The Fool In Romeo And Juliet

Categories: Juliet Romeo And Juliet

The fool was a figure greatly represented in the stage during the Elizabethan period. He increased his popularity becoming a characteristic of the Elizabethan drama which was used in a moment of great importance. The figure of the fool was really important at that time making him one of the most popular characters in between the audience; that popularity made dramatists insert the figure of the fool in every work. The fool made a connexion between comedy and tragedy, whose role was to make jokes or comment events of the daily life at that times.

Therefore, the character of the fool had many influences since his origin, which made him develop and become what he is. The origin of the fool can be settled in the court, where he was called buffoon and whose role was to enliven parties and the king himself. However, there were fools no just in the court, there were also in societies and other local spheres, so some dramatists considered that the medieval drama should have one too.

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Later, the jugglers appeared which were variety entertainers in the streets; they dedicate themselves to the reading of poems, stories, and singing, which make people position them as successors of the Roman buffoons. Although, Busby (1923) declares that the first stage fools were successors of the Roman mimes, with influence of the jugglers. In addition, the features that characterize the English fool are not primarily those of a fool such as making jokes; these ones are affected by the comic servant, the Italian Zanni and the stupid rustic.

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The comic servant focused on ridicule and insult his master in an ingenious way, instead of fighting with him; the Italian drama was really popular in the Elizabethan period, due to the fact that there were many translations and adaptations of Italian works in England, besides the references of it in Shakespeare and other dramatists works, for example the Zanni, which achieved great connexion with the English fool; since most of the features of the Zanni were shared with the English clown, to arise laughter and entertain. And finally, the stupid rustic which was the most popular since stage fools wore the clothes of a countryman in the beginning. After introducing some of the influences of clowns through history, many of the most important fools in the Elizabethan times and those who represent the field of clownage are the Shakespeare’s fools. They are independents achieving their own merits and are considered human beings, whereas other fools are rarely considered more than fools due to the lack of wit. Shakespeare’s fools have also changed; the character of the fool in Romeo and Juliet, As you like it, Twelfth Night and King Lear have as much similitudes as differences which have made them improve.

Shakespeare has created many characters from magicians to kings in his plays. But there was a specific character who stand out, the fool, a role which appeared as much in his comedies as tragedies.Mostly of Shakespeare’s plays have a fool, whose role is really important in the content of the play. However, it should be made a distinction in between fools, since there are different categories such as clowns, dunces and court jesters; the latter ones connect two typical features of fools, wisdom and humour. The court jesters were, as his name indicates, the fools in the court, his position was really respectable and prestigious since they were chosen by the king sometimes to amuse and other times because of their wit. Shakespeare made the character of the fool increases his popularity, especially with the ones in As you like it (Touchstone), Twelfth Night (Feste) and King Lear (Lear’s fool), although there was one which was not as admired as the other ones, Peter from Romeo and Juliet.

In Romeo and Juliet, one of his earlier tragicomedies, the figure of the fool is not represented with the character of the clown itself. He uses the character of the servant as a comic, who he adds some of the features of the fool, his humour and wisdom. After reading the play, it could be said that the fools in the play are the Nurse and Mercutio, since their appearances are full of humour, which connect the comedy with the tragedy of the play; for example, Snyder (1970) points out that “Mercutio has been almost the incarnation of comic atmosphere”; his speeches are full of puns and games, for example when he makes fun of the Nurse, his comic partner; both make inappropriate remarks, mostly sexual wordplays, for example Malvolio, in the encounter between the Nurse and Romeo, thinking that she is a prostitute he tells her this quote “'Tis no less I tell ye, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.”, while she was just looking for Romeo. However, the real fool in Romeo and Juliet is Peter, the Nurse’s man, although he does not appear much in the play, he has some interventions which give some comedy to the play. He intervenes most of the play accompanied by the Nurse, his wife. However, I consider that he is not that important or necessary in the play; he is not integrated in the plot, as happens with other fools, his participation is just with the audience and as the man of the nurse which, as I have said before, is always with her but he does not take part in the dialogue, for example he is when the Nurse goes to meet Romeo and even when she goes to see Juliet and tell her everything about the encounter with Romeo, Juliet tells the Nurse to take him away because she does not want him to listen what they have to talk about, so the Nurse makes him wait in the gate. At almost the end of the play, he has an intervention by himself in which he tries to mock the musicians which came to the wedding of Paris and Juliet with the help of puns using his knowledge about music, so his wisdom can be highlighted here; but as Juliet dies, they lose their job.

Also, it is worth highlighting that the Capulet trusts Peter the most of his servants since when he asks a servant to take logs, he says him to tell Peter, but the servant refuses telling him that he can also do it. On the other hand, King Lear’s fool appears just in the first part of the play, but his contribution is so necessary to make people understand the behaviour of King Lear and his madness, showing the real soul of Lear. The relationship between the fool and Lear is more a family relation rather than a king and servant one; Lear calls him ‘my boy’ and the fool ‘nuncle’, which is a derivative of mine and uncle’. So, he mocks Lear in several occasions without receiving any punishment. The fool accompanies him in his way of discovering his daughters’ trap and that Cordelia was the honest one; he had advised Lear through the use of irony and lessons, such as that in the act 1, scene 5 of the snail’s house, which means that as Lear has given his goods to his daughters, a snail does not do that, it never leave its house, to open his mind while there is still time to recover, however Lear’s madness is so strong that the fool is not necessary any more, since the fool was as a mirror, the attitude of King Lear was so foolish that he always compared Lear with a fool. Mullini (1985) states that “Lear's Fool can be considered as the epitome of all Shakespearian fools: he is no messenger, uses monologues and asides addressing the audience directly, speaks almost exclusively to his master, is given no possibility of intervention in the plot, […]. The active power of his speech, however, here more than in other plays, proves extremely limited: words cannot govern tragic issues and the fool is not sufficient to stop the events from destroying the hero.” That is why in Act 3, scene 6, the fool disappears, and we do not have news about him in the maybe because Lear is already mad and he could not keep him health; also, Cordelia comes back and she is the one that, apart from the fool, makes sense in the play; so, his function has already finished and do not enter in scene again.

In Twelfth Night, the fool, Feste, interacts with the people in the court, but inside the court there are two circles, one formed by the court group, I mean, Orsino, Olivia; and the other one by the group of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Malvolio. He makes a different contribution in each group; while in the court group his function is as an advisor and in the other group is more as a humourist; although these features can be sometimes interchangeable. He is the fool of Olivia’s household although he considers himself a free fool, hence he also goes to Orsino’s household and receive his rewards. There are two interventions in which Feste shows as much as his wisdom and humour as melancholy and loneliness, with Olivia and Malvolio; Feste shows his wit when he just appears teasing Olivia for mourning her brother; mocking her and calling her fool, a method that some of Shakespeare’s fools use. When he costumes himself as Sir Topaz to tease Malvolio in Act 4, scene 2; he presents his melancholy, although it is supposed to be a comic scene. He is first guided by Sir Toby and Maria, but when they leave the scene, Feste decides to keep tricking him. Robinson (2016) considers that “this scene between Feste and Malvolio is a climactic part in the plot because it is here that the madness all of the characters are acting and reacting to becomes embodied in the steward.”, so, he makes him pay for the insults he has received. Although he feels alone, he does not lose his joy. This loneliness is caused by Olivia, that’s why in the beginning of the play, he does not appear, he has gone to escape from the darkness in the house, since Olivia is mourning the death of his brother. After his absence, he uses his wit to excuse himself and make Olivia consider stop mourning himself so that the joy can return to the household, maybe that is why he disappears; because of the lack of joy in the court. But in his first encounter with Olivia in the play he mocks at her because she keeps mourning her brother when as she says he is in heaven; perhaps she is just acting not to see any person who wants to take her goods. Feste’s purpose is to motivate her to come back to her life and stop mourning her brother. However, there is a method that he uses with both groups, which is music. Music is a component really important in the play of Twelfth Night, just with saying that the play begins with music. But it is Feste, the responsible of the majority of the music, since he is the one who sings most of the songs in it. Feste is the one who have the last word in the play, nothing but using a song, in which he makes a self-reflection to end the play. In this reflective song, it can be seen that he is summarizing his story and express how monotonous is the daily life of the human people. Robinson (2016) states that the last two verses of the song “but that’s all one our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day,” suggest that in the end Feste is a fool and his role is to entertain.

In addition, Touchstone, the fool in As you like it, is distinguished from other fools; apart from the fact that he is married and he is really unfriendly with the people around him, he is the most normal character in the play, and in-between all the court fools. Warde (1915) claims that “It would seem by the initial appearance of Touchstone that Shakespeare intended to represent him as the ordinary type of 'a dull fool,' and later endowed him with the wealth of wit and wisdom that has so enriched the character, and made it so conspicuous in the comedy.” I agree with F. Warde, since Touchstone’s role is not humorous in the beginning, he uses more his wisdom, but when he is in Arden forest, his attitude changes making him adopt a humorous relation with people there. For example, Jacques and William, they both try to amuse at him, but his wisdom is larger and he finishes amusing at them; in an encounter with William, Touchstone asked William whether he considered himself as a wise man, he answered with yes, but Touchstone replied him with this quote 'Why, thou sayest well. I do now remember a saying, the fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'; which means that a fool might be wiser than a common person. Besides, he marries Audrey, which, as I have said, differences him from other jesters; although there are times when he does not want to be married. He beats her in intelligence, so it is easier for him to conquer her. He sees his marriage as a game which ends in the end of the play, when the comedy also finishes. Perhaps, being the first court jester in Shakespeare’s plays and his role may not be that concentrated in a fool, because Touchstone instead of being a jester was more like a commentator of al the events happening in the play. In addition, he is the only jester abandoning the court of his master Wiley (2006) considers that the first entrance of Touchstone in the play is not that impressive, so that’s why he is not expected to be a fool, apart from his vulgarity and the treatment he receives.

As it has been seen, Shakespeare’s fools are as much different as similar in some of their features. But an issue that they all keep is that his role is perfectly clear, there is no misunderstanding about their place in the play. Every clown in Shakespeare’s plays have a label attached to them, for example that of the “clown”, “servant” or “court jester”. In King Lear, the role of the fool changes; he becomes an auxiliary character in the description of an emotional crisis which helps to intensify the contact between the comedy and the tragedy. Not as happen in As you like it and Twelfth Night, whose play’s basis is a fairy tale into which many elements are mixed to create a more different and deeper impression in the audience. The fool in Twelfth Night, Feste, compiles three personalities in his role, he is a fool, but also is a critic and a human. Also, his facility of punning, which is the only way they have to revel to their masters, although some used it more than others; for example, Feste is the one who most uses it as a way to have fun and amuse himself; on the other hand, the other fools pun but not in the same way. One of the more wordplays the court fools use is about the significance of ‘fool’, and call their masters in that way. As much Feste as Lear’s fool refer to their majors as fools, but they do not receive any punishment because of that Lore (1896) states that although they had a license in the court, they also received punishment, which was whipping. In Twelfth Night, Olivia threatens Feste addressing him “Sirrah, you shall be whipped” but without getting to do it, since she shows respect for the fool because of the advices that he gives her. In the case of Lear’s fool, he never gets to be threatened, he is treated with tenderness by King Lear. Feste and Lear’s fool have in common that they are court jesters but greatly connected with their households, not as Touchstone that, as I have said, leaves his master and his privileges in the court for living in the forest; and Peter that he is not treated as a fool, but a servant.

Shakespeare has written many plays, and there is a character which stands out in some of them; which is the fool. There are many kinds of fool, but in Romeo and Juliet, As you like it, Twelfth Night and King Lear prevails the court jester, whose role is to entertain their master and the audience with several puns and wise comments. However, the fool apart from the function of entertaining, he develops others attitudes which are connected with wisdom. They all differentiate from each other, Peter is a servant who take the role of the fool due to his amusing comments; Lear’s fool acts as the advisor of Lear and just appears in the beginning of the play; Feste who have two roles, mocking the characters and he is also the responsible for the music; and finally, Touchstone who leaves the court going to the Arden forest where he gets married and use his wisdom to mock some of the inhabitants of the forest. Every court jester has his function, but they also have similarities and differences which relate them such as their place in the play, their relationship with their master, the facility of wordplays’ creation making them funny and wise.

Updated: Nov 17, 2022
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The Fool In Romeo And Juliet. (2022, May 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-fool-in-romeo-and-juliet-essay

The Fool In Romeo And Juliet essay
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