Historically, Elizabethan jesters wore bright colours, bells and carried a mask. This mask represents the two faces of a man, a joker and a a wise man. Like the Fool in “king Lear”, he is represented through these two faces, making him a fool. The King however is also represented through these two faces as well. The fool in “king Lear” is used to out do those of higher class with his rhyming schemes and his joking wits. The fool enlightens the audience with the reality of how Lear’s thoughts and actions appear. The Fool is present from the gain of royalty to the loss of everything, an unwanted reject whom nobody wants. The Fools role of being a wise man and a foolish man are paradoxical; those who are rendered as wise are truly foolish and those discussed as foolish and intact wise.
The Fool, who is supposed to be a “Fool” is in fact the wise character throughout his appearance in the play. Although treated like a fool, he defiantly did not act like one. He remained loyal to the one who never saw the truth, Lear. Although pretending to be the fool, he sees the truth plainly. He shows insights that others do not see, wisdom and common sense. He shows his sharp wit through his carefree, joking manner. His words and his rhymes have deeper meaning to them. The Fool came into the play right after the division of the Kingdom, which gives an important placement, the beginning of the foolishness. The Fool first sees the truth in Gonriel and Regan and their evil plan. He knows they will lie and will take over the kingdom leaving the King, their father, with nothing. He knows they are evil and will “have me whipped for speaking true”. He addressees Lear as the “fool” because “All thy titles thou hast given away”(I,iv,141) and calls Lear the true fool just copying the fools way, “For wise man are grown foppish,/ And know boot how their wits to wear,/ Their manners are so apish.”(I,iv, 158-160).
The Essay on Old Wise Men
Do all old men truly possess wisdom because they can see their death on the horizon? Wisdom is a valued trait in our society today. In both King Lear by William Shakespeare and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, the main characters were able to acquire wisdom after undergoing trials and tribulations. However, both of these men began their quest as completely different people. Morrie always ...
By giving away all one has, the Fool tells Lear of his unwise decision and plainly points out the obvious foolishness of the choice to give up the kingdom “Though hast little wit in thy bald crown then thou/ gav’st thy golden one away.”(I,iv,154-155).
In the Fools speeches, he foreshadows the future by showing his common sense. The Fool says,”Learn more then thou trowest”(I,iv,115) and “Set less than thou trowest”(I,iv,116), meaning, do not believe everything you hear and give everything away in one roll of the dice to your daughters. It is foolish and reckless and the Fool urges the king to realize that. The fool is wise, yet no one can see that but the audience. He predicted the consequences what was going to happen although no one listened. He is the one whom remained wise and never lacked sense or judgement, and not the foolish one but the wise man himself.
Lear is a King who ought to be wise, knowledgeable, and powerful, is in fact the fool. He is the ruler who has governed Britain for a long time , is now getting old and has to divide his kingdom to his ‘loving’ daughters, but the most land, to the most loving “which of you shall we say doth love us most?/ That we our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge.”(I,i,50-52).
Lear foolishly gives his daughters motivation to confess their false love for the greater land. He wants to feel loved by the words of another rather then what true internal love is. He fails to see the true love by Cardelia and his own Fool. He misjudges everyone around him, even when they were faithful and honest like Cordelia, who refuses to ponder to his whims, “Here I disclaim all my paternal care,/ Propinquity and property of blood,/ And as a stranger to my hear and me/ Hold thee from this forever.”(I,i,112-115).
The Essay on King Lear Fools Character
Many directors argue over the importance of the character of the Fool in the play. Discuss whether or not you feel the Fool is essential to the play or whether or not the character could be removed without damaging the overall impact. Make a reference to the text to support your ideas. William Shakespeares genius came from how closely he intertwined the two seemingly mutually exclusive realms to ...
Lear incorrectly goes ahead and believes that what one says about love towards him, the more they must truly love him. Cordelia loves “your majesty/ According to my bond;”(I,i,91-92), which results Lear in his foolish decision to disinherit her at once.He goes ahead and treats her priorly before thinking about what she really means about her “bond”. Lear addresses Cordelia as “whom Nature is ashamed”(I,i,211).
The parent turning on the child upset the natural order of things leading into foolish decisions. When faced with his mistakes and being called a “fool” by the Fool himself, Lear still does not come to see that he may be the true fool. The King foolishly shows that power is stronger then love.
After being called a fool and making foolish decisions, Lear begin to realize his own mistake leading him into hot his own chaos and madness. Lear has showed the audience and his family that he is truly blind to the truth, and a “fool”. He has showed false realization of love from his jester and his daughter. From the disinhertiance of Cordelia, actions are now being mirrored as Gonriel and Regan, disown Lear, rejecting him of power now that they have what they wanted. This has caused Lear to reach his state of disorder. As his daughter who claimed she loved him “more then word can wield the matter,”(I,i,54), Gonriel rejects him of all his knights and curses his loving Gonriel as a monster. These “unnatural hags” have faced Lear into seeing the that they never did love them and that he had made a foolish decision to give them the kingdom. The unnatural storm has resulted in Lear being alone with him and his foolish thoughts from the treatment of his daughters. The epiphany is reached when Lear states his “wits begin to turn/…I have one part in my heart/ Thats sorry yet for thee.”(III,iii,72-73).
This is a sign that Lear has to seen the truth of true love and a true fool, himself. This is the is now the Fools time to leave the play leaving Lear to be his own Fool. This has significance in showing how Lear made foolish decisions and could not see the Fool’s wisdom in his appearance in the play. He tries to teach Lear his personal flaws and his denial for responsibility were foolish and can no longer help him. The Fool made Lear realize how he is just “old and foolish”(IV,vii,84).
The Term Paper on King Lear Fool Shakespeare Gloucester
AN Insight Into The Consciuosness Of King AN Insight Into The Consciuosness Of King Lear The images of sight given, taken, or abused resonate deeply in King Lear from Kent's first imperative, "See better, Lear' (I. i. 158), to the painful images of a stumbling, eyeless Gloucester. Such imagery, drawn both dramatically and verbally, illustrates well the theme of consciousness. Consciousness in this ...
The Fool leaves Lear to bare with his foolishness and his realization of what he has done to make himself “nothing”.
The Fool and King Lear have show to be at opposites throughout the play, the Fool is wise one and the King is the foolish one. The Fool is the master player of the game, yet he remains on the outside of it. He watches everyones moves and takes what he sees back to Lear. He is a true loyal friend to Lear but Lear is the fool and can not see that in him. He refuses to see what true love is, making him into a fool. Lear does not understand he is a fool like the Fool does until the Fool disapears. As a result of the foolish mistakes made by Lear, he suffers, being left by the ones who loved him. The play “King Lear” is a play where the Fools are wise men and the Wise men are fools.