Edgar

Play

King Lear

Summary

Edgar is the legitimate son and heir of the Earl of Gloucester, falsely denounced by his bastard half-brother Edmund and forced to flee. He disguises himself as "Poor Tom," a wandering mad beggar, and in that guise becomes an unlikely companion to Lear in the storm. He guides his blinded father toward Dover, kills Edmund in trial by combat, and survives as one of the last authorities standing at the play's end — charged, perhaps, with ruling what remains of Britain.

Notable Quotations

"Edgar I nothing am." *(II.3)*

"The worst is not / So long as we can say 'This is the worst.'" *(IV.1)*

"Men must endure / Their going hence, even as their coming hither: / Ripeness is all." *(V.2)*

"Poor Tom's a-cold." *(III.4)*

Cross-references

• King Lear — the play
• Tragedies
• character_gloucester — his father whom he guides and saves
• character_edmund — his villainous half-brother
• character_lear — the king he accompanies in the storm