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.
Feste frequently causes amusement and makes the audience laugh; he also draws a realistic sense of Elizabethan society into the play. However, Feste is presented as a self-proclaimed ‘fool’, working under the status of a clown doing service for both Count Orisno and Lady Olivia, but when we allow ourselves to take a wider perspective of the text, we begin to discover that he is actually one of the most intellectually aware and it could be argued that he is the wisest character in the play, developing this idea of intelligence through his various displays of wit and duping of the surrounding characters. One rudimentary example of Feste’s intelligence is his implied knowledge of Viola’s true sex when he says “now Jove in his next commodity of hair, send thee a beard”. To an on looking character, this would seem as if Feste is simply making a joke about ‘Cesario’s’ lack of facial hair but between Feste and Viola, there would be a mutual understanding that he knows she is a woman, elaborating on the fact that Feste actually observes the affairs that occur between both houses and of each and every person associated with these residences. 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.
This conflict between them causes comedy as there are misunderstandings, which are amusing and the audience feel superiority over the characters who do not understand some of each other’s references. At the start of the play when Rita refers to a poem about “fightin’ death an’ disease”, Frank automatically assumes its “Dylan Thomas” as Thomas’s poem about death is a part of the literary canon. However Rita replies it’s “Roger McGough’s” poem that she’s describing. This misunderstanding conveys to the audience that these characters would not conventionally associate with each other. It could be amusing to the audience as it highlights the absurdity of the situation.
The Fools songs, riddles and jokes are a source of comic relief, used to break up the intensity of scenes. The Fool appears to have a deceptively simple part in the play when in actual fact his role is of key significance. The Fool and Lear have a fascinating relationship throughout the play. Lear seems to depend on his Fool increasingly to be his voice of reason or his conscience, because he reminds Lear of all his mistakes and manipulates his feelings into realising them. This is a great irony as the King who is supposed to be wise is in-fact a fool, yet the Fool himself is full of
The Fool is one of the most alluring characters in Shakespeare’s King Lear. He is a choric commentator whose lines reveal thematic motifs within the play, as well as a character that strategically uses humorous language as comic relief to Lear, but does not diminish the intensity of Lear’s misery. As he alleviates the intensity through humor, he equivocates because he says metaphors that speak the truth like the three witches in Macbeth, but the opposite. The Fool’s role is essential because he is aligned with Cordelia. Like Cordelia, the Fool is honest, but his comical language masks his honesty.
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’.
The fool remains by Lear's side despite his growing insanity through the third act. Ironically, as Lear's insanity increases so does his wisdom, until he is able to see wisdom on his own without the fool. Shakespeare chooses to express the on going theme of fools having wisdom and wise choices
Characterising Feste, Shakespeare gives him the aphorism, Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. [Feste. Act 1, scene 5] This line illustrates the clown's acumen; and is a delightful example of the way in which he uses language, as well as form to manifest Feste's character. Far from being a fool, the clown is erudite and sagely and able to present the audience with a higher knowledge of the plot than that presented by the other characters in the play. This witty remark is a clear
In Iago’s soliloquy, Shakespeare masterfully uses language so to encourage the audience to both respect and resent him simultaneously. Although Iago is malevolent and deceitful, his ability to fool others around him leads to a level of respect and admiration in an audience. The language Shakespeare employs in Iago is practical and direct, contrasting to Othello’s heroic and epic speech patterns. This is especially shown through Iago’s use of base and simplistic imagery presented when describing Roderigo as “poor trash of Venice”, causing Iago to appear more relatable than Othello. Through Shakespeare’s use of animal imagery when Iago articulates that he will make Othello “egregiously an ass”, the audience is forced to begrudgingly admire Iago for his astuteness and his ability to warp a situation to his own advantage.
Willy Russell uses superiority theory to engage the audience by creating comedy through the misfortune of others. The character of Frank is very cynical as he fails to see the good in anybody for a majority of the play and he believes that other people are motivated purely by self-interest. However, some people may argue that cruelty and cynicism are not at the heart of the comedy in the play and that the play could still be successful without these themes. One theme that could be seen as superior to cruelty and cynicism is culture and class because this theme causes confusion and misunderstanding between the two characters which as a result produces comedy. In the play ‘Educating Rita’ cruelty and cynicism feature a great deal.