The fool has a very important role in King Lear. The role of the fool is to entertain the King and his royal subjects, and to make them laugh. King Lear and the fool have a good relationship. The fool can tell him jokes and have a good time, but only the fool can poke fun at the King. Anyone else would get their head cut off.
In King Lear the fool functions as a joker or jester. He lets the reader know what is going on in a more casual way. On stage, the fool would look pretty goofy. He would be wearing old clothes that are very colorful. I think he would look like a clown. I think the movie character that the fool best relates to would be “˜The Mask’ played by Jim Carrey. I say this because Jim Carrey himself is goofy, and in The Mask he pokes fun at people.
In conclusion, my opinion of the fool is that he has no life. His only purpose is to make the King happy. If he succeeds he feels good about himself. But if he fails, that is the worst thing he could feel and he is sad and angry at himself.
References
Shakespeare for Dummies by John Doyle and Ray Lischner; IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. 1999. Pages 87-89, 276-277.
Shakespeare Made Easy by Alan Durband, Hutchinson and Co., Ltd. 1986. Pages 67, 69.
