Hubris
In Shakespeare's King Lear the seeds of tragedy are sown in the first act when Lear makes a rash, foolhardy decision. Ironically, only the character of The Fool speaks the truth to him, but he refuses to listen. One of the fascinating enigma's of the play is the disappearance without explanation of The Fool halfway through. In fact, The Fool disappears at exactly the point at which Lear descends into utter madness. Until then the old king had enough vestiges of sanity so that there was a chance he could still understand and reverse his folly. Afterward, the terrible conclusion was inevitable.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:41 AM
7 Comments:
John... I never studied King Lear but was the Fool his conscience? That would explain his sudden disappearance I guess.
Gotta love the optimism of Harley and Bear!
Harley, why be different than any other citizen?
good cartoon, John C.
PS. Jean, I never thought of the Fool as Lear's conscience but rather as the only one who was not afraid to speak the truth but your question certainly makes one think and perhaps reconsider who or what was the Fool. Wonderful play, one of my favorites. Lovely just reading it out loud to oneself, the words flow forming a melody. It also contains one of the most quoted statements of all times.
The beauty of Shakespeare is that we'll never know what was in his mind. He can be interpreted in many ways. I don't think I'd call the Fool Lear's "conscience." I think of him more like the primal clown that lives within each one of us and keeps reminding us what fools we mortals be. Our consience knows the difference between right and wrong, our fool is less concerned with morality than with folly.
The noted Shakespearean scholar, Sir Massey Cadenti, claimed that the Fool disappears in Lear because the character clown who played him was always so drunk by the middle of any performance that he was unable to go on. Shakespeare was very fond of him and wrote the part of the 1st Gravedigger specifically for his talents; unfortunately the poor man kept dropping Yorickâs skull and was thus demoted to the part of 2nd Gravedigger which he played to the end of his short life. [Source: New England Journal of Very Obscure Shakespearean Studies, August 1938.]
Good story, prof, but apochryphal. English actors are all drunks. It's because of their years playing in provincial theatres. In winter a bottle of booze was the only thing that kept them warm in the freezing dressing rooms. I can't image The Globe's dressing arrangements were any cozier.
Hilarious Professore!
Okay both scenarios sound plausible (((chuckles)))
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