the fool in king lear

[riacymru]

What is the fools major role in king lear? can anyone help? i need some critical books aswell but i cant seem to find any good ones online! please help

[Bandini]

What do you think?

[Niamh123]

What is the fools major role in king lear? can anyone help? i need some critical books aswell but i cant seem to find any good ones online! please help
the fool in king lear is definately one of the wiser characters. he constantly points out the mistakes that king lear has made and yet still serves him out of loyalty. lear lets the fool away with murder and treats him almost like the son that he never had. look at his reaction with kent after so slight a remark, but yet the fool can call him 'nuncle' and 'old man' without course. he is the voice of reason throughout the play, ironic, seeing as he is a 'fool'. he also has premonitions, eg, the storm, etc. he is able to forsee the consequences of all lears mistakes and yet lear never listens, through his own folly. it is the fools role to enlighten us to what lear's character truly is. how irrational and rah he can be and unwilling to heed good counsel even when it has been thrown into his face.

[Lozenge121]

I think The Fool represents the ability to express the truth which only he is permitted to give to Lear. King Lear obviously prioritises his views, despite the Fool not always saying what Lear wants to hear, which is shown when he listens intently and laughs along with The Fool, yet when his own daughter expresses her views, she is banished and robbed of her share of the kingdom. In many remakes of the play, the Fool and Cordelia are played by the same actor, and are never seen at the same time. It is questionable if this is done deliberately, with the only two characters telling the King the truth never appearing in the same instance. This would be quite plausible in Shakespeares time, as all roles were played by males. The Fool perhaps shows King Lears blindness to a truth which he doesnt want to hear, and he might take this from The Fool as it is his job, as opposed to when his daughter (Cordelia) tells him the truth, it hurts him.

[IrishMark]

I would argue that there is more reasoning on Shakespeare's part than simply using the same actor play Cordelia and the Fool. it could be that the fool and Cordelia are also the same person and that is why they never appear on stage at the same time. this would fit in well with the theme of Lear's blindness as he cannot see this even though it is straight in front of his eyes. furthermore, at the end of the play, once Lear is wiser and can be said to have gained real sight, upon the death of Cordelia, he says "my poor fool is dead", certainly suggestive that Shakespeare intended Cordelia and the fool to be taken as the same character.

[Amaryllis]

I would argue that there is more reasoning on Shakespeare's part than simply using the same actor play Cordelia and the Fool. it could be that the fool and Cordelia are also the same person and that is why they never appear on stage at the same time. this would fit in well with the theme of Lear's blindness as he cannot see this even though it is straight in front of his eyes. furthermore, at the end of the play, once Lear is wiser and can be said to have gained real sight, upon the death of Cordelia, he says "my poor fool is dead", certainly suggestive that Shakespeare intended Cordelia and the fool to be taken as the same character.

Wow! I've never thought of that... but now that you've mentioned it - that makes complete sense.