Shakespeare's King Lear - Father/Son Conflicts Caused by Inferiority Complex and Power Struggle

Throughout the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, a conflict is conveyed through father and son: Gloucester and Edmund. Although the cause of this conflict is Gloucester’s betrayal by his bastard son, Edmund, there is more to this conflict than a simple power struggle. Through intertwining plots and scandals, Edmund creates a forged letter, destructively “written” by his half-brother, Edgar, having to do with his made up plans to murder his father, Gloucester. Edmund surpasses this first betrayal and reaches the epitome of evil when he plots against his father by finding ways to cross Gloucester with Regan and Cornwall, further enhancing his potential inheritance and power. In this conflict, Edmund is the ultimate cause and initiator, making his father a victim to the scandal Edmund has viciously created. The conflict between Gloucester and his contriving son contribute to King Lear by becoming a parallel between Lear’s problems with his own daughters. Lear finds himself in a similar situation, his two daughters, Regan and Goneril, also scheme to betray their father, with hopes to profit from his loss of power. The resemblance between Lear’s daughters and Edmund holds a purpose to enhance the reader’s perception of what conflicts the desire for more power can create. Only through conveying separate instances of incredible treason between parent and offspring can the meaning and truth within the play’s key theme of betrayal be expressed.

Shakespeare creates the character of Edmund to be the perfect villain. Not only does he “fight dirty” to gain power, he does it through manipulation and a complete lack of a conscience throughout a majority of the play. Because he is the illegitimate child he plans to, “if not by birth, have lands by wit.” The conflict between him and Gloucester is simply an inevitable effect caused by Edmund’s unyielding desire to gain more than his bastard status affords. He basically rips the Earl title away, along with his father’s eyes because of his unstoppable ambition. It is precisely this power-hungry vigor that Edmund maintains throughout the play that stirs the conflict with his father, enhancing the main plot of the betrayal of Lear by his duplicitous daughters. Edmund becomes increasingly consumed with the idea of gaining power and losing the bastard status that has been tagged to him since birth.