Character disappearance is such a mystery, it leaves cliff hangers yet it also creates theories. In the play King Lear, the fool acted as Lear's conscience, served as comic relief, and wisdom. Even though all of these traits are amazing the fool disappears. His disappearance is unclear because he states he will always stay by Lear. The disappearance of the fool shows he is useless now. The fool left because he became hopeless, cannot bear to see Lear as an actual fool and the fool cannot provide any wisdom anymore. The fool acted as Lear's conscience, he would let Lear decide what he wants to do then tell Lear what he did was right or wrong. A quote that shows this is "If I gave them all my living, I'd keep my coxcombs myself."(Act 1, Scene …show more content…
He tries to prolong this because he does not want to see a great king turn into a mad fool. When Lear starts to realize what he has done to Cordelia was wrong, the fool tries to keep his spirits high by telling a joke. "Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell?"(Act 1, Scene 5, line 23). This is supposed to be funny because the Fool has been shown to be very wise so far. Lear expects and actual answer from him but instead he replies with me neither which should catch Lear off guard and make him laugh. Comic relief is major in this play because if there wasn't any Lear would of turned insane quicker due to his mind always being stressed. Even though comic relief slows down Lear's descent into insanity it is bound to happen. The fool disappears in the end because he could not be able to bear seeing Lear like a mad fool. What makes him think this is when he experiences it firsthand, you can see by this quote, " It shall be done; I will arraign them straight. [To Edgar] Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer; [To the Fool] Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she foxes!"(Act 3, Scene 6 line 20-22). King Lear has finally gone mad and become a fool. You can see he is becoming a fool because he does this for comedy. You can also see he has become mad because he tries …show more content…
He gave the audience a little wisdom but he was mostly depicted as king Lear's old self. I say this because due to them having a role reversal, it should also mean the Lear was wise back in his day. A wise thing that the fool says is shown by this quote, "Lear's shadow"(Act 1, Scene 4, line 220). This is wise because he wants to remind Lear that he is not the powerful king still and that he is just a faded image of what King Lear use to be. He wants Lear to think about how much power he lost when he gave it all away. The fools wisdom is key to Lear because he teaches him lessons so he can become wise too. This is all washed away by his insanity. The fool disappears because he cannot provide wisdom to Lear anymore. In these quotes you can see the Fool is trying to teach Lear a lesson and share his wisdom but the king doesn't take him seriously and decides to say that himself is the madman. "Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a yeoman?"(Act 3, Scene 6, line 9-10) " A king, a king!"(Act 3, Scene 6, line 11)Due to Lear's senility, it would be useless to give him advice because he wouldn't remember or just wouldn't be
The entire play is built around one man’s laziness. As the play commences one may question why Lear would decide to prematurely give up his kingdom. It is quite possible that he transferred his authorities before it was
The first time the audience is allowed to see how knowledgeable the fool is when he states, “For taking one’s part that’s out of favor. Nay, an thou canst not smile as the wind sits, thou'lt catch cold shortly” (I.iv.89). The fool may be considered just a figure of comic relief in the court system, but he knows how to keep on the right side of the law. In society, people who live in non-democratic systems, like that of a monarchy, must be careful when sharing their political beliefs. The fool knows this, choosing to side with Lear despite some people’s demises, as he is no longer king and leadership has shifted into the hands of his daughters who show no interest in the well-being of their father. In their kingdom, common folk need to be careful regarding showing too many opinions. In this way, the fool proves to have common sense, and will later proved to be intelligent as well.
King Lear's fool is undoubtedly one of the wisest characters in the play. He is not only able to accurately analyze a situation which many other characters are blind to, but he is also able to foreshadow the actions of many characters and many other incidents to come. The main instruction the fool gives to the king is to beware of doing things that are unnatural, such as giving his inheritance, (splitting his kingdom among his daughters) to his daughters before he his dead. By doing this unnaturally, Lear must face many adverse consequences, such as losing his identity, self-worth, and respect from his daughters.
The fact that King Lear is not aware that he is Lear further proves that he is loosing his mind. He keeps asking the Fool if Lear would act the same way that he is acting. Lear’s mental decay is a cause of chaos because he is the ruler of England, and if the ruler is not able to successfully process thoughts and ideas, much less comprehend who he is, then the country will not be able to run smoothly, and as a result, chaos will ensue. This proves that chaos is more powerful that authority because the chaos within Lear is overpowering the authority within Lear, which causes his mental decay. In the following scene, Lear begins to notice that he is in fact descending into madness. Lear’s realization of his madness is triggered by the Fool’s line, “Thou should not have been old till thou hadst been wise” (1.5.41-42) The Fool’s line relates to the idea that when people age, they become old and wise. But the Fool believes that Lear is not wise, and therefore should not be old. Lear hears this line and
Lear has been driven mad because of his own poor choices and decisions he has taken in his life. His blindness to Gonoril and Regan’s false flattery and his inability to see Cordelia’s real affection has led to his insanity. When he goes mad, the turmoil in his mind reflects the disorder that has descended upon his kingdom. However, his madness teaches him humility and provides him with important nuggets of wisdom by reducing him to his bare humanity, stripped of all royal pretensions. There is a dramatic value in Lear's madness whose roots lie in his moral and spiritual defects, and the cure is his moral regeneration which has come late. Madness is a central theme in King Lear’s characters between the ones that act in an insane way that are the wisest, and the sane characters that act in a foolish and unreasonable way. Lear’s madness is real compared to Edgar’s which is feigned as Hamlet’s. Edgar who has been the victim of a brother’s treachery perfectly enacts the role of a fool in his
In conclusion, the disappearance of the Fool from many productions diminishes both King Lear and Lear greatly. One sees the importance of the Fool to Lear early in the play. He plays the role of teacher, advisor and commentator. Also the Fool sheds light on Lear. One can see the mercy of Lear
King Lear is a character who displays a great deal of anger throughout the course of the play, he often allows his anger to take over him. A lot of things that are said and during the course of the play are due to Lear’s anger which is a leading factor for his insanity. Lear loses his temper during a love test when his daughter does not give the answer that he was looking for, he disowns her calling Cordelia his, “sometime daughter,” (1.1.119) and gives her share of the land to her sisters. This in turn leads to his insanity because in his blind rage he does not acknowledge the sincerity behind Cordelia’s veiled words; unlike her sisters she does not try to flatter her father in order to receive more land, whereas her sisters have their secrets agendas and do not truly love Lear. In addition to this, King Lear is also enraged when the Earl of Kent who is a loyal follower of Lear, goes against the banishment of Cordelia and speaks up in favour of the youngest daughter. Lear is livid with Kent going against him and banishes Kent, as well reminding him that, “if on the tenth day
Lear's entry into the play is similar to Gloucester's such that, through close analysis of the dialogue between the King and his daughters, the reader gains awful knowledge of the arrogance and ignorance that will soon become his downfall . The drama of his opening speech is at all points excessive; the reader discerns a man that is long accustomed to being listened to and indulged in every way. In a moral
In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, the Fool is introduced as an lower-class character as he acts carefree and speaks in riddles. However, the Fool’s role in the play is not as plain and simple as it seems. Considering the Fool’s excellent relationship to Lear, he plays a significant role in supporting Lear’s sanity, thus he has the time to figure out the truths. The Fool takes on the important role of sustaining Lear’s sanity by staying loyal to Lear, providing comic relief to Lear, and teaching Lear of his faults.
One of the most famous and comedic lines the Fool says in King Lear is “Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise” referring to our societal assumption that old people are wise. (1.5.38-39). But the Fool bluntly points out that King Lear is not wise in how he splits his kingdom. King Lear’s fatal mistake is that he believes that someone’s love can be measured by words. In Act 3 Scene 2, King Lear has his pivot point where he begins to learn about real love. He is old, and now is becoming wise as his “wits begin to turn” (3.2.66). Right after he declares his descent into madness, he asks his Fool how he is doing—the first time Lear has shown general curiosity for someone’s well being. As he assumes this motherly role of taking
to foolery by their silly acts as well. There are two types of fool in
King Lear is an actor who can only play the king. Thus, after he has abdicated his throne, passing the authority to his posterity, he still demands respect and power, which he is unable to claim from any of his former subjects, even his daughters. And as a king with no kingdom, he is an actor with no role to play, the most loathsome of all conditions. Lear himself realizes this, and in scene 4, he cries: "Why, this is not Lear" (4.204). And later in the same speech, he says: "Who is it that can tell me who I am?" (4.209). Lear is stuck in his role as king, unable to act in any other manner and powerless to provide for himself, causing the ultimate downfall of he and his
In working so hard to project this persona, Lear is untrue to himself, and loses sight of who he is. Even the scheming Goneril and Regan notice that their father “hath ever but/ slenderly known himself.” (I, i, 282-283) This makes Lear a very insecure person, which explains in part why he insists that his daughters stroke his ego before receiving any of his kingdom. His identity crisis is highlighted when he asks who can verify who he is, and the response by the Fool is: “Lear’s shadow.” (I, iv, 251) At this point in the play, Lear is sane and is still the monarch of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Fool’s insightful comment insists that Lear is nothing more than a shadow of his true self. Plato would say that he is trapped in the shadow world of the cave, unable to grasp the true forms.[5] This self-imposed persona estranges Lear from his audience; his vulnerability as a human is masked by his rash behavior and unjust decisions. Bloom says that “before he goes mad, Lear’s consciousness is beyond ready understanding; his lack of self-knowledge, blended with his awesome authority, makes him unknowable by us.”[6] Without understanding a character, an audience is most definitely unable to sympathize with him, and here we run into a potentially problematic issue. Aristotle believes that
King Lear an imprudent, old man symbolizes selfishness like no other. What is most daunting is the fact that he is adamantly loyal to appearances and ranking in life. He carries a title which most can not even dream of attaining, but wants to give up the position and all the responsibilities that follow it. “ Know that we have divided/ In three our kingdom, and `tis our fast intent/ To shake all cares and business from our age” (1.1.37-39). It is quite understandable if he just wanted to end his reign as king, but it’s another thing when he also wants to bask in the glory of the title and be treated like he still owns it. This egotistical attitude of his is more annoying than anything else, for he brought forth all his problems upon himself, and also unto others. His most arrogant moment is at the very beginning of the play, when he demands his daughters to profess their love for him openly, “which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (1.1.53). The use of his words in this quote is disgusting, it exudes pride, self-importance, and flattery. It’s because of these very words, that Cordelia denied him his right to the, all so selfish public display of love. Although Lear made costly mistakes throughout the play, his love to Cordelia rang
Although he is meant to be the fool of the play, he is actually the wisest of them all. However his other personality, which is kept deep down until near the end of the play, is feisty and dark which is confirmed when he says,