As we begin to finish the story of King Lear, I can’t help but ask myself, where did the Fool go? He just disappears, why? I look back at the text and I try to figure out why Shakespeare has done this. From the beginning, I did not think that any character was actually sane, or even intelligent. But then, Shakespeare introduced the Fool. The Fool’s purpose may have been to use his charm entertain the King, but I believe he is the smartest character in this play. He insults the KING constantly and Lear does not even notice! King Lear even enjoys the Fool’s wit. The Fool carefully translates his thoughts into riddles and he gets away with his cruel honesty because absolutely no character understands what he is saying. This may be due to the fact that almost every other character is mentally disturbed, but that's just my opinion. The Fool thinks rationally, and yet at the end of act III, he disappears as well as the sanity of the rest of the characters. My question is: Why did Shakespeare take away the only character that had a sense of logic? Maybe he did it for the dramatic irony, or for a sense of mystery. No one can truly say that they know all of Shakespeares intentions, that is why all of his literature can be interpreted in so many ways, as well as the Fool's purpose.
This really bothers me a lot too. I feel like the Fool is not dead: because as you said, he is the smartest person in this play. Because of this I feel like the Fool would realize that everything has gone downhill and he would try to leave as to avoid death; but at the same time why would the Fool not say anything to Lear when he left? What would have happened had he spoken to Lear? Lear's not even thinking straight, so what would have happened had he spoken to Lear or somehow tried to bring him along? I felt like the Fool would try to save Lear if he really cared about him.
ReplyDeleteToward the end of the play Lear states that his "Fool is hung." While one might believe "his" Fool to be THE Fool, I think Lear is talking about Cordelia. If both your Fool and your daughter are dead by hanging, at least one of whom from suicide, which one would you be more upset over? And anyway I don't even think the Fool is dead...
In the end of Act 3 when Lear goes to sleep, the Fool says "And I'll go to bed at noon." Now I'm really not entirely sure what this means, but I have an idea: I think that the Fool knows what's about to go down and like anyone he wants to avoid his own death. I believe that he is saying, or maybe hinting that he is going to leave during the night while Lear sleeps. When he says he'll sleep at noon, I think he plans on leaving them and he plans to walk until he thinks it’s safe to stop and sleep, which he calls noon. I'm assuming that its sometime in the middle of the night in this scene, so maybe about twelve hours of walking through a forest seems like a safe distance away from any danger. It was only one thing he said, so I don't know for certain what the Fool meant, so this is what I got from it.
I thought that his disappearence was strange as well you guys. I believe that Shakespeare does have a reason behind The Fool’s random exit though. The fact that The Fool and Cordelia are never on stage at the same time, and in the original and other later productions, both characters were played by the same actor, was not merely coincidental; however, I do not see Shakespeare’s reasoning behind this. I have been thinking about this for while but I got nothing. Maybe, because Shakespeare was attempting to compare the two characters, in that both were wronged by the king.
ReplyDeleteIn the opening scene, King Lear avoids comprehending Cordelia’s loving and honest intentions and ignores the meaning of what she is trying to say. Likewise, Lear laughs at The Fool’s constant riddles and songs and perceives them as a joke; however; Lear does not fully understand what The Fool means through his rhymes. Also, both characters did forewarn Lear of the danger in trusting his mischievous, scheming, and devious daughters. Anyway, the reason for The Fool’s questionable disappearance might have been to show that he and Cordelia are one in the same. Lear’s last line begins, “And my poor fool is hanged,” speaking about his daughter.