The fool in King Lear

The Fool in King Lear There has always been a perpetual jester in a kingly court. Often he has provided entertainment via his superficial jokes and has won the good graces of his master by creating an atmosphere of ebullience and joviality. Rarely has there existed a fool of such vivacious and rudiment cruelty, practicality and unprecedented common sense as the fool of William Shakespeare’s King Lear. This fool is blessed with a mellifluous …

…for example, is so astute that he practically causes the audience to dispense sympathy for his atrocities. Since the Fool is very sagacious, it may be assumed that he is of an evil nature as well; yet he is the one who ultimately ‘saves’ Lear by purging his delusions and his pride from him. It is this differentiation, or lack thereof, that is the partial cause of such unadulterated chaos in King Lear’s Britain.