... , and responds impetuously to Cordelia's response, saying "Let it be so, thy truth then be thy dower! Here I disclaim all my paternal care, propinquity, and property of blood/And as a stranger to my heart and me/Hold thee from this forever" (Act I, scene i, lines 109, 114-115). Lear, so astonished at the blunt reply from his beloved daughter, commits nothing short ... , proclaiming that Edgar is an "abhorred villain, unnatural, detested, brutish villain; worse than brutish!" Gloucester immediately trusts Edmund's account, having no reason to mistrust him, and rushes to denounce Edgar's ch...

• Word Count: 1594
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate