What Is The Abuse Of Power In King Lear

Shakespeare’s King Lear explores family respect, betrayal, the strife of status amongst the inherently powerful and those starving for power, and the exploitation of gradually losing status with the spiral of insanity that ensues. The constant battle between the loyal and those who have given into the temptations of power pushes injustices to be made against the innocent. While Lear and his daughters specifically portray the hunger for power or the lack thereof, the family of Gloucester and his sons portrays the dissension of power over the application of illegitimacy.

Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, argues that illegitimacy is purely definitive in the word, not relevance. In his mind, the rightful justice he deserves would be to reduce the status of his legitimate brother, Edgar. In his plot against his brother, Edmund forges a letter from Edgar to himself. He reveals the letter to his father, which is found to say that his brother wants to kill their father, Gloucester, to inherit his money and land before the two grow too old to enjoy it. Gloucester becomes enraged and curses Edgar, calling him a villain. Edmund has become so tormented with jealousy that he hurts

The actions he takes against his own brother is corrupt, but the reason he does is more than coherent. However, while rational to see that Edmund deserved more due to his illegitimacy being none of his doing, his scale of revenge now defines him as a villainous character. The betrayal, strife, and lack of family loyalty in Gloucester’s family is convoluted, but the root of the complication is actually mistreatment. Edmund is exposed to years of verbal abuse and is consequently affected poorly. While the plot in Shakespeare’s King Lear is mainly the hunger for power, King Lear also presents the idea that lack of status and forgoing abuse can push a character to the point of