Ultimately, the sense that one has in these scenes is
of evil turning inward and devouring itself. As long as Lear and
Gloucester served as victims, Goneril and Regan were united. Now,
though, with power concentrated in their hands, they fall to squabbling
over Edmund’s affections. Edmund himself has come into his own,
taking command of an army and playing the two queens off against each
other. It is suddenly clear that he, more than anyone else, will benefit
from Lear’s division of the kingdom. Gloucester’s bastard may, indeed,
shortly make himself king.
