The Fool Flashcards
What type of narrator is teh fool
intradiegetic narrator - narrates from within the story like a greek chorus
he lacks omniscience, which highlights how unusually
supposed to provide comic relief but actually provides susception of the world around
Those who speak the truth are forced to be concealed…
Those who speak the truth are forced into being concealed if they want to avoid persecution. We see this through the fool who disguises truth through riddle and metaphor. He he both metaphorically disguises truth with his words but he is also literally in a position of performance as the king’s entertainer.
Truths a…
Truth’s a dog must to kennel he must be whipped out
fool can only tell the truth via performance
Whipped - aggressive verb, fools were whipped if they overstepped the mark, grea
Metaphor
Defames Lear’s judgement
Implying Lear has chastised a metaphorical dog of truth (referring to Cordelia, Kent and Fool)
‘Lady Brach’ - Bitches of flattery - Goneril and Regan
Truth is ostracised (lone dog in a kennel) truth is individual material gain is prioritised truth is controlled by the powerful social hierarchy is based on deception deception is rewarded
Thou hadst little wit…
Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav’st thy golden one away
(When u cut your own crown and kingdom in half and have away both parts you were foolish as the old man who carries the donkey on his back)
Body politic
Cleaving of egg - splitting of crown, kingdom, dividing identity
Knowing yourself important otherwise that’s where delusion lies
Lear’s journey of knowledge
Role of a fool is society - can he say this?
Shakespeare’s use of metonymy to replace the crown with an egg implies Lear’s kingship is fragile and brittle.
Thou mads’t thy…
Thou mads’t thy daughters thy mothers
(Criticising Lear for surrendering to his daughters)
Subversion of family indicates subversion of state and natural order
Chain of being?
Patriarchy
Emasculation
Portrayal of women as powerful and no king dutiful daughter
Women weaker gender - emphasises Lear’s weakness
I am a…
I am a fool, thou art nothing
(Goneril comes in and Lear asks why she is frowning, a fool says he was better off before he had to care whether she frowned or not, Fool says Lear is a zero with no 1 in front to give him value)
Lear’s….
LEAR’s SHADOW
Inversion of Fool and Lear
Fool is the external sense of morality that Lear should have
Explicit self division
Fool and Lear both exit together
Fortune, that arrant who…
Fortune that arrant who n’er turns the key to th’poor
(Goddess of Fortune that whore, she never gives the poor a break)
AO2
AO3
Referencing the goddess of fortune who turns a wheel that went from the height of prosperity down to adversity
This cold night…
This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen
Function of the fool
Serves as comic relief, abating the dramatic tension with witty insults and aphorisms
The fool characterises Lear’s foolishness
What kind of truth does the fool embody?
Embodiment of brutal truth - direct and confrontational
VS
Cordelia - embodiment of silent truth
Fool and Lear familial bond
Calls him ‘nuncle’
Dysfunctional, strange familial relationship
Fool says brutal truth disguised through comedy and yet he isn’t banished
Cordelia says silent truth and yet she isn’t banished!
Lear has no value for truth because he banishes Cordelia but not the fool ?
The hedge sparrow…
The hedge sparrow fed the cuckoo so long
That it’s had it head but off by it young
(After Goneril speaks - he sees through her)
How does the food describe Goneril and Regan
Daughters who can make you obey them
What does the Fool say about Lear being old before his time
Old before…
Thou shouldst…
Says Lear is ‘old before thy time’
And ‘thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise’
