Edgar Tom

King Lear, Act 3, scene 3:Edgar
"Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind"


I like the characteristics of Edgar in the play especially when he disguises himself as Poor Tom. It is very funny when he keeps saying nonsense like “Do de, de, de. Sessa! Come, march to wakes and fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry” (act II, scene VI).
Edgar is really a good and filial son where he becomes serious again when he finds that his father, Gloucester, attempts suicide. He does not want his father to die though he disowns him before this. He refuses to see him in despair and wants him to live. Edgar awakes his father when he says “Thy life’s a miracle. . . . /. . ./The clearest gods . . ./. . .have preserved thee” (IV.vi.55, 73–74).
Edgar is a very encouraging son who not only stops Gloucester from thinking about death, but also shocks him into a rebirth.