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Edmund is one of the most controversial characters.His peculiar change of heart, rare among Shakespearean villains, is enough to make the audience wonder, amid the carnage, whether Edmund's villainy sprang not from some innate cruelty but simply from a thwarted, misdirected desire for the familial love that he witnessed around him.He is an excellent schemer, a cunning character eager to seize any opportunity and willing to do anything to achieve his goals with no feelings for others.His treachery is not merely for self-interest; it is a conscious rebellion against the social order that has denied him the same status as Gloucester's legitimate son, Edgar.He, in fact, desires the status equal to Edgar, the legitimate son of Gloucester.After this ambiguous statement, he seems to repent of his villainy and admits to having ordered Cordelia's death...

Edmund is one of the most controversial characters. Of all of the play’s villains,
Edmund is the most complex and sympathetic. He is an excellent schemer, a
cunning character eager to seize any opportunity and willing to do anything to
achieve his goals with no feelings for others. . Edmund is an illegitimate son,
wishing for power and land denied to him as well as a desire for the recognition
denied to him by his status as a bastard. . That is why his betrayal against the
system is not just against the existing system but also against the social norms. His
treachery is not merely for self-interest; it is a conscious rebellion against the social
order that has denied him the same status as Gloucester’s legitimate son, Edgar.
“Now, gods, stand up for bastards,” Edmund commands, but in fact he depends not
on divine aid but on his own creativity (1.2.22). He, in fact, desires the status
equal to Edgar, the legitimate son of Gloucester.
Only at the close of the play does Edmund show a flicker of weakness. Mortally
wounded, he sees that both Goneril and Regan have died for him, and whispers,
“Yet Edmund was beloved” (5.3.238). After this ambiguous statement, he seems to
repent of his villainy and admits to having ordered Cordelia’s death. His peculiar
change of heart, rare among Shakespearean villains, is enough to make the
audience wonder, amid the carnage, whether Edmund’s villainy sprang not from
some innate cruelty but simply from a thwarted, misdirected desire for the familial
love that he witnessed around him. Hence, his final repentance for Cordelia’s end
makes the audience feel sympathetic to this villain.