SOME OF SHAKESPEARE'S BEST LOVED CHARACTERS ARE THE FOOLS. This doesn't mean that these people were necessarily foolish, because often they were anything but.
In fact, many literary critics have quoted the following line spoken by Touchstone, the 'fool' in As You Like It. His words sum up the essence of being a Shakespearean fool - "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
In Shakespeare's time (and even beforehand) the fools and the court jesters were usually glib-tongued peasants who used their wits to outdo their 'elders and their betters.' Much of their humour was based on word-play and witticisms, an aspect of language that was very important to the Shakespearean playgoer.
However, in addition to this, the Fool's role in Shakespeare's theatre followed a long tradition, in fact, since Roman and then medieval times. Not only did they have to be witty, but they also had to know how to sing, dance, tell stories, juggle and perform acrobatics.
The three most famous actors who played Shakespearean fools were William Kempe, Robert Armin and Richard Tarlton. Our William must have known these actors well and it is said that he wrote many of his 'foolish' roles with these three well-loved actors in mind.
Note, some of the Fools were called as such or 'Clowns'. Others had specific names. Below is a list of Shakespearean fools and their plays:
'A Fool' in Timon of Athens
'Citizen' in Julius Caesar
'Costard' in Love's Labours Lost
'Autolycus' in The Winter's Tale
'Cloten' in Cymbeline
'Falstaff' in 1H4, 2H4 (Also appears in Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor but not as a Fool.)
'Clown' in Othello
'Dromio of Ephesus' in The Comedy of Errors
'Dromio of Syracuse' in The Comedy of Errors
'Clown' in Titus Andronicus
'Feste' in Twelfth Night
'Grumio' in The Taming of the Shrew
'Launce' in Two Gentlemen of Verona
'Launcelot Gobbo' in The Merchant of Venice
'Lavache' in All's Well That Ends Well
'Nick Bottom' in A Midsummer Night's Dream
'Speed' in Two Gentlemen of Verona
'Puck' in A Midsummer Night's Dream
'Pompey' in Measure for Measure
'The Fool' in King Lear
'The Gravediggers' in Hamlet
'Thersites' in Troilus and Cressida
'Touchstone' in As You Like It
'Trinculo' in The Tempest
Other roles such as Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing were those of simple peasants trying to act above themselves or roles such as Malvolio in Twelfth Night where normally (over)serious and pedantic people behave foolishly. In Macbeth, the Porter, with his observations about people and liquor is not really a Fool as he does not warn anyone about their behaviour, he just comments on it. He also provides the only light moments in this 'murderous' play.
The function of the Fool was to be a servant of person of low social status who would not be scared at speaking his mind to his superiors. One of the most well-known Fools is the Fool in King Lear. He ridicules the king's actions and he can see Goneril and Regan for the rapacious daughters that they are. He also foretells the results of Lear's foolish actions. Despite his doing all this, the king accepts him as a friend even though in Act I. sc.4 the king warns him, "Take heed, sirrah, the whip."
Usually, the fools and clowns wore patchwork or ragged coats. In addition they wore bells and hoods and carried a short stick topped with a doll's head or something similar.
Next time: the greatest and most popular fool of them all: Falstaff
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