In the same play it cannot be by chance
that at its commencement Gloucester speaks with the utmost carelessness
and _off-hand_ wit about the parentage of his natural son Edmund, but
finds at last that this son is his ruin.
Edgar, the true son, says to Edmund, after having righteously dealt him
his death-wound,--
"The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to scourge us:
The dark and vicious place where thee he got
Cost him his eyes."
To which the dying and convicted villain replies,--
"Thou hast spoken right; 'tis true:
The wheel is come full circle; I am here."
Could anything be put more plainly than the moral lesson in this?
It would be easy to produce examples of fine design from his comedies as
well; as for instance, from "Much Ado about Nothing:" the two who are
made to fall in love with each other, by being each severally assured of
possessing the love of the other, Beatrice and Benedick, are shown
beforehand to have a strong inclination towards each other, manifested
in their continual squabbling after a good-humoured fashion; but not all
this is sufficient to make them heartily in love, until they find out
the nobility of each other's character in their behaviour about the
calumniated Hero; and the author takes care they shall not be married
without a previous acquaintance with the trick that has been played upon
them.
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