BBC: King Lear (2018) part 2

Read the previous post here: http://lilliteraturereviews.blogspot.com/2018/06/bbc-king-lear-052018.html

Act I, Scenes 2-3

Plot Summary

Edmund's soliloquy reveals that he feels inferior due to his status as a bastard, and plans to forge a letter to his father (Gloucester) in order to undermine his brother, Edgar. He then presents this letter to Gloucester. Edmund suggests to Edgar that he carries a weapon to protect him from their father's wrath.

In scene 3, Oswald confirms to Goneril that King Lear stuck him for making fun of the King's Fool. This enrages Goneril, and tells Oswald to keep Lear waiting when he needs something. She says if the King is unhappy, he should move to Regan's palace. Goneril instructs her servants to be cold toward the King due to his behaviour.

BBC Production

Broadbent's Gloucester is filled with emotion and heartbreak when he reads the forged letter. He is easily convinced by Edmund (John Macmillan) and does not think for a second to doubt his words. Then, the sly Edmund continues on his quest of deception. Macmillan looks directly into the camera to allow the viewer in on his secret, allowing us to become an accessory to his crime.

Edmund's half-brother, Edgar (Andrew Scott) is introduced as a character of intelligence. He is positioned at a desk in a study, seemingly working hard at astronomy of some sort with an image of an eclipse on his computer screen and board. This is perhaps a nod to Gloucester's line in the previous scene: "These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us", which originally referred to lunar and solar eclipses in 1605 London, about a year before the play's first performance on record. During that time, an eclipse would have triggered many superstitions, and Gloucester believes that these eclipses may have caused Edgar's letter.

Edmund uses Edgar's work as excuse to bring up the recent eclipses, and allows the conversation to flow into discussion of the effect on their father's temperament. Edgar doesn't seem to notice that his father has been different and looks back at his work in dismissal, yet Edmund pushes the subject: "Bethink yourself wherein you may have offended him". A bang on the table by Edmund startles his brother and brings a sense of urgency to the scene. When Edmund, dressed in military gear, tells his studious brother to arm himself against their father, Edgar reacts in shock and fear.

A fragment of Scene 3 appears later on in the BBC production.

Read part 3 here: http://lilliteraturereviews.blogspot.com/2018/06/bbc-king-lear-2018-part-3.html