Although they are both aware that fate does not control their actions, they handle misfortune differently. When Edmond encounters misfortune, he is inclined to protest. In the lines “How evil is my fortune, that I must repent to be righteous?” ”, Edmund asks a rhetorical question (Shakespeare 117). His choice to use a rhetorical question shows his awareness of his unhappiness. His lack of action to remedy it, however, shows that he is satisfied with the actions he is taking. Edmund later does the same thing when he notices Edgar with more luck. He asks: “But who are you/who has this fortune on me?” to Edgar (Shakespeare 185). Again, he uses a rhetorical question to comment on his lack of fortune. When he is “sick of fortune,” he only fights back. Edgar, for his part, when he abandons everything to flee the law, comments "the lowest and most dejected thing of fortune/Stops in hope, [...] the worst comes back to laughter" (Shakespeare 129). His words prove that he has an optimistic view of misfortune and that he believes that he can still change it. Again, they differ in their attitudes towards