Preview

How Does William Shakespeare Use The Fool To Reflect Lear's Own Perspective

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
327 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does William Shakespeare Use The Fool To Reflect Lear's Own Perspective
1. How does William Shakespeare use changes in the Fool’s dialogue to mirror changes in Lear’s own perspective? Choose quotes from the sheet that support your argument.

2. How does William Shakespeare use the Fool to reflect Lear’s own thoughts and fears? Use a quote from the sheet to support your argument.
The Fool’s dialogue is like a mockery of King Lear – he speaks pure honesty of Lear but adds hints of comedy to balance out the rudeness implied. The Fool re-enacts King Lear’s life by acting out his choices and proves how much of an oblivious and naïve fool King Lear was before. The Fool creates a figure – much like King Lear, to act out the foolish behaviour that Lear had behaved earlier such as giving his kingdom to his two daughters,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    King Lear Research Paper

    • 2936 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The concept of a fool in Shakespearean plays is nearly as popular as the very figure of a fool used to be in Middle Ages at royal courts and some private households of aristocrats. The characters that could be described as fools appear in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (Feste) and As You Like It (Touchstone). And there is of course the most famous of the fools, named simply The Fool in Shakespeare’s King Lear – the one with reference to whom this essay is created.…

    • 2936 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Directions: Answer each question in complete sentences. You must provide evidence from the text to support your answer. You may use the modern text to aid with your understanding but your quoted evidence must be Shakespeare’s original language (left side of the text). Provide the line numbers. For example, “Take comfort. He no more shall see my face. Lysander and myself will fly this place” (202-203).…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wyrd Sisters Quotes

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Initially, the fool was loyal to King Verence and consequently the Duke after he takes the throne, saying that “a Fool should be faithful to his master until the very end, after all others have deserted him. Good or bad doesn't come into it. Every leader needs his Fool. There is only loyalty. That’s the whole thing. Even if he is clearly three-parts bonkers, I’m his Fool until one of us dies [sic]” (Pratchett 171). The Fool was expecting to serve Felmet until death, regardless of what either of them thought. He was going to stand by the Duke even in the face of fear, the Fool was willing to die for his King. During the climax of the story, the Fool realizes that rather than a specific man he needs to serve the kingdom as a whole and stands up to the Duke. In doing so he willingly sacrifices himself, knowing that his proclamation of the Duke’s actions will not only result in his death but, will also result in the repair of the kingdom. The Fool’s loyalty to Lancre directly causes the removal of the Duke and Duchess and the reconstitution of a healthy kingdom. The Fool cared about Lancre and the people in it, he acted when no one else could and even went against his honor as a fool to do…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Choose one principal character in the Shakespeare play you have studied compare the presentation of your chosen character in the play with the presentation of the same character in an adaptation of the play .Use examples from both the play and adaptation in your response.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Later on, the Fool shows regret for Lear's reduced status. Lear then becomes angry and declares he will go to Regan's castle instead assuming she would welcome him. Lear attacks Gonerill's ingratitude and defends his followers' honour. After this, in rage, Lear curses Gonerill with no children and if she did have children, they would be disobedient and unloving.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    King Lear Research Paper

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, King Lear is an old foolish man who suffers several flaws in the same way, he is blind to the truth, and his inability to see the truth impacts his decisions making and his poor judgment. Throughout act one and two, King Lear decisions lead to several consequences, which alter his life and the lives of those around him. A few of King Lear’s flaws which demonstrates the great deed of one man’s consequences are, his actions due to his blindness, rash decision making and exhibits a great deed of pride and arrogance.…

    • 1477 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    King Lear Research Paper

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages

    <br>The Fool also tries to help Lear to feel a bit better about what is going on by putting a humorous spin on the words he is saying. The Fool uses poetry and song to get his view across to Lear. In act one, this is visible in numerous ways. For example, in scene four the Fool sings:…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What was Shakespeare trying to share with his audience with these scene? Is there more than what meets the eye?…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A Noiseless Patient Spider

    • 15256 Words
    • 62 Pages

    To the Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Introduction to the Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Introduction to Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv…

    • 15256 Words
    • 62 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Lear Research Paper

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages

    <br>William Shakespeare's genius came from how closely he intertwined the two seemingly mutually exclusive realms to appeal to all socio-economic groups in his audience. The character of the Fool provides the closest intercourse of the two realms between King Lear's royalty and Poor Tom's poverty, while still maintaining their separation. The Fool's role in King Lear was to counteract the King's follies in order to bring him to his senses. With his honesty, wit, and clever wordplay that interweave…

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This character is extremely dynamic throughout the play. He is seen by Lear and others as a simple-minded idiot, in the court to entertain the king and his daughters. However, as the play progresses, the fool proves to be the wisest character in the play. Paraphrased, he says one should never judge wisdom by office. The Fool speaks some of the most insightful words in the play. He says to his "nuncle," "Thou had'st little wit in thy bald crown when thy gavest thine golden one away." (I.iv.155-156) The fool here shows poignant insight into the position of the king, telling him that there was no justification or intelligence in Lear's giving his properties to his eldest daughters. In King Lear, the play seems to revolve around the wisdom of the Fool. He expresses his concern to Kent, stating, "Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it" (II.ii.261-262) The Fool's use of metaphor expresses his cognizance of the events taking place in the play. Shakespeare's use of fools and foolishness in King Lear represents an insight into popular…

    • 1098 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In Elizabethan times, the role of a fool, or court jester, was to professionally entertain others, specifically the king. In essence, fools were hired to make mistakes. Fools may have been mentally retarded youths kept for the court's amusement, or more often they were singing, dancing stand up comedians. In William Shakespeare's King Lear the fool plays many important roles. When Cordelia, Lear's only well-intentioned daughter, is banished from the kingdom Fool immediately assumes her role as Lear's protector. The fool is the king's advocate, honest and loyal and through his use of irony sarcasm and humour he is able to point out Lear's faults. Functioning much as a chorus would in a Greek tragedy, the fool comments on events in the play, the king's actions and acts as Lear's conscience. As he is the only character who is able to confront Lear directly without risk of punishment, he is able to moderate the king's behaviour.…

    • 2246 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fool works as the "inner conscience" of Lear throughout the play. The Fool shows Lear the side of reasoning and tries to persuade Lear that it was wrong to banish Cordelia. The Fool only first appears in Act 1, scene four, after Cordelia has moved away with the King of France. The Fool knows that Lear has done wrong by giving all his land away to his to evil daughters, Goneril and Regan, and tells him so in act one, scene four, when he says, "All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with." The Fool also warns Lear about Goneril and Regan stating that Lear is now a lap dog to Goneril and Regan, "Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out when the Lady Brach may stand by the fire and stink." The Fool disappears in act three, when Lear goes mad. This shows that the Fool is Lear's view of reasoning because when a person goes insane they cannot think straight or reason and therefore after act three there is no need for Lear to have a Fool as he is mad.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    othello

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Explore how Shakespeare uses language and dramatic technique to present doubt and uncertainty in the minds of Othello and Macbeth.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fools in the time of the play were owned by Kings and were a mere source of entertainment. Lear’s Fool tends to be more of a funny friend, a loyal companion to Lear, and also the only one who is allowed to give Lear his opinion on situations honestly without Lear getting mad about it, seemingly taking up the role of Lear’s subconscious. The brutal honesty the fool gives to King Lear is told in the form of several jokes. In the first act, the fool is seemingly joking around for no reason with King Lear.…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays