King Lear Stupidity Essay Research Paper There

King Lear Stupidity Essay, Research Paper

There has always been a perpetual jester in a kingly court. Often he has

provided entertainment via his superficial jokes and has won the good graces of

his master by creating an atmosphere of ebullience and joviality. Rarely has

there existed a fool of such vivacious and rudiment cruelty, practicality and

unprecedented common sense as the fool of William Shakespeare.s King Lear.

This fool is blessed with a mellifluous voice of nonsensical reason, which he

uses throughout the play as a function of perpetuating Lear.s madness to the

point of a complete metamorphosis and the conception of clarity of mind. The

fool.s original and supposed role is that of entertainer; although Lear.s

Fool is a more convoluted version, as he is an ironical paradox of love, cruelty

and is filled with didactic perspicacity. One is able to see his practicality,

as well as his affection for Lear when he urges the King to come out of the

storm: .Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters blessing.. (III, ii, 11) The

Fool primarily recognizes the severity of the storm, and advises Lear to forget

his pride, so that he may enjoy a comfortable surrounding. .Here.s a night

pities neither wise men nor fools. (III, ii, 12) is the subsequent line, which

contains a subjective insult; whereby the distinction of who is the wise man and

who is the fool is dubitable. A direct affront to the King, one that is immersed

in truth and sagacity, occurs in Act I, Scene IV when the Fool proclaims to

Lear: .I had rather be any kind o.thing than a fool, and yet I would not be

thee, nuncle.. (I, iv, 176) This comment is contrived due to Lear.s folly in

partitioning the kingdom, his relinquishment of his land, and the sanction for

his daughters to take power. The Fool attempts to make Lear ascertain his folly,

but it is too early for such cognizance. When he realizes this, the Fool tells

Lear: .I am better than thou art now. I am a fool, thou art nothing.. (I,

iv, 184) By pointing out his superiority to the King, he cruelly underscores

Lear.s senility, while returning to the continuous theme of .nothing,.

constructed wholly by Lear. The gratuitous quality of his comments, as well as

Lear.s seeming disregard for them and his continuous insistence of treating

the Fool as though he were his child accentuate the Fool.s cruelty. The Fool

acts as a way to quantify the king.s sanity. Lear.s madness (increases)

overtly throughout the play, and the fool.s presence emphasizes the moments

where an alteration in Lear.s state of mind in revealed. At the end of Act 1,

Lear almost strikes the fool after he tells the king: .Thou shouldst not have

been old till thou hadst been wise.. (I, v, 41) The Fool, however, is under

the aegis of the gods as discussed earlier, so Lear would in fact be mad if he

were to abuse him. Lear suddenly backs off, revealing a semblance of some

sanity, and then professes: .Let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!. (I,

v, 43) In a similar declaration, Lear says: .O Fool, I shall go mad.. (II,

ii, 475) after he speaks of committing revenge upon his daughters. The Fool has

been silent for some time, as it seems that Lear owns the necessary insight to

perceive the future – a role which the Fool has previously made his own.

Lear.s fool is untouchable as the insightful, wise and holy fool who is under

the protection of the gods or some prophetic powers, and is the .all licensed

jester.. Child-like in his character, loved, pampered and indulged he enjoys

the King.s good graces despite his continuous devastating remarks. He often

tells Lear .I.ll teach you. or .you were foolish and still are.. This

omnipresent exhibition of superiority of a jester over his king could be

punished; instead it is embraced. The fool talks to the king as though Lear was

his fool: Fool: Dost thou know the difference, my boy, between a bitter fool and

a sweet one. Lear: No, Lad, teach me. Lear joins in the game by allowing it and

humors the Fool; which equates him with being the Fool.s entertainer, and

therefore the Fool.s fool. Despite this twisted relationship, Lear also acts

as the guardian of the Fool. In one scene, Goneril asks Oswald if her .father

[struck her] gentleman for chiding of his fool.. (I, iii, 1.) Lear institutes

physical violence to protect the precious fool; a severe act of rebuttal in

response to a rather harmless admonition. However, Since only a madman or an

evil person would think of striking or scolding the Fool, it may be assumed that

Shakespeare wished to emphasize that Oswald and Goneril are of that nature. Lear

sometimes threatens to hurt the Fool: .An you lie, sirrah, we.ll have you

whipped.. (I, iv, 172) but those threats are never manifested. This is also

the first mention of the Fool in the play, which emphasizes his importance and

favoritism from the king, as he obviously enjo

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать