The Fool in "King Lear"/The Fool/Character analysis of the Fool in King Lear/Role and function of the Fool/Character of the Fool

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Comment on the role and function of the Fool in King Lear./ Character of the Fool in King Lear.


Ans. While going through the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, we come across a character called the Fool. Broadly speaking, the Fool is not at all a fool, but an intelligent jester in King Lear’s court. His purpose is to crack practical jokes. Then why did Shakespeare introduce a comic character in a tragedy? It is so because the Fool is to serve the act of comic relief. Moreover, he is to act as a choral figure to represent sanity, honesty, morality and conscience. In King Lear, the Fool was a ‘licenced’ jester of the king. Again, we must note that the Fool is full of practical wisdom, utter sanity and intense brilliance. He followed the king outside in the stormy night. In other words, wherever there was the king, there was the Fool. We may indirectly call him to be the king’s alter self. The Fool shattered the vanity of the upstart Kent into pieces. Sometimes, he is scolded by the king for his pungent but sugar-coated remarks. However, he bounces back that since he is not a flatterer, he was not be finely treated. Instead, he was to be beaten for his honest words. We come to notice the Fool’s utmost intelligence and wit as and when the king asks him the meaning of his name. He sarcastically responds that it is the only name that exists with the king; he has given away all other names of his. It was the Fool himself who made King Lear wise, though it was too late. Therein lies the success of the role and function of the character called the ‘Fool’.

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