and it is primarily what drives him to become the villain in this play.

• Fist of Shakespeare's hints that comparisons between the two characters exist

• Edmund is able to use this naive aspect of his brother's personality to manipulate him and Gloucester.

Character's Proximity at the Start of the Play

When the two sons are put so closely together the audience is encouraged to compare the two by default

This adds support to the idea that Shakespeare utilizes them as foils as they are easily comparable

Good

Evil

• Edmund is the manipulative, evil brother

• Throughout the play, the audience is able to identify Edgar as the "good" brother in the pair.

• By the nature of the play, he would have always been the evil, inept brother, as this was determined to him at birth.

• Was framed by Edmund and is seen as the "Evil" brother within the play.

• Throughout the play, the audience can interpret the false transformation, and fittingly, he is put back into his place in the end, much like his brother.

• In the end of the play, the audience is able to see the similarities between the two characters by comparing their trajectories through the play.

Both Children of Gloucester

Having the same father encourages the audience to compare them further, especially through their parenthood

• Illegitimate vs Legitimate

They Begin and End the Play Close Together

This detail from Shakespeare allows the audience to take a step back and detach themselves from the rest of the story in order to look at the trajectory of the two characters

Transformation Cycle

Transformation Cycle

Moral Transformations

Both characters in the play undergo moral transformations for the good or for the bad

• Edgar's transformation as a character in the play sees him go from a well liked, honorable character to a poor beggar running from the law, and then back to obtaining the possibility of being king. His Cycle is from good to bad to good

• Edward, on the other hand, begins the story as the unwanted, illegitimate child of Gloucester, throughout the play becomes the heir of Gloucester and loved by nearly all, only to see himself fall back down to his original ground at the end. Making his transformation revolve form bad, to good, and then finishing in a bad state.

Both of the characters' transformations end where they began

Both