Friendly Fool
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- Category: English: Plays
- Date Submitted: 03/16/2011 09:31 PM
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Friendly Fool
Everyone on earth needs a friend. Someone to whom they can confide their deepest fears, someone who can make them laugh, someone who can act as a second conscience, and someone who will be honest and unbiased with you. In the Shakespearian play King Lear, the King himself needs a friend like everyone else. When the rest of his life plummets, the Fool fulfills the role of a friend for the King.
The Fool takes it upon himself to lighten things up for King Lear. He recognizes that the King’s life is going downhill, so he cracks jokes in an attempt to make Lear laugh at his own follies and learn something at the same time. The fool asks “‘if a man’s brains were in’s heels, were it not in danger of Kibes?’” “‘Ay, boy’”, the Kings responds. “‘Then I prithee be merry. Thy wit shall not go slipshod’” (King Lear: I, iv, 8-13).The King laughs at the joke, but like a lot of bantering between friends, there is a message behind the humour. Kibes, in the Fool’s original question, refer to blisters; when someone has blisters on their feet, they go around in slippers because it is more comfortable. An interpretation, then, is that because Lear has brains – even his heels – he has no need to worry about such potential discomforts. He pokes fun at the King again when he tells him “‘though wouldst make a good fool’” (King Lear: I, v, 37). Apart from the somewhat obvious insult calling Lear a fool, the Fool is also reminding him that he made some silly decisions and is now a fool in the eyes of some people. The jokes that the Fool throws at Lear are good natured, friendly jabs with a purpose – much like the ones old friends might throw at one another.
Lear’s confidence in the fool is another sign of friendship between the two. He takes the fool into his confidence by sharing his thoughts and fears with him. “‘O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!’” (King Lear: I, v, 44-45). Lear evidently fears going mad...
Everyone on earth needs a friend. Someone to whom they can confide their deepest fears, someone who can make them laugh, someone who can act as a second conscience, and someone who will be honest and unbiased with you. In the Shakespearian play King Lear, the King himself needs a friend like everyone else. When the rest of his life plummets, the Fool fulfills the role of a friend for the King.
The Fool takes it upon himself to lighten things up for King Lear. He recognizes that the King’s life is going downhill, so he cracks jokes in an attempt to make Lear laugh at his own follies and learn something at the same time. The fool asks “‘if a man’s brains were in’s heels, were it not in danger of Kibes?’” “‘Ay, boy’”, the Kings responds. “‘Then I prithee be merry. Thy wit shall not go slipshod’” (King Lear: I, iv, 8-13).The King laughs at the joke, but like a lot of bantering between friends, there is a message behind the humour. Kibes, in the Fool’s original question, refer to blisters; when someone has blisters on their feet, they go around in slippers because it is more comfortable. An interpretation, then, is that because Lear has brains – even his heels – he has no need to worry about such potential discomforts. He pokes fun at the King again when he tells him “‘though wouldst make a good fool’” (King Lear: I, v, 37). Apart from the somewhat obvious insult calling Lear a fool, the Fool is also reminding him that he made some silly decisions and is now a fool in the eyes of some people. The jokes that the Fool throws at Lear are good natured, friendly jabs with a purpose – much like the ones old friends might throw at one another.
Lear’s confidence in the fool is another sign of friendship between the two. He takes the fool into his confidence by sharing his thoughts and fears with him. “‘O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!’” (King Lear: I, v, 44-45). Lear evidently fears going mad...