Why is gloucester a traitor

Why does Edmund hate his family? Why does Cornwall blind Gloucester? Who rules Britain at the end of the play? Summary Act 3, scenes 6—7. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3. Previous section Act 3, scenes 4—5 Next page Act 3, scenes 6—7 page 2. Acting without hesitation, Edmund sets out on a course that belies his breeding; a triumph of conscience is not a likely prospect in his unfolding treachery.

Previous Scene 2. Next Scene 4. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? His success in this project suggests that Edmund may be right to think he is smarter and more ambitious than Edgar. Edmund comes close to becoming king, while Edgar is reluctant to rule when he is offered the chance at the end of the play.

Edgar never again returns to the sensible, happy young man he was before his banishment. By sending Lear to Cordelia, who is technically a foreign invader, Gloucester may have committed treason against Regan, Goneril, and their husbands. If Gloucester is guilty of treason, he must be punished. The legal situation is complicated, however, and Gloucester has not had a trial.

Cornwall admits he does not have the right to punish Gloucester, but says he is angry, wants to punish Gloucester, and knows he has the power to get away with the act. Bear-baiting in which a bear was chained to a post and attacked by dogs was a popular sport in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This reference to a notoriously cruel sport anticipates the cruelty which he is about to suffer himself.

In his anointed flesh: The King, like a priest , is anoint ed with holy oil to show that he has been appointed by God to fulfil the office of King. She gruesomely says that the side of his face which still has an eye will mock the other which does not.

I have served you ever since I was a child: It is a servant who tries unsuccessfully to stop Cornwall. The servant may be of a lowly status in life but he still stands up against vicious amorality.

Out, vile jelly: It is worth remembering that members of Shakespeare's audience would have been used to seeing deeds such as this within a public context.