It flowed perfectly between lines. I didn’t notice once him messing up his lines or anything. If so, he must have hid it very well from the audience because there was no commotion there except for the fact of his hilarious acting. My number one compliment for him vocally would be the way his voice and character fit perfectly. His skittish voice on certain acts
(1.3.71)” Banquo also doubts the intension of the witches, he believes that evil always tells one part of the truth in order to earn one’s trust and lead him to destruction. Banquo warns Macbeth, ”But ‘tis strange./And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/ the instruments of darkness tell us truths,/win us with honest trifles, to betray’s/In deepest consequence. (1.3.124-128)” On the other hand, Macbeth ignored his friends warning and believes in what the witches say. He is over whelmed by his ambition to be king, he said to himself,”Glamis, and the thane of Cawfor!/The greatest is behind. (1.3.118-119).””Two truths are told/,as happy prologues to the swelling act/of the imperial theme.
We are taught to understand themes like sight and blindness, and foolishness through the fool’s character. The Fool also helps to involve the audience more, as his speeches reflect a narration, which naturally give the audience more information about the nature of the plot. Before I researched this theme, I predicted that yes the fool does help King Lear to see clearly. The Fool is Lear's own stand-up comedian, but more interestingly, he's the only person that Lear allows to criticize him. The Fool is actually really smart and the only person who tells it like it is, showing that he puts Lear into line when needed.
To others, he is a talented actor, as they are completely fooled by his façade of honesty. He appears humble to Desdemona, when he implies that he is not intelligent ‘but indeed my invention comes from my pate as birdlime does from frieze’. To Othello, he appears truthful, hiding his malicious intent. He appears to offer kindly advice, deceiving Othello utterly. This is evident from Othello's periodical exclamation of trust-‘kind and honest Iago’.
They make fools out of the main characters. The tangled web of love is humorous. Although the fool is portrayed to be quite stupid, there are a few that have a certain cleverness to them. The fool in the play King Lear, for example, seems to comment on society’s behavior and criticizes King Lear’s actions. Despite the hilarious manor in which he does this, there is an element of truthfulness in what he says.
With regard to this observational quality, it is as if he does not want to reveal what he knows, in fear of losing his position as the ‘clown’ and only relates to this detail in a friendly banter between himself and Viola in Act 3 Scene 1. Because Feste is labelled the ‘fool’ it is not to say that he has no intellectual
In Shakespeare’s play, ‘King Lear’, we are shown an array of characters that are multi-dimensional and extremely complex. Shakespeare has the ability to reveal a human character with an exceptional use of language. The three characters that I believe have large roles and functions within the play are, understandably, King Lear himself, The Fool, and Kent. The Fool acts as Lear's conscience and trusted guide, yet he is also a critic of Lear, a truth teller. In effect this makes a true friend, however some believe it was the Fool's constant remarks that drove Lear to madness.
If Hamlet were to have seen his father’s ghost by himself, there would be a greater argument for him being insane from the outset of the play. Hamlet also exerts control over his actions, which is the main reason why it could be argued that he is sane. He actively tries to convince Polonius that he has gone mad - mocking him when he would usually be respectful, acting cruelly towards Ophelia whom he was clearly affectionate to earlier in the play. He does this in the hope that Polonius will tell the court of his madness. Hamlet is often hesitant to do things, for example where he had the chance to kill Claudius in the chapel but couldn’t bring himself to do it, not because he would be killing another human but because he wanted Claudius to suffer and not go straight to Heaven.
Like Cordelia, the Fool is honest, but his comical language masks his honesty. The Fool enters the play while Cordelia exits, which most Shakespearean scholars suggest that the Fool is a spiritual twin that connects with Cordelia-“Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach thy fool/to lie: I would fain to learn to lie”-because he leads Lear onto the road of sanity and truth and when Cordelia reenters she represents his heart and sanity that have been reborn-“Ay, madam; in the heaviness of his sleep/we put fresh garments on him.” However, when the Fool enters the play, he wastes no time and reminds Lear of “nothing.” Indeed, there is a subversion of values, by dividing his kingdom he has become the “all licens’d Fool.” The Fool also tells Lear that he has become “an O without a figure,” because he has given away his scepter, his rod-which represents his manhood-and his whip which suggest that he has become the child to his daughters. The Fool like Edmund is a luminal character because he is sui generis. He cannot be labeled because he is a wise man and a Fool. Throughout the play he is marginalized because he is a Fool, but since he is the Fool no one pays attention to him and he uses this title as an advantage to speak of the truth.
April 15, 2013 OTHELLO Extra Credit Response According to Aristotle’s six elements of drama, Othello was the tragic hero whose weakness for having faith in those who he thinks tell the truth (Iago) allows him to be manipulated and blinded his jealousy that Iago created as an illusion. This downfall of his led to the death of Desdemona. Othello’s lack for evidence, such as proof of the handkerchief, allowed tragedy to occur in the play. Seeing the play Othello live rather than reading it from a book allowed me to understand the writing and meaning of Shakespeare. Watching Othello, I already knew the underlined themes and symbolism, etc.