The Fool In Shakespeare S King Lear Roles And Function
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The Fool in Shakespeare's "King Lear". Roles and Function
Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Potsdam (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: Throughout history the traditional function of the fool in a royal household was to entertain the members of the court by being an imbecile and a jester. In "King Lear" Shakespeare allows his Fool to take over the unique position of the person who is able to correct his master without being punished. Nevertheless, the Fool does not seem to have any direct influence on the behavior of the king, as he is not taken seriously. The aim of this paper is to present the various roles of the Fool and to analyze his function within the play. Throughout the play the Fool takes over the role of the person who constantly reminds Lear of his mistakes in order to enlighten him and make him realize his folly. He first appears in the middle of Act I Scene IV of the play and immediately points out that Lear has made a mistake by dividing his kingdom among his daughters. When talking to Kent he says: [...] if thou follow him [King Lear] thou must needs wear my coxcomb. How now, Nuncle! Would I had two coxcombs and two daughters! (King Lear, Act I, sc. iv, l. 109-111) In this scene the Fool is offering his coxcomb to Kent. By referring to his cap as a coxcomb , he uses the ambiguous meaning of this word in order to suggest the king to be the fool rather than himself. Kent before him had criticized Lear for his decision causing him to be banished from the kingdom, however, the Fool receives no such punishment showing that he can get away with actions that are far more courageous.
Shakespeare's King Lear
Author: S. Nagarajan
language: en
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Release Date: 2017-05-11
Shakespeare’s King Lear is often called his mightiest play. This comprehensive edition by S. Nagarajan (who edited the evergreen Signet edition of Measure for Measure) presents a lifetime of scholarship on Shakespeare and fifteen years of research specifically on Lear. Accessibly written, this edition serves the reader who has access to well-stocked libraries and lively theatres, as well as the student whose resources are more limited. The play-text is a conflation of the Quarto text and the First Folio text, and the notes provide a generous but discreet selection of alternative readings of lines and contexts. In ten erudite essays, Nagarajan provides a thoroughly researched picture of Shakespeare’s sources for the play, his unique use of language, Elizabethan theatre, history and values of the play, analysis of enigmatic scenes, glimpses into its performance history and other subjects, with special attention to Indian dramatic art theory. This edition is the first to bring together both the best scholarship on Lear to date and perspectives from Indian poetics and philosophy. The result is a text that robustly includes, but goes beyond, Anglophone cultures and Euro-American experiences, making it truly representative of Lear’s global stage.
The Oxford Shakespeare: The History of King Lear: The 1608 Quarto
King Lear, widely considered Shakespeare's most deeply moving, passionately expressed, and intellectually ambitious play, has almost always been edited from the revised version printed in the First Folio of 1623, with additions from the quarto of 1608. Acting on recent discoveries, this volume presents the first full, scholarly edition to be based firmly on the quarto, now recognized as the base text from which all others derive. A thorough, attractively written introduction suggests how the work grew slowly in Shakespeare's imagination, fed by years of reading, thinking, and experience as a practical dramatist. Analysis of the great range of literary and other sources from which he shaped the tragedy, and of its critical and theatrical history, indicates that the play felt as shocking and original to early audiences as it does now. Its challenges have often been evaded, notably in Nahum Tate's notorious adaptation. During the twentieth century, however, deeper understanding of the conventions of Shakespeare's theatre restored confidence in the theatrical viability of his original text, while the play has also generated a remarkable range of offshoots in film, television, the visual arts, music, and literature. The commentary to this edition offers detailed help in understanding the language and dramaturgy in relation to the theatres in which King Lear was first performed. Additional sections reprint the early ballad, ignored by all modern editors, which was among its earliest derivatives, and provide additional guides to understanding and appreciating one of the greatest masterworks of Western civilization.