Question

1. Explain who Tom O'Bedlam is.

Answer 1

1. Tom o' Bedlam is a character who figures in several anonymous 17th century poems, where he is presented as a wandering beggar who has been discharged from the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlem, a London asylum. In King Lear Edgar adopts the persona of Tom o' Bedlam.

2. At the same time, the storm embodies the awesome power of nature, which forces the powerless king to recognize his own mortality and human frailty and to cultivate a sense of humility for the first time. The storm may also symbolize some kind of divine justice, as if nature itself is angry about the events in the play.