King Lear: the Role of the Fool

In the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, there are many intriguing characters. Perhaps the most intriguing of them all is the fool. The fool seems to exist outside the play appearing and disappearing without warning. The fool is, however, a necessary character to the evolution of Lear's character, since he is the personification of truth and reason. The fool serves to show Lear how he is going insane, as well as to attempt to …

…to see the truth clearly. When he had finished his role in the play he vanished. Since he vanished only after Lear had gained his insight, he must have been there to show Lear these things. In addition, without the fool's influence Lear would probably have gone insane much earlier, which would have had a bad effect on the outcome of the story. The fool was the key factor in Lear's evolution as a character.