Act 3, Scene 5

A Room in Gloster's Castle.

[Enter Cornwall and Edmund.]
Cornwall
1908 I will have my revenge ere I depart his house.
Edmund
1909 How, my lord, I may be censured, that nature thus gives way to
1910 loyalty, something fears me to think of.
Cornwall
1911 I now perceive it was not altogether your brother's evil
1912 disposition made him seek his death; but a provoking merit, set
1913 a-work by a reproveable badness in himself.
Edmund
1914 How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just! This
1915 is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent
1916 party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason
1917 were not—or not I the detector!
Cornwall
1918 Go with me to the duchess.
Edmund
1919 If the matter of this paper be certain, you have mighty business
1920 in hand.
Cornwall
1921 True or false, it hath made thee earl of Gloster. Seek out
1922 where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension.
[Aside.]
Edmund
1923 If I find him comforting the king, it will stuff his
1924 suspicion more fully.—I will persever in my course of loyalty,
1925 though the conflict be sore between that and my blood.
Cornwall
1926 I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt find a dearer father
1927 in my love.
[Exeunt.]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 1909archaic vocab
“How, my lord, I may be censured”
'Censured' here means judged or evaluated, not merely condemned. Edmund frets about how people will judge him for informing on his father: will they think him a loyal subject or a treacherous son?
TLN 1915archaic vocab
“approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France”
'Intelligent party' means an informant or spy -- someone passing intelligence to the enemy. Edmund shows Cornwall a letter proving Gloucester has had secret dealings touching the French forces now threatening Britain, and lets it brand his father a traitor. 'Approves' means proves or confirms.
TLN 1921historical topical
“hath made thee earl of Gloster. Seek out where thy father is”
Cornwall awards Edmund his own father's earldom on the spot, before Gloucester has even been arrested. In English law a traitor's lands and titles were forfeited to the crown — attainder stripped a convicted traitor of everything, which the crown could then redistribute. Cornwall is already treating Gloucester as condemned and handing out the spoils.
historical The Stage Machiavel
TLN 1924archaic vocab
“I will persever in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore between that and my blood”
'Persever' is the older form of 'persevere.' Edmund speaks this as an aside — meaning the audience hears his real mind. 'My blood' means both his natural bond to his father and his own nature or instinct. He is savoring the irony: he will 'persevere in loyalty' to Cornwall while hunting down his own father for arrest.