Frustration

Class was fun today, and it was interesting reading some classic Shakespeare.  To be completely honest, i've never read Shakespeare before, so this was very new to me.  He has some incredible skill in detailing speech within a text.  Briefly we spoke upon a certain speech that Edmund spoke during the story.  The speech was fueled by his frustration of being a "bastard" son. The speech is thought provoking and complex in emotion. Edmund states in scene two,

 "Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund As to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate! Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper: Now, gods, stand up for bastards!"

This blog for me is simply a question, what does Edmund really want. Out of the two acts we read this was a driving question for me.  It seems that he simply wants revenge for some kind, or is he trying to make some kind of point. In class we spoke of the various characters, who, would hide themselves under false persona's for the possible reason that they could not show their true selves. Is Edmund speaking against the facade that these characters put up?  Is there a major secret of these royal characters that we do not know about? I know my question is very simple, but it is left unanswered because it seems that we did not reach a legitimate conclusion in class. Tell me what you think!

P.S. I commented on Jasmine's "Why not Cordelia?"