Is Shakespeare s Edmund the perfect representation of a Machiavellian character
... Many writers of the day mentioned machiavellian ideas including those influenced by Machiavelli’s The Prince, his masterful book explaining how a Prince should truly gain and maintain a kingdom. ... Shakespeare also influenced by Machiavelli and understanding his impact on society, utilized the Machiavellian views in his numerous plays, as recognized by both John Dunby and Thomas Spenser. From Julius Caesar to Macbeth, from Othello to Hamlet, Shakespeare presented at least one machiavel. Typically, the Machiavellian character is the essence of evil in the play: the villain. Rarely is there a good machiavel and usually that character is set juxtaposed to the cruel machiavel. Of all of Shakespeare’s plays, King Lear contains Machiavellism in the villain aspect and one can say that Edmund is this type of tragic Shakespearian villain. However, is Edmund truly, in all aspects, a machiavel? Through revealing characteristics and extenuating events surrounding him, Edmund is the model Machiavellian as well as the essential Shakespearian machiavel-villain. Shakespeare uses a machiavel to commence, irritate, and end the problems in his tragedies. ... Furthermore, through the ruin of a character, the Machiavellian can learn more of what he can use to “procreate” himself further. Edmund’s use of degeneration prevails throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy. Only after Lear sparks the fire of his ultimate demise, the exiling of both Cordelia and Kent, are the readers presented with the true villainous self of Edmund in his soliloquy in Act I, Scene ii. Once Lear begins his rapid decline, Edmund indirectly elaborates on Lear’s decent into madness to further his own desires of power through the degeneration of his father, the Earl of Gloucester. King Lear’s sudden and rash decisions concerning Cordelia and Kent trouble the mind of Gloucester. Edmund realizes these concerns in his father’s thoughts and Edmund capitalizes on such. Gloucester is very superstitious and, using the recent eclipses, Edmund assures his father of how the evil in the stars is not only producing the tribulations of Lear but also proving Edmund’s declaration of the plot of his half-brother, Edgar, to kill the Earl.