Shakespeare repeatedly lets his audience know that Edmund is a bastard. Not only is he a bastard, but he behaves like a fool from the beginning to the end of the play. Edmund is one of the first characters we meet, and although Gloucester, his father, does not want to harm or offend Edmund, he does. Gloucester introduces Edmund to a friend and Shakespeare introduces him to the audience. “Although his valet came into the world with something saucy before he was called, yet his mother was beautiful, there was some good acting to be had, and the son of a bitch must be recognized.” It's clear that Edmund is reminded more often than necessary that he's a bastard. Edmund is a jerk for a reason. Shakespeare gives readers a glimpse of what Edmund thinks about this in his first of many soliloquies. “Why should I suffer the scourge of custom and allow the curiosity of nations to deprive me when I am twelve or fourteen moonlights behind a brother? Why bastard? Why base? When my dimensions are very compact, my spirit as generous, and my form as true, as madame honest, why do they mark us as base? With baseness? Bastardy, baseness, baseness. Edmund's motives against his father and brother are clear. Edmund being the second born knows that Edgar has primogeniture. For Edmund to gain land or power for Gloucester, Edgar must be out of the picture. "Well, legitimate Edgar, I must have your