Firstly, a lot can be seen of the general vision and viewpoint of this play by the condition of the characters of these brothers. It can be observed that there is an extreme contrast in their natures, one which causes one of the main conflicts of this narrative. Clearly brothers cannot expect to retain any kind of amicable relationship in this harsh world created by Shakespeare. In fact these brothers are shown to be in conflict over most of the major struggles in this play; Edgar representing the good, and Edmund the bad. This can be seen in their stance on Lear’s kingship and their loyalty to their father. While Edmund is working devotedly towards the destruction of his father, Edgar is working to save him and redeem his soul. In the end they are each given rewards according to their piety. Edgar is given the regency he never strived for, and Edmund is given a slow and painful death at the hand of his usurped brother.
This obvious representation of Edgar as good and Edmund as evil tells us a lot about the values of the culture in Shakespeare’s day, in other words, the cultural context. Edmund is expected to be grateful to his estranged father and show him loyalty without provocation, like Edgar does. This lack of slavish loyalty to the father figure of Gloucester, Lear and ultimately all traditional beliefs and practises results in his terminally unpleasant fate. Although his own father has never shown any respect or support for him, openly recounting the story of his illegitimate conception, Edmund is condemned to ruin as soon as his ambition causes him to act in his own favour.
It may be taken that brotherly harmony was encouraged by the Elizabethans by the trust and companionship that is shown on Edgar’s side with regards to his relationship with Edmund. He trusts him to the point of stupidity, only turning against him when he discovers his brother’s disloyalty to their father, at which point he decides on talking a violent and cruel revenge of which he is absolved by his brother’s wickedness and his own purity.
By T.May
Much like in Shakespeare's King Lear, there is only one prominent example of brotherhood in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. While they are not exactly related, George Wickham and Fitzwilliam Darcy both grew up together and they are regarded as being quite close and could be regarded as the example of brotherhood in Pride and Prejudice.
ReplyDeleteTheir relationship is actually quite similar to that of Edgar and Edmund, due to the fact that both relationships involve a lot of manipulation and deceit. When we are first introduced to Darcy, we learn that he is rude and that we should dislike him - very similar to how we are given the impression that we should dislike Edmund, as he represents evil in King Lear. On the contrary, when we are introduced to Wickham, we are lead to admire him - again quite comparable to how we are supposed to like Edgar, as he represents goodness in King Lear.
In Pride and Prejudice we see that George Wickham is actually abusing any loyalty that Darcy has for him, and we see the same type of deceit in King Lear, with Edmund's manipulation of Edgar's trust. This highlights another similarity between the nature of the two relationships.
However in Pride and Prejudice the relationship between Darcy and Wickham takes an unexpected twist and we find out that our impressions of both were wrong. Darcy is actually not the loathsome character out of the two of them, and Wickham is most certainly not the one we should have decided to trust. This is a stark contrast to King Lear, where we aren't all that surprised by the way each of the brothers turned out.
I think that brotherhood is portrayed in very similar ways in both texts overall.