Symbolism of the fool

1. Symbolism of the fool • The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness, independent of reason, and a childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world.  • He is always un-numbered or zero in the tarot/cards pack, operating independently and often having the ability to trump others. • In the tarot, conventional explanations say that The Fool signifies the flesh, the sensitive life, depicting folly at the most insensate stage. • When The Fool appears in a spread, it is asking you to strip down to the core of yourself and questioning whether your self-vision is obscured. • It can also be a warning that significant change is coming, or that you need to confront fears or face the unknown.

2. Thursday 25th January 2018 Classwork What is the function of the Fool in King Lear?

3. Remind yourself of Kent’s line in Act 1 Scene 1 – “See better, Lear” As we read, think about how the Fool tries to get Lear to ‘see’.

4. Lear’s conscience? Similar to Cordelia? Social Commentator? Truth-Teller?

5. In Act 1 Scene 4, Lear’s Fool is introduced to the play. Lear is staying with Goneril and is growing increasingly incensed by her desire to cut away his troops and his power, culminating in act of defiance by Oswald. At this moment, Lear is torn between fantastical arrogance and the harshness of reality. When the Fool arrives, he immediately criticises Lear’s choices… Lear’s conscience? The fool is Lear’s own mind. He is the vehicle that takes him to insanity.

6. What was a fool? Fools were far from foolish. Forerunners of modern stand-up comedians, they were employed as court jesters and as entertainers in the households of the rich and powerful. Their task was to entertain and to amuse – and also to be provocative and offer commentary on what they saw around them. They often had to tread a very narrow line between relying on their employers and offending them. The more powerful their master was, the more likely it was that there was no one – except the fool – who would dare to criticise when the master made unwise decisions. A good fool had to be perceptive, had to know when and how to comment and also have an instinct about avoiding punishment when making observations that were unacceptably barbed. What is the Fool’s role in King Lear? The Fool quickly perceives that Lear should not have rejected Cordelia and that he was foolish to have put himself in the power of Goneril and Regan. He repeatedly reminds his master about this, questioning which of them is the greater fool. He uses barbed witticisms: for example, having caused Lear to observe that ‘nothing can be made out of nothing’, the Fool comments: ‘so much the rent of his land comes to’ (Act 1 Scene 4). He also voices aphorisms which would have been familiar to Shakespeare's audience, such as, ‘Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise’ (Act 1 Scene 5). Later the Fool uses his witty intelligence to try to comfort the King as Lear grows insane, and he loyally accompanies him on to the stormy heath in Act 3 (also a safer proposition that being left to the mercies of Regan and Goneril). Yet he is seen for the last time leaving Lear and Kent after Gloucester has warned of a murder plot against the king. His final words are, ‘And I'll go to bed at noon’, which may suggest an early death but there is no more news of him in the rest of the play.