How does Shakespeare present the character of 'Edmund' in King Lear?

Example paragraph in essay:One of the ways in which Edmund is presented in King Lear is as a product of a failing class system in the play. Upon his first soliloquy, Edmund is calling out to the God's and questioning his place in the world as a bastard child "why brand they us with base, base bastardy" reading this so early on in the play the reader is inclined to feel sympathetic for Edmund as he is the product of a failing class system. This is reinforced in the first stage directions in the play where the first thing we see is someone "bearing a coronet, then Lear" we see the crown before the King himself, showing us the importance of power and authority. Therefore it is only natural surely that Edmund becomes a deceitful villain because that is what he was branded as being a bastard child? It is agreeable, but an alternative meaning could be derived when looking upon the context of Machiavelli's 'The Prince' at the time, gaining popularity as it encouraged people to be cunning and manipulative to gain power. This is broken down by Shakespeare in the Battle between Edgar and Edmund as the good beats evil, therefore despite how messy the ending of the play is in terms of a resolution, the sub-plot has a clearer message. "Gods stand up for bastards" proves to be unhelpful for Edmund, and Shakespeare presented him in this way as so cunning and deceitful to show how deceit will get you nowhere but also to comment on society through the Fool's license as mentioned by critic Mack Shakespeare himself has been given "the power to see truth, and can convey it only through poetry" suggesting that perhaps Edmund didn't win the battle and had to be killed off because he represented opposition to the social order at the time.