During the Elizabethan era, fools, or more commonly known as, jesters, are used to professionally entertain others, specifically, the King. Essentially, they were hired to make mistakes. However, in William Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, the fool helps the readers understand what lies beneath the surface of King Lear. The fool is an essential part in King Lear’s character development from a fool himself, full of pride and ignorance to a man who becomes wise through the fool and self-realization. Shakespeare chooses to express the theme of the fool acting as a conscience and commentator through his and Lear’s reversal of hierarchy, Lear’s ignorant decisions, and his use of comical relief for criticism.
King Lear is a play that mixes up morality with foolishness. It is observed that the play’s wisest characters are making the foolish decisions. Lear’s greatest source of wisdom is found through the fool and his own madness. It is ironic that as Lear’s insanity increases, so does his wisdom. The reversal of role is important to the development of the play because it is not until Lear descends to his madness that he will be wise.. Therefore, Lear needed the reversal of roles in order to develop as a character. “I am better than thou art now; I am a fool, thou art nothing.” (Shakespeare 1.4.190-1). Evidently, the fool would rather stay a fool with insight, than be a blind king. Even though he is only a court jester of low status, at least he has one. By giving his kingdom away to his daughters, King Lear no longer has a status nor a
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role in society. Additionally, the fool intentionally makes Lear aware of their reversal in hierarchy when he says,
“I marvel what kin thou and thy
daughter are. They’ll have me whipped for lying, and sometimes I
am whipped for holding my peace. I
had rather be any kind o’ thing than a
Fool. And yet I would not be thee, nuncle.Thou hast pared thy wit o’
both sides and left nothing I’ th’
middle. Here comes one o’ the
parings. ” (1.4.180-6).
When Lear’s daughters, Goneril and Regan, betrayed their father and banished him from his own kingdom, Lear rips all his clothes off, symbolising that clothing is only a disguise. Lear ripping off his royal clothes leaves him naked, showing a man’s true, defenseless nature. “Thou art the thing itself; unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art. off , off, you lendings. Come, unbutton here. [tearing his garments]” (3.4.110-2). In this moment of the play, Lear fully descends to his madness, and it is not only after this that he finally makes rational, wise decisions. He finally learn to understand the difference between appearance vs reality. He begins to understand his mistake choosing hid evil daughters over Cordelia, who showed him him genuine love. In the beginning, Lear opens the play as a powerful figure in society. When he gives away his kingdom to Goneril and Regan, he does not realize that he unknowingly throws his crown onto the ground. It is not until he meets the fool that he gains insight, finally learning the truth. Lear needs the reversal of fortune in order to develop as a character.
Tragic heroes are characters of nobility; held in a higher status but suffers a reversal of fortune through their own flaws. Even the most noble men can succumb to their flaws and suffer the consequences, as illustrated in King Lear. King Lear’s tragic flaw is his
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blindness, which eventually leads to his own demise. In Act 1, Lear ineffectively divides his kingdom amongst his 3 daughters. Goneril and Regan persuades him through flattery, and Cordelia, remains truthful and tells her father that she is the only one who truly loves him. Lear fails to notice the true motives of his daughters as he banishes Cordelia and distributes his kingdom to his 2 corrupt daughters.
“With my two daughters’ dowers digest the third;
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her. I do invest you jointly with my power,
Preeminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,
With reservation of an hundred knights
By you to be sustained, shall our abode
Make with you by due turn. Only we shall retain
The name, and all th’ additions to a king. The sway,
Revenue, execution of the rest,
Beloved sons, be yours; which to confirm, this coronet part between you.” (1.1.136-47).
Lear is ignorant to the fact that he will be left with nothing if he gives everything away. He does not realize that he will be powerless without any land or title of authority to support him. “For you know, nuncle, / The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long / That it had it head bit off by it so young./ So out went the candle, and we were left darkling.” (1.4.212-14). Lear’s ignorance leads him to give away everything he has, including his daughter, Cordelia, who loves him the most. He fails to see that his ignorance leaves him powerless, where all his wealth and land rests in the hands of his two despicable daughters. In Act 2, Kent, disguised as Caius, has been put in the stocks by Goneril and Regan. “Fathers that wear rags / Do make their children blind; / But fathers that bear bags / Shall see their children kind. / Fortune, that arrant whore, / Ne’er turns the key to the poor.” (2.4.55-60.). Lear cannot believe that his daughters would put his servant in the stocks to dishonour the King. Lear feels dishonoured because that symbolises Goneril and Regan’s disrespect towards him. This contributes to his
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tragic flaw, blindness, as it demonstrates his ignorance towards the fact that his daughters are trying to get rid of him. Lear lets his eyes deceive him because of his daughter’s false expression of love. In addition, the fool says that even a blind man can “see’ the truth. If Lear had thoroughly thought of his decisions, he would not be left with nothing. King Lear is an example of a tragic hero as it is his tragic flaw, blindness, that leads to his ultimate demise.
In this play, the fool proves to be a significant character through his contribution to comic relief. He acts as the voice or reason, who cares and protects King Lear. The fool contributes comical entertainment to the play as he uses his humour to offend King Lear for his stupidity.
“That lord that counselled thee
To give away thy land,
Come place him here by me —
Do thou for him stand.
The sweet and bitter fool
Will presently appear;
The one in motley here,
The other found out there.” (1.4.138-45).
The fool suggests that Lear himself is responsible for his own stupid decisions. With the use of gestures, he points out to Lear his obvious foolishness in giving away all he had to his two undeserving daughters. Ironically, Lear is the true fool, and it is even more ironic that the fool is one of the wisest characters. The fool goes further than calling Lear a fool; he him identifies as nothing. The fool is able to insult Lear through the use of his humour and words. Because the fool acts as an entertainer, it sounds like his insults on King Lear are jokes. “If thou wert my my fool, nuncle, i’d have thee beaten for being only before thy time … Thou wouldst make a good fool.” (1.5.36, 38-39). The fool tells Lear thar if he was his fool, he
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would have been whipped for being old and unwise. Naturally, the fool means, that as one gets older, one should be wiser. He is saying that he is old enough to be wise, but nonetheless,
he is a fool. Throughout the play, the fool acts as a constant reminder of Lear’s faults. The fool also uses riddles to stress Lear about common sense.
“Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest;
Leave thy drink and they whore,
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shalt have more
Than two tens to a score.” (1.4.116-25).
This quote highlights Lear’s mistakes since the beginning. Literally, the fool tells Lear to be cautious, to not show off, to think carefully before he acts, etc. The fool uses this riddle to make Lear realize that it was a mistake to give away everything he had to his two selfish daughters. This shows the significance of the fool to Lear as he always acts as a guide and give insight to Lear. He makes Lear realize that he rushed into actions too quickly. This shows Lear’s impulsiveness which aids in his ultimate demise. Through the use of comical relief, the fool is able to criticise King Lear for his foolish decisions. If it was any other character, one would not be able to judge him, as it is dishonourable to the King. Yet, because the fool is to provide entertainment, he uses this to help Lear develop as a character.
To conclude, the role of the fool in King Lear is to provide insight and guidance to King Lear as he goes from being a fool to a wise man. The fool aids King Lear in developing into a wiser man, through their reversal in hierarchy, Lear’s development as a character, and the fool’s use of comedy that Lear was able to grow as a character in the play.
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Through the fool, Lear is able to realize the mistakes he made that led to his downfall. It is evident that the fool plays an important role in the character development of King Lear, as well as, development to the play.