... Gloucester is oblivious. Edmund believes that Gloucester loves Edgar more because Edgar is legitimate and he is a bastard. Gloucester has also given evidence of favoring Edgar in 1.1 when he makes jokes at Edmund's expense in front of Kent. Clearly Edmund's anger and frustration have mounted to a highly dangerous level, but Gloucester is unable to see this. Lear's eyes begin to be ... ...
... the Fool to her. The Fool, as a representative of Cordelia, also acts as a constant reminder of Lear's folly in expelling her. In one jesting session, among the Fool's various random jokes, Lear comments: "I did her wrong." (I, v, 24) The Fool brings with him a forced sense of realization, which Lear cannot control, so his mind gives in to the Fool's subliminal reminders of ... ...
... their relationship with their children. Eyre's opening scene establishes the potential of this conflict. Gloucester's conversation with Kent about his "whoreson" is overlaid by Edmund's resentful soliloquy. As Gloucester callously jokes about the "good sport as his making", the voice over soliloquy conveys the damaging psychological impact of this insensitivity on Edmund. His repeated rhetorical question "Why bastard? Wherefore base?" reflects ... ...
