The Role of the Fool - King Lear

by Thomas Baek

The Contributor of Appearance vs Reality‘All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.’ (1.4.147-148)‘That sir which serves and seeks for gain, And follows but for form, Will pack when it begins to rain And leave thee in the storm.’ (2.4.85-92),

The Criticizer of Lear'I am better than thou art now: I am a fool, thou art nothing.' (1.4.190-191) ‘this fellow hath banish'd two on's daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will.’(1.4.99-101)

The Teacher of Lear‘Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest … two tens to a score.’ (1.4.115-125). ‘That lord that counseled thee To give away thy land ... The sweet and bitter fool will presently appear— The one in motley here, The other found out there.’ (1.4.138-145)

The Role of the Fool

King Lear

Not only criticism is necessary to Lear, but also he needs a teacher to learn. The Fool tells what the truth and justice is, he explains the situations with his humorous explanations, and he tells the real facts, so that Lear is able to understand why the situations are happening.

Explanations

Criticizing Lear is the most important role in the play. Throughout the play, he criticizes what Lear has done wrong, banishment of Cordelia is unfair and criticize that Lear is too dependent to his daughters. By the Fool's Criticism, Lear is able to open his eyes, and he can be an insightful character of the play later on.

There is a role for the readers as well. The Fool helps to understand the appearance of the characters in the play and the reality of them. This is really important for the tragedies to let the readers understand why the bad things happen and tells us the things we should not do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJdk5kOcds&feature=youtu.be&t=3m49s

Vidoes of the Fool