Feste the Clever Fool
Keao White-Kaleikula
2.3.14
One to surprise all Feste: Good madonna, why mourn’st thou? Olivia: Good fool, for my brother’s death. Feste: I think his soul is in hell, madonna. Olivia: I know his soul is in heaven, fool. Feste: The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brothers soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, Gentlemen… That was an argument between the “fool” by the name of Feste and the proven fool, Olivia. This argument between Feste and Olivia is one of the many examples that show that Feste is anything but a fool. Here Olivia mourns for her dead brother where she says she will mourn for 7 years. Feste says to her that he thinks her brother is in hell because why mourn over someone who is in heaven, a better place. This is a one of the many times where Feste is proven not a fool. Feste can be considered the most important character because of how he is not an average “fool”, why he almost has an omniscient presence and how he uses words and music to wittily confuse the other characters but ultimately keep the play moving. According to The New Oxford American Dictionary the word fool can mean 1. “A silly person”; 2. “one who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, a jester or clown”; 3. “one who has little or no reason or intellect”; 4. “one who is made to appear to be a fool”. Feste can relate more to the second definition of a fool. A fool is normally one who acts to entertain others and is usually on stage and become a stock character. Feste however is not a stock character at all. A stock character is usually characters that are flat and throughout the play doesn't undergo any development, and whose presence is usually not important. Feste is very wise and is able to recognize and criticize the real fools such as Olivia when they first met. It is self-proclaimed wits that are not very witty at all. Because it’s their lack of self-knowledge that makes them fools. Feste also has a strange presence throughout the
2.3.14
One to surprise all Feste: Good madonna, why mourn’st thou? Olivia: Good fool, for my brother’s death. Feste: I think his soul is in hell, madonna. Olivia: I know his soul is in heaven, fool. Feste: The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brothers soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, Gentlemen… That was an argument between the “fool” by the name of Feste and the proven fool, Olivia. This argument between Feste and Olivia is one of the many examples that show that Feste is anything but a fool. Here Olivia mourns for her dead brother where she says she will mourn for 7 years. Feste says to her that he thinks her brother is in hell because why mourn over someone who is in heaven, a better place. This is a one of the many times where Feste is proven not a fool. Feste can be considered the most important character because of how he is not an average “fool”, why he almost has an omniscient presence and how he uses words and music to wittily confuse the other characters but ultimately keep the play moving. According to The New Oxford American Dictionary the word fool can mean 1. “A silly person”; 2. “one who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, a jester or clown”; 3. “one who has little or no reason or intellect”; 4. “one who is made to appear to be a fool”. Feste can relate more to the second definition of a fool. A fool is normally one who acts to entertain others and is usually on stage and become a stock character. Feste however is not a stock character at all. A stock character is usually characters that are flat and throughout the play doesn't undergo any development, and whose presence is usually not important. Feste is very wise and is able to recognize and criticize the real fools such as Olivia when they first met. It is self-proclaimed wits that are not very witty at all. Because it’s their lack of self-knowledge that makes them fools. Feste also has a strange presence throughout the