Disappearance of a Fool

Since I am interested in the role of the fool in King Lear, I am naturally curious about the same fool's disappearance from the play.  Throughout the first three acts, the fool is fairly present, speaking wisely and honestly to the King and providing valuable social commentary.  I rather enjoy this character and then *poof* he's gone.  The fool's last appearance is in Act 3, Scene 6, which leaves two acts without this intriguing character.  Why?  I have begun researching this mystery and have come across some interesting theories.

Schmoop (similar to Sparknotes) speculates:

"Some literary critics even speculate that the Fool and Cordelia were played by the same actor. They never appear onstage together, so some scholars hypothesized that the part was double cast, and that the Fool had to disappear when Cordelia came back into the play."

This is an interesting speculation.  Cordelia and the fool actually have a fair amount in common.  They are both wise, intelligent with their words and speech, and loyal to the king.  These are rare traits among the other characters (at least lumped altogether).  Additionally, in Act 5, Lear laments, "And my poor fool is hanged."  "Fool" here could be a pet name for Cordelia, or could refer to the fool himself who may have also been hanged.  This is not clear in the text.  Maybe they are essentially one in the same in the eyes of Shakespeare.

Another speculation (taken from Gradesaver.com) is that the fool disappears when King Lear realizes that he himself is the true fool.  He has squandered the love of Cordelia and Kent (the two truly loyal to him) and realized the wicked heart of Goneril and Reagan (not to mention their husbands).  As he realizes this foolishness, Lear descends into madness and takes on the role of the fool himself.  In this sense, the fool does not necessarily disappear, but rather takes on a new role manifested in a different character.

I like both of these ideas.  It is even possible that both are true.  Unfortunately, I cannot ask Shakespeare himself the reasoning behind this decision.  However, I think this will be my question for Turner when he visits this week.  I am interested to hear why he thinks the character of the fool disappears from King Lear.

Spiritual Music and Shakespeare

This Thursday, March 28 I have another band concert with the MSU Wind Symphony.  The concert repertoire has proven to be quite the food for thought for me.  The theme for this concert is "Angels and Demons."  Each piece we're playing is slightly spiritual, and reflects on the duality of light and dark within each of us.  I feel as though this is a theme Shakespeare touches on as well.  Many of his plays highlight the dichotomy of light versus dark.  In Midsummer Night's Dream, we saw the contrast of a light comedy set against moments of darkness discussing death.  In Hamlet, we see Hamlet debating spiritual matters such as killing his uncle in prayer.  Doing so would send his uncle to heaven, despite the nature of his dark deeds.  In King Lear, we see the contrast in several places.  One is Edgar versus Edmund.  One is light and noble, the other dark and sinful.  This same divergence(guess what? we're playing a piece entitled "Divergence") is seen in the sisters: Cordelia versus the two "sisty uglers."  Shakespeare was an astute observer of human nature.  He recognized that each human has the potential for both good and evil within them.  We can choose either route, and display our choice through our actions.  Sometimes there is an internal fight between dark and light.  Sometimes light wins, sometimes the dark triumphs.  I have been experiencing Shakespeare's reflection of this nature through his writing, and now I'm examining it through music.  Both media's present the message in a different, but powerful way.

Anyone who would like to experience the musical translation of this human experience themselves is welcome to come.  This is going to be an amazing concert!
Thursday, March 28
7:30
Reynolds Recital Hall (in Howard Hall on 11th)
Student cost: $5

For anyone who wants to hear a sample of the music we will be performing, here is a Youtube clip of my favorite piece.

Define a Fool

As I think about my project (The role of "the fool" in Shakespeare) I must start with one essential question: what exactly, IS a fool?  In my mind, "fool" can have a few meanings: a jester in a court (such as the one in King Lear), a person lacking common sense, and one who behaves foolishly or without thought or consideration.  However, I figured for a project as grand as this, I should probably do some research into the ofiicial definition.  Being a knowledgable English major, I am quite aware we have a handy little tool at our fingertips for looking up definitions of words: the Dictionary.  So I opened a new tab to Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary and these were the definitions I found for "fool."

1: a person lacking in judgment or prudence

2

a: a retainer formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble

b: one who is victimized or made to appear foolish : dupe

3

a: a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding

b: one with a marked propensity or fondness for something <a dancing fool> <a fool for candy>

4

: a cold dessert of pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream or custard

 

So most of my definitions were proved correct, and a couple new ones came to mind.  But which version of the fool does Shakespeare use?  I think, for this project, I can safely throw out definition #4.  Perhaps this desert does appear somewhere in his vast works, but I am unconcerned with its relevance to his work and characters as a whole.  However, I believe Shakespeare employs all other definitions when creating the fools for his plays.  Additionally, one definition may stand exclusive of the others.  For example, the fool in King Lear fits definition 2a: a court jester.  He fulfills his role of entertaining the king through absurd acts and witty banter.  However, he does not fulfill definition 1, or 3a.  Lear's fool does not appear foolish in personal thought or action at all.  In fact, he seems quite prudent and intelligent.  This so-called fool realizes Lear's mistake in banishing Cordelia.  He mourns her loss and indeed lables Lear a fool for dismissing her (here Lear takes on the role of definition 1-and later takes on definition 3a).  Lear's fool is also prudent in his actions.  He realizes that condemning Lear's actions outright will likely get him in trouble and result in his whipping.  As a result, he hedges his actions, using witty words to convey his true feelings about Cordelia's banishment and Lear's other foolish actions. 

 

King Lear contains several other role reversals and definitions of "the fool" throughout the play.  Therefore, we can conclude from this work alone that Shakespeare employs multiple meanings of the words and manifests these in his characters.  For this project, I think I will explore how he uses fools fitting each definition throughout these four works, and the effect this has on his works as a whole.

The Wisdom of Calvin and Hobbes

As I was stumbling the other day, I happened across some quotes from my favorite cartoon: Calvin and Hobbes.  This imaginative, spunky, sarcastic child and his toy tiger hold wisdom beyond their years.  This is frequently reflected in their conversations.  One such quote happened to relate to Shakespeare's metaphor of the stage.  It goes as follows:

On realizing God is more Woody Allen than Michael Bay

Calvin: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.

Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

Calvin: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

Here, Calvin reflects on how we are all actors on a stage.  We are playing parts, maybe these roles are designed by God.  This fits with Shakespeare's frequent comments throughout his plays.  Our world is a stage, to act, to speak, to create.  But Calvin is astute.  He realizes life doesn't always follow a specific script.  We can plan and plot, but things rarely turn out according to plan.  We find ourselves improvising, trying to find a way to fill our brief performance with meaning, to achieve some outstanding review.  As we stumble through, we create both tragedy and farce within our lives.  We make mistakes.  Sometimes these are comical.  We trip over some stairs.  We fumble our lines and say something unintentionally funny or inappropriate.  Sometimes our mistakes are tragic.  We hurt someone close to us.  We lose them.  This is particularly seen in King Lear as he distances his youngest daughter and closest friend, the only two who were truly loyal to him in the first place.  Regardless of our mistakes, we must attempt to make the most of our few brief hours upon this stage.  Be grand, live life, throw in some outstanding effects or spectacular dance numbers to jazz things up a bit.  Anyone who reads this cartoon knows Calvin is all about living a life full of adventure. If the young Calvin can remember this, we too must strive to live our performance to the fullest.

Punography

I was scrolling through things online and found this list of gems to help us all embody our inner, witty, puny, Hamlets.

PUNOGRAPHY

• I tried to catch some fog.  I mist.
• When chemists die, they barium.
• Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
• I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid.  He says he can stop anytime.
• I stayed up all night to see where the sun went.  Then it dawned on me.
• This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.
• I'm reading a book about anti-gravity.  I can't put it down.
• I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
• They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type-O.
• A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
• Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory, hope there isn't a pop quiz.
• Energizer Bunny arrested: charged with battery.
• I didn't like my beard at first.  Then it grew on me.
• How do you make holy water?  Boil the hell out of it.
• What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary?  A Thesaurus.
• When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.
• What does a clock do when it's hungry? Goes back four seconds.
• I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
• Broken pencils are pointless.