The Wise Fools of Shakespeare

Infirmity that decays the wise doth ever make a better tantalize though uttered by one of his own characters Shakespeargon does non seem to conform to this ideal. The pullulates carved by Shakespe ar in his plays showed no resemblance to the mentally and physically challenged people who were treated as pets and used for amusement during the medieval period. Rather Shakespeares fools appear to be in the best of their wits when they are in possession of the wisest minds.Fools whether in their rustic vigour displaying grotesque mood or in the forms of the sophisticated court jesters with their polished puns occupied a substantial localise in his plays. Not only they added the element of humour but often alluded a deeper context on a lower floor their apparent comic facade. Shakespeares plays embodied a varied range of comic characters whose treatment obviously differs in those produced by the mature playwright to those depicted in his earlier works. In which we find certain(p) no nsensical clowns appearing just to create ludicrous entertainment.In Loves Labour Lost we find three such characters Costard, Dull and Adrian de Armado who are of very little importance to the plot but as we move on to the Mid Summer Nights Dream, Bottom the gaga artisan though intended to project humour for his supreme vanity, we see this same attribute of his being exploited by Oberon the king of the fairies to teach his poof a lesson. In this way we notice in Shakespeares comic characters a gradual pattern of upgradation from those included just for the sake of insipid humour to the ones actually taking part in the plot.As Shakespeare proceeds to incorporate his oeuvres with further comic elements he chooses humorists over clowns. His comic characters reveal more musing and methodical homour which actually camouflages underneath the unsavoury truths. These personas were not only part of his comedies but also his tragedies. In Hamlet the two Grave-diggers despite of being repr esented as clown figures hides beneath their playful conversations the graver insights of the playwright himself.By questioning the justness of Ophelias receiving a Christian burial they asses the legitimacy of felo-de-se in terms of religious beliefs. Moreover their nonchalant attitude towards death marks its inevitability contrasting it to Hamlets vacillating views of to be or not to be. A similar prudence can ob distributed in the reckless speeches of the Porter in Macbeth. The Porter in his drunken inspiration claims to be the Porter of the Hell Gate indicating that the horrid incident of Duncans murder has equated Macbeths castle to the infernal dungeon.Though these characters makes their appearance for a instruct period on give and it is generally apprehended that their foremost purpose is to provide a moment of respite to the audience from the dark and tense moments of the play, their substance in these dramas are no less. A character that cannot re chief(prenominal) unm entioned while talking of Shakespeares comic characters is that of Sir John Falstaff. Usually acclaimed to be Shakespeares sterling(prenominal) comic character Falstaff graduation makes his appearance in Henry IV Part 1 and reappears in Henry IV Part 2 as well as The Merry Wives of Windsor.Recognized for his diffused ways and buffoon comparable appearance Falstaff is actually a knight though his conduct speaks vice versa when he marks honour as valueless Can honour set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or outlet away the grief of a wound? No. . . . What is honour? A word. It is the fact that we find a cunning, fraudulent, corrupt in bulk under the banner of knighthood that is suppose to represent chivalry and honesty is what primarily projects the humour. scarcely yet again arousing laughter is not the only purpose served by this character, on with remaining the unfailing companion to prince Hal until he grows up only to leave him behind as a sign of stepping towards a path of in tegrity, Falstaff also acts as a foil to the character of Hotspur. A lively person who has abandoned morality and yet displays unconditional affection for the Prince, Falstaff is indeed one of Shakespeares typically twisted comic figures who earned himself a place in the audiences heart large enough to make him reappear more than once.However the most mesmerize of Shakespeares fools touches his pieces in the form of the court jesters with their precise and caustic wit fabricated by their well bred minds. These fools it is often presumed were sketched from the models of the contemporary court jesters particularly influenced by Tarlton and Armin the royal fools who were not only popular to the audience but also favorites of the Queen herself. One of the foremost reasons of introduction of these jesters in his plays was to impart them with the role of social-critics in the guise of their iridescent costumes.The royal fools in spite of their acerbic tongue that blurted out many a comme nt against royalty were forgiven for the obvious reasons of those statements being engrossed under their fooleries. Thus the jesters in his plays acted as the representatives of Shakespeare, through whom he can show a glimpse of the real face of the contemporary society to his audience. The first professional fool who made his way into Shakespeares plays is Touchstone in As you Like it who is probably the most buoyant of his jesters.From his pert speeches it can be assumed that he is serving his namesake, a touchstone giving a peek of the real world in mid of all the dreamy romanticism. In the play upon their arriving in Arden when Rosalind complains O Jupiter, how weary are my spirits Touchstone is quick to add I care not for my spirits, if my legs were not weary. His stopping point to marry the country lass Audrey seems more rational than romantic. Again his effortless feat in the brief battle of wits with William in order to provide his lady love contrasts his uncomplicated a ffection from that of the central characters.Touchstone can be best described by the compliment the Senior Duke adorns him with swift and pretentious. After Touchstone the Royal Jesters made their appearances in many of Shakespeares following plays but the two most prominent characters identified for their exuberance are Feste of Twelfth Night and the Fool in King Lear. Feste though walking in the shoes of his literary hierarchy Touchstone in his mannerisms, his wits seems to be more targeted at the characters than the generalized views of the former.He appears to be the most mature character in Twelfth Night analyzing and realizing the practical mode of the world. In his easy humour he expresses his experienced views when he taunts Olivia The more fool, Madonna, to mourn for your brothers soul, being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen, trying to make her comprehend that death is a course of nature and the fleeing time is equally mortal and thus valuable. Like his own stat ement Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun it shines everywhere Festes genial humour spreads a glimmer of intellect all over the play.Feste with his acerbic wit and reflective wisdom not only outshines the insignificant characters of the lewd Sir Andrew and the puritanical Malvolio but also the brooding Duke Orsino, surmising his own point or rather Quinapalas Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. The third in the contingent, the Fool in King Lear is in fact the most outstanding. Unlike Touchstone and Feste he lacks the soft ambiance and yet he balances his foresight, wisdom and shrewdness underneath his playful conduct.The Fool here lacks any specific identity and even his age and terra firma frame unknown because of which it is supposed that his purpose is not just to lighten up the sardonic atmosphere of the play but also to serve as a foil to Lear. Despite of being a fool he identifies Lears impetuous decision and thus when Goneril talks of ceasing Lear from having any attendants the Fool sings The hedge-sparrow cater the cuckoo so long/ That it had its head bit by its young, while the prejudiced king is still encircled by his misconstrues.The Fool remains by the side of Lear throughout the play until he mysteriously disappears at the end of Act III, scene vi. This is why it is believed that the Fool acts as Lears scrupulous alter ego as once he enters the world of lunacy his conscience parts from him altogether. But even after his sudden exit from the stage in the middle of the play, the Fool remains the most significant comic character of Shakespeares tragedies.There are other professional fools who only makes shadowy appearances in some other plays, like Lavancha in All is Well that Ends Well, the Clown in Othello, Trinculo in The Tempest who along with Stephano and Caliban imparts a humorous humour to the play and at the same time introduces the theme or usurpation by plotting against Prospero. There are numerous such personal ities that keep appear throughout Shakespearean plays who despite of not being elevated characters somehow manages to leave their touch in the play.As Shakespeares clowns whether they do or do not occupy much of the stage space have always exhibited through their pert observations a superior intellect and rational understanding of the secular life. The most noticeable factor is that these characters, be it the rustics, the Grave-diggers, the Porter, the jesters or a spoilt knight were basically modeled on a class of people who were move in a social rank lower than that of the prime characters.This is perhaps because the most esteemed playwright himself held this ideal, that the practical knowledge of life gained by the commoners from the hazards of their medium lives imparts them with a feasible outlook towards it. Unlike those from the superior classes whose shielded lives behind the walls of their enormous castles embodied them with fragile minds. Thus the matters that appears to be of graver importance to the main characters, especially those of romanticism and idealism are treated as a recurring part of life by the wise fools.These individuals to some extent serve as the representatives of Shakespeare himself, what he cannot make his gaudy characters say is exactly what these commoners enacts on his behalf. Their social status which could make the contemporary audience belonging to the ordinary family identify with the same and their easy flamboyancy of wit was the exact combination the author required to reach out to his audience and alert them about the social conditions.But whatever purpose these characters might serve or whoever they might have been inspired by, they were transformed into soulful personalities by the dramatist. It was the ingenuity of Shakespeare that turned them into literary figures that were receptive of leaving their impression not only in the mind of the contemporary audience but are continuing to do so until the present dat e.