The Fool in Shakespeare's Comedies: A Study in the Typology of the Character
The Fool in Shakespeare's Comedies: A Study in the Typology of the Character

Summary/Abstract: "I think nothing more happy than that generation of men we commonly call fools, idiots, lack-wits, and dolts ... [T]hey are not only merry, play, sing, and laugh themselves, but make mirth wherever they come, a special privilege it seems the gods have given them to refresh the pensiveness of life", writes Erasmus in The Praise of Folly. This is an indisputable characteristic of the Sheakespearean fool: whether he is the natural fool of real life or he pretends stupidity, whether he speaks nonsense or envelops bitter truths in verbal clowning, he is always amusing and provokes laughter. Mikhail Bakhtin locates the positions of the clown and fool in the very centre of the culture of folk humour.

• Details
• Contents