I will have my revenge ere I depart his house.
I will take my revenge before I leave his house.
Before I leave this place, he's going to pay for what he's done.
getting revenge before i leave
How, my lord, I may be censured, that nature thus gives way to
loyalty, something fears me to think of.
How I might be judged, my lord—that my natural family loyalty gives way to loyalty to you—something worries me to consider.
I'm a bit concerned, my lord, about how people will judge me for abandoning my father to be loyal to you instead.
people might judge me for betraying my dad it worries me
I now perceive it was not altogether your brother’s evil
disposition made him seek his death; but a provoking merit, set
a-work by a reproveable badness in himself.
I now understand it was not just your brother's evil nature that made your father seek his death, but rather a provocation caused by his virtues, set in motion by a reprehensible badness in your father himself.
I see now that it wasn't just your brother's wickedness that made your father want to kill him. It was also the way your brother's good qualities provoked your father's own wicked nature.
wasn't just your brother's evil your father's own badness played a role
How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just! This
is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent
party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason
were not; or not I the detector!
How cruel is my fate, that I must regret being just! This is the letter he spoke of, which proves he is a knowing accomplice to France's plans. O heavens! If only this treason did not exist, or if I were not the one who discovered it!
It's such bad luck that I have to feel guilty about doing the right thing! This is the letter he mentioned—it proves Gloucester is working with France. I wish this treason wasn't happening, or that someone else had to expose it instead of me.
bad luck i gotta betray him to be right letter proves he works with france wish someone else found this
Scene 3-5 is structured as a pure transaction: information for title. Edmund gives Cornwall the letter that proves Gloucester's treason; Cornwall gives Edmund the earldom. The scene is brief because the transaction is simple. What makes it worth examining closely is Edmund's aside — the performance of regret. Edmund knows that a man who turns in his own father without apparent conflict would be frightening to any patron: too cold, too calculating. So he performs conflict. 'How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just!' reads like genuine anguish if you don't hear the precision of the verb 'repent.' Edmund doesn't repent — he must repent, i.e., appear to repent. The necessity is social, not moral. Edmund is not just amoral; he is a sophisticated reader of what others need to see.
Go with me to the Duchess.
Come with me to visit the Duchess.
Come along with me to see the Duchess right away.
let's go to the duchess
If the matter of this paper be certain, you have mighty business
in hand.
If the contents of this letter are true, you have significant business to conduct.
If what's written in this letter is actually real, you've got some major business to handle.
if letter's real you got serious stuff
True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester. Seek out
where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension.
True or false, it has made you Earl of Gloucester. Find where your father is so he will be ready for our arrest of him.
Whether it's true or false, it's already made you an Earl. Now go find your father so we can take him into custody.
true or false it made you earl find your dad so we can arrest him
[_Aside._] If I find him comforting the King, it will stuff his
suspicion more fully. I will persever in my course of loyalty,
though the conflict be sore between that and my blood.
If I find him helping the King, it will satisfy Cornwall's suspicions even more. I'll continue in my course of loyalty to Cornwall, though the conflict between that loyalty and my blood relation is painful.
If I catch him helping the King, that'll make Cornwall even more convinced. I'm gonna keep being loyal to Cornwall, even though it tears me apart—he's my father after all.
if i find him helping lear cornwall's suspicion grows i'll stay loyal though it breaks me he's my blood
I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt find a dearer father
in my love.
I will place trust in you, and you will find a more devoted father in my love.
I'll trust you completely, and I'll be a much better father to you than Gloucester ever was.
i trust you i'll be a better father than gloucester
The Reckoning
Short and surgical. Edmund's betrayal, set up in 3-3, is now completed. He hands over the letter and watches his father's fate sealed. Cornwall rewards him immediately with the title Earl of Gloucester — his father's title. The scene contains one of Edmund's most revealing moments: 'How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just!' This sounds like regret — but it is the opposite. Edmund is saying that circumstances have forced him into a position where he must 'repent' (i.e., feel the appearance of regret) in order to maintain his reputation as a just man who reported his father's treason. He doesn't actually repent. The word is performance. And the final cruel irony: Edmund will be sent back to find Gloucester, so Cornwall doesn't have to 'be found to have' committed the violence himself.
If this happened today…
A junior employee turns in evidence against a senior colleague to management. The senior colleague trusted him. Management promotes the junior employee to the senior colleague's position on the spot. The junior employee looks appropriately conflicted for a moment — then takes the title.