Gloucester blames the nearing eclipse and
alignment of the stars for his misfortune with
his son. He believes of some higher power
having control over his life
Edmund laughs at the
idea of fate as this was
all his doing. "Excellent
foppery" act one scene
2
"These late eclipses in the
sun and moon portend no
good to us" Act 1 scene 2
"The wheel is come full circle"
Edmund act 5 scene 3. possibly
the wheel of fortune. related to
fate, has brought him from his
llowest point to the highest and
now back round to low. a full circle
Oedipus' fate was to kill his father and marry his
mother, he did these things which although sound evil
where out of his control he did not know. If oedipus'
parents could have seen the future could this all have
been prevented? they could only see their part until it
was too late to stop it. Their limited sight makes it
impossible for proper judgment
However to Lear and Gloucester have the
opportunity to see the truth but refuse? Lear would
much rather hear lavish compliments than the truth.
"Nothing will come of nothing speak again" "mend
your speech a little" Gloucester is oblivious to the
situation when asking about Edgar . It is not until
Gloucester is physically blind that he realises just
how blind he has been to endmunds true character.
In oedipus they were
unable to make the
best decision because
they lacked all the
information. However
in Lear they had all the
clues infront of them
but decided to see only
what they wanted to
see.
Events will take their course even if i
say nothing - Tiresias episode 1