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View Full Version : Why doesn't Edmund kill Gloucester in King Lear?


xMerlina
May 9, 2013, 12:34 PM
In Act 4, Scene 5, Regan says that
"It was great ignorance, Gloucester’s eyes being out,
To let him live. Where he arrives he moves
All hearts against us. Edmund I think is gone
In pity of his misery to dispatch
His nighted life;"

Did Edmund actually set off to kill Gloucester, or was that Regan's opinion? Because I'm trying to argue in a paper that Edmund never directly hurt anybody--he manipulated others into being the victim.

Wondergirl
May 9, 2013, 12:41 PM
We won't do your homework for you but will critique once you have written something. There are helpful sites like sparknotes and this one -- Earl of Gloucester Timeline in King Lear (http://www.shmoop.com/king-lear/earl-of-gloucester-timeline.html)

xMerlina
May 9, 2013, 12:55 PM
I've already written the entire essay--that's just the one detail I'm unsure about. I've gone through the whole text and I can't figure out whether Regan was just saying that or whether Edmund really did try to find and kill his father. I've looked at all the sites like SparkNotes and that Shmoop one.

Wondergirl
May 9, 2013, 02:24 PM
Maybe it doesn't matter. If you can prove your point and have valid arguments, it's a good paper.

xMerlina
May 9, 2013, 02:38 PM
Okay; thanks!