King Lear Fool/Audience
Although the Fool may seem strange to us, an Elizabethan audience would have greeted the Fool with great familiarity. The position was a historic one in Shakespeare's time, with the monarch appointing an official court jester (Fool). In conventional drama of the day he was a hold over from morality plays, with his role-becoming classic. His role had established characteristics and responsibilities. Among them the Fool had license to roam the stage and interact with the audience often joking and talking directly to them. He had great popularity with the audience of the time, with his role a bridge between the action on stage and the audience's own experience. Today it may be thought of as 'low comedy', but in its day it was welcomed. Shakespeare exploited the aspect of the Fool to make him a major character in the play as well as a commentator on the action, much the way the chorus functioned in a Greek tragedy. King Lear appealed to all socio-economic groups through its characters in Shakespeare's
Shakespeare does a great job illustrating the saying "only fools and children tell the truth", through the Fool's character. The Fool is loyal and honest to his master but also very critical of Lear's actions. "...thou must needs wear my coxcomb" (Act 1, Sc 4), states that Lear is a fool for dividing his kingdom in the light of a ridiculous love test. The Fools bitterness towards Lear's actions can partly be understood by considering critic Foake's suggestions that he acts as Cordelia's representative. A truth teller like his youngest daughter, he pines away when she goes to France. Many of the Fool's speeches are designed to alert Lear to his daughters' true character, "...and did the third a blessing against his will" (Act 1, Sc 4). However unlike Cordelia, the Fool is never punished for his honesty. We can perceive that then in the first act the Fool appears to speak of reality to Lear who seems to be 'blinded' by the flatteries of his two older daughters. He tacitly insinuates through his actions
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 677
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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