2021-03-03 3:06:53 ¶ ●

## TOP 13 SONGS WITH EDMUND VIBES, AND WHICH LYRICS IN THEM SPECIFICALLY MADE ME THINK OF HIM

## (#2 WILL SURPRISE YOU)

(Did I do this clickbait thing right?)

(Let me just say- organizing these from least to most Edmund-y was a lot more difficult that I thought it would be.)

#13- Burned Out by Dodie

Why: he wants to be loved- and he is loved- but he doesn’t see it until he’s dying. “Words only get through if they’re sharp”- he’s motivated and fueled by his anger and resentment towards the world- The constant insults and degrading is what got through to him and pushed him towards getting revenge

#12- Pantsuit Sasquatch by Molly Lewis

Why: Honestly this is more my opinion than something that comes directly from the play, but had everyone just left Edmund alone he may not have decided that revenge was necessary. Sure he’d still hate the system in general, but he may not have taken everything so far if everyone acted half decently towards him.

#11- Pretender by AJR

Why: “I do not belong here. You all clearly do. But I’m a good pretender” Enough said.

#10- The Last Day of Summer from The Lightning Thief Musical (that one based off of Percy Jackson) (Specifically Luke’s part) (somehow Luke has major Edmund vibes that I didn’t notice until recently?)

Why: “It doesn’t pay to be a good kid, a good kid, a good son”- in Edmund’s case; literally. He has no inheritance. “You know this world will never be ours so long as our parents rule over the stars” and “The gods were never on our side so I think it’s time we watch them fall” (for those who never read Percy Jackson- “the gods” are their parents- they’re demigods)- anyway. Yeah I don’t think I need to explain why I put that there.

#9- Hurricane from Death Note the Musical (yeah there’s a musical based off of Death note)

Why: remember that one part where he. Like. Writes this letter that says something like “heyyy Edmund lets kill dad. Love, Edgar”? And then Gloucester was like “well I gotta execute Edgar now I guess”?

#8- Are you Satisfied? by Marina

Why: ok. We’re getting to the point on this list where I really don’t have to justify or explain these anymore.

#7- Sweet Hibiscus Tea by Penelope Scott

Why: again this is more my opinion than fact, but I feel like Edmund, pre-play, when he was a child at least, did try really hard to earn approval and respect from Gloucester. Hold on I’m going to try to find textual evidence for this. Oh right the whole “look sir I bleed” thing. Still trying to get approval. Yup. I knew I didn’t just make that up. So “Here’s the thing I can’t do anything right, try as I absolutely totally might” is justified. Now moving on- “I’m not your protagonist, I’m not even my own”- Edmund never tries to justify what he does. He never sees himself as a good person, or even a justifiable person. He goes “hey. Look. I’m the bad guy here, alright? Got that?” Leading us into the next song on this list:

#6- The Bad Guy by Thomas Sanders

Why: the stereotype for a bastard in Shakespearean times was that he’d be a plotting scheming villain sort of character. He looked around and saw that that’s what the world expects of him, and said “oh well I guess I may as well go along with it.”

#5- You’re Gonna Go Far Kid by The Offspring

Why: Edmund doesn’t do anything directly- instead he turns people against each other and watches the chaos from afar. He’s one of the few Shakespeare antagonists to commit 0 direct murders.

#4- Nothing Left to Lose from Tangled the Series (I know, right? Who’d have thought it would have good songs? But it does!)

Why: Edmund’s perfectly satisfied with being he villain- morality is of no concern to him. He wants what should have been his, had the system been more merit based and less blood based.

#3- Waiting in the Wings from Tangled the Series

Why: He’s been overlooked his whole life, that’s about it with the reason for this one.

#2- Build a Wall from Shrek the musical. YES. SHREK THE MUSICAL (remember when I said #2 will surprise you?)

Why: no need to explain this one. But also for the line in this song “the best way to conquer they say is to divide!!”, because divide and conquer is a very Edmund thing to do.

#1- Crossing the Line from (again) Tangled the Series (just. Just read the words here. Please. It’s literally his first soliloquy.)

Why: no explanation needed.

2021-03-04 6:06:01 ¶ ●

analysis of Gloucester that my AP Lit teacher told us in class, and I liked enough to decide to post it here-

So basically, Gloucester’s no idiot. And anyone with half a brain would have thought that Edmund’s whole “ohhh nooo my brother totally wrote to me saying he wants you dead!!” Would be suspicious. So at first glance, there seem to be a few problems here-

1- Why does Gloucester automatically believe that what he’s being told is true- that his son wants to kill him? His son, who never showed any sign of wanting him dead before?

2-Why doesn’t Gloucester suspect, even for a second, that Edmund’s lying, when Edmund has every reasonable motive to lie? Shouldn’t he suspect Edmund automatically?

The thing is though, he doesn’t see Edmund as having a motive to lie. It’s human nature to be more likely to believe what you hear than not to. And he doesn’t see Edmund as having a reason to be resentful.

See, the whole thing with illegitimate children not inheriting wasn’t a new thing, it was just how the world worked. To him, he was an earl because he was born into it, and random citizens weren’t nobility because they weren’t born into it. They all just accepted their place in society- you don’t see citizens, during a stable government’s reign, fighting the system or trying to become nobility.

Same worked for bastards. To Gloucester, the same way the average random citizen felt no resentment and had no motive to commit treason, to him Edmund had no reason to feel resentment or try to take on more power or status than he was born with. So he didn’t suspect that Edmund had any reason to lie to him or frame his brother for attempted patricide. Because he was so caught up in the system that he couldn’t imagine how the system might be harmful to those who don’t benefit from it.

(Tbh same applies to modern society and we can get all political here, but this is a Shakespeare blog not a politics blog)