Twelfth Night Feste The Fool

The part of the fool is played to the hilt by Orgon. Throughout the first three acts he is such a domineering idiot that he is not even worth pitying. He, along with his mother, play the part of the blind zealot. What he chooses to call Christian love leads him to punish his family and himself because he takes away their freedom of choice and integrity and his own property. But, Orgon is not content to follow

“Twelfth Night” presents many characters who can be regarded as foolish, whether it be through their illogical declarations of love, idiotic nature or characteristic drunkenness indicative of the festival from which it is based on. However, none more so than the “puritan” Malvolio, who deludes himself completely throughout the play presenting him as the “real fool”.

Although he does not make any profound remarks, he seems to be the wisest person of all the characters in the comedy. Viola remarks this by saying, "This fellow's wise enough to play the fool"(III.i.61). Since Feste is a licensed fool, his main role in Twelfth Night is to speak the truth. This is where the humor lies, his truthfulness. In one example he proves Olivia to be a true fool by asking her what she was mourning about. The point Feste tried to make was that Olivia was mourning for a person whose soul is in heaven.

-Ironically, Lear truly is the fool in this story, and even more ironically the Fool is one of the wisest characters.

   In most Shakespearean romantic comedies, there is a character that plays the part of a truth-teller.  And in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night it is no different. Feste, a clown, through his mixed up words and songs enlightens the other characters whilst playing the role of the truth-teller.  Through aiding the Duke with his patience, helping Viola with her love problems, and having a major role in Malvolio's downfall, Feste holds one of the primary parts of the play.

Feste’s character in this scene. Feste breaks the stereotypes set for him as a fool and proves

Interactions between Feste and Olivia exemplify the clash among social classes by exhibiting dialogue between two characters with very different positions in the hierarchy. Olivia, a beautiful noble, is widely respected and courted Orsino, a nobleman. Feste, on the other hand, falls on the opposite side of the spectrum. As Olivia’s hired fool he has little wealth and lives off of Olivia’s pay and tips those he can make laugh. So, in the context of the time period, it is already abnormal that a serious interaction is taking place between these two characters. Societal norms of the time period dictate that Feste should fear Olivia and regard himself as the lesser. Shakespeare’s ridicule of this social hierarchy manifests in this

In Twelfth Night, the fools are the ones that control the comedy and humor in the play. They assist in the make believe game and fool around with characters who "evade reality or rather realize a dream". In Twelfth Night, Feste, Maria and Sir Toby are the fools that make the comedy work in many senses. They create the confusion through humor and it all works out in the end to make William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night a comical play of his time and today. In Twelfth Night, the clown and the fools are the ones who combine humor and wit to make the comedy work, just like in many comical plays in today’s society. Modern audiences would laugh from the foolery caused by these characters while the comic truth is unwinding to build up this comedy.

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,

expediency. In act 1 sc ii, He uses his insight to decieve his father, Edmund, Goneril and Regan! He decieves his father by

“Then you are mad indeed, if you be no better in your wits than a

Yet no one seems to listen to the Fool. When he teaches his speech, Kent calls it "nothing" (1.4. ). The Fool constantly rattles off advice. Yet this advice goes to the wind. This emphasizes the stupidity and madness in the upside-down world surrounding the Fool.

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.

In Elizabethan times, fools were used as entertainment in royal courts, with a specific role to entertain the king. However, in “King Lear”, the fool plays a much more significant role than comedic relief, as he, ironically, is able to provide insight into human nature and draw correlations between the play and everyday life. This is most evident when he talks to King Lear about what he has done wrong or what he has overlooked.

In William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night, it is ironic how many times the fool is said to be dishonest, when, in fact, his role proves entirely opposite. Though sometimes the characters do not realize his hidden messages, the reader can instantly comprehend Feste's figurative language, which is evident in every scene in which the fool appears. Whether he is singing to Orsino, arguing with Malvolio, or playing around with Viola, Feste always manages to sneak in a few symbolic foretokens before his exit. His keen eye and fast wit help him to actively partake in the portrayal of the story, however, the fool is merely present to express that which cannot be fully expressed through the