In Act 1, Scene 2, Gloucester and his illegitimate son Edmund reveal two contradictory views of human agency. Gloucester looks to the heavens to explain the troubles of the world: "These late eclipses of the sun and moon portend no good to us. Though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by sequent effects"(1.2.109-12). Edmund mocks his father's beliefs and instead places the blame for human misery squarely in the hands of humans. He asserts:
This is the excellent foppery of the world, that
when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeits of
our own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters
the sun, the moon, and stars as if we were villains
on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves
thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance;
drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced
obedience of planetary influence; and all that we
are evil in, by a divine thrusting on (1.2.125-33).
What do we make of these philosophical speeches? Do these speeches tell us about the character of Gloucester and Edmund? Do they expound on a major theme or debate in this play? Given the events of the play and the reaction of the characters, does one of these views prove correct? Is our belief in God "the excellent foppery of the world"? Is this a play in which the divine controls human agency or humans themselves?
The idea of free will vs. divine control is a very old debate going back to the very beginning of civilization. Edmond and Gloucester each represent one side of the argument in King Lear. Gloucester believes in fate, supporting the old order with the Great Chain of Being which is determined by God. Gloucester’s belief in fate means that he does not have to take responsibility for his suffering. He can put all the blame on divine control. This suggest that he is not willing to take responsibility for his own actions, he would rather leave it up to the gods.
ReplyDeleteEdmond, on the other hand, is a machiavellian. He believes in free will and people should gain power based on ability, not by what family they were born into. He is willing to take control of his life and claim responsibility for his decisions. This means he is much more proactive in making what he wants happen, rather than sitting back and letting fate decide. It is why Edmond does what he does, he wants power so he takes it.
The play suggests that maybe there is some kind of divine control ensure the world stays in balance, but people do have some extent of free will as well. This is not expressed by one specific character, rather it is drawn from looking at the play as a whole. This can be seen in the general plot of the play. The the people who seise power from the rightful rulers manage to take full control. All the “good guys” are defeated and it seems like all is lost. At this point it seems like free will has triumphed over divine control, because the “bad guys” determined their won destiny. But in the very end all the evil doers end up die, one way or another. Leaving those who had appealed to fate in power again, the old order restored. This seems to point to divine control because the “good guys” were not nearly as proactive in controlling their fate as the “bad guys”.
These speeches reveal both the generation gap and the differing outlooks of Gloucester and Edmund. Gloucester’s faith in nature and god’s control over the world represent his traditional way of thinking at the time, while Edmund’s insistence that he controls his own fate shows his confidence and willingness to break tradition to gain power.
ReplyDeleteWhen Edmund lies to Gloucester and tells him that Edgar thinks “the father should be a ward to the son”(1.2.77), Gloucester reacts by calling Edgar an “unnatural” villain (1.2.80). Perhaps what makes him unnatural to Gloucester is that Edgar is rumored to be ignoring the social norm, where the father is in power of the obedient family. Edgar is rumored to be taking it upon himself, ignoring God’s natural process of inheritance and disrespecting his father, to gain power in an untraditional way.
When he believes that his beloved son has betrayed him, Gloucester turns to the only thing that he has 100% faith and trust in: nature. Gloucester observes that “These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us” (1.2.109) and orders Edmund to “Find out this villain”(1.2.121). He trusts the situation and Edmund because nature is sending him omens that something bad is happening, which actually are signaling Edmund’s lie. Little does Gloucester know that the eclipses are showing bad news because of Edmund and not Edgar. Relying on nature and omens works against Gloucester, showing that traditional methods of gaining power are no longer safe.
Edmund’s stance directly contrasts with Gloucester’s opinion on the all-knowing gods and power of nature because he thinks that a human has control over their own fate and that they are not born into any set path. Edmund says “we make guilty of our disasters/ the sun, the moon, and stars as if we were villains/ on necessity”(1.2.127). He is scorning Gloucester’s belief in a greater being and fate because he believes a human can create and mend their life regardless of what the elements indicate. He thinks that no one is born into “a destiny” so no one should have a title of power solely by being born, like Edgar. He was born a bastard son, so he had no inheritance. He is willing to fight for power by turning the legitimate son against his father, which goes against tradition, in order to gain something that he was not born with. He breaks tradition, while Gloucester swears by it. He represents the new generation, the scrappy underdogs that will crave power even if it’s not in their line of inheritance.