Learn about King Lear's Fool. Explore the Fool's role in ''King Lear,'' understand the relationship between the King and his Fool, and read ''King Lear'' quotes.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Fool in King Lear | Quotes, Role & Analysis
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Frequently Asked Questions
What mental illness does King Lear have?
It is not specified what mental illness King Lear has. However, his elder daughters' disloyalty, as well as his travels at night through the storm are both harmful to his mental health.
What is the fool's function in King Lear?
The Fool is Lear's court jester; his job is to entertain Lear. However, he also functions as a wise advisor to Lear because he is the only character who is allowed to criticize Lear or question his decisions.
How is the fool wise in King Lear?
The Fool is wise because he recognizes Cordelia's love and loyalty as well as Regan and Goneril's cruelty. He knows it was a mistake for Lear to disinherit and banish Cordelia after she refused to flatter him like her sisters did.
What does the fool represent in King Lear?
The fool functions as Lear's conscience in the play, advising him about his mistakes. He also becomes Lear's protector after Regan and Goneril have locked their doors to him.
Is Cordelia the fool in King Lear?
Cordelia is not the Fool in King Lear. However, it is likely that the same actor played both characters, because they never appear onstage together. (After Cordelia's death at the end of the play, Lear refers to her as "my poor fool.")
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ShowIn William Shakespeare's King Lear, the Fool is King Lear's court jester. During Elizabethan times, when the play was written, the role of the court jester was to entertain the king or queen and the court. In the role of courtly entertainer, the jester had certain privileges, such as the ability to satirize aristocrats and even the king or queen (usually, the jester would be the only person allowed to do so). Indeed, in King Lear, the title character does not tolerate dissent from anyone except the Fool. The Fool, therefore, takes on the role of wise truth-teller, pointing out Lear's mistakes in a way that no other character is allowed to, albeit in a humorous way. Shakespeare often used a court jester archetype to inject some levity into an otherwise tragic play.
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The Fool's role as a court jester is to entertain King Lear with his humor and wit. He proves himself to be one of the wisest, most loyal, and most honest characters throughout the play. He also functions as Lear's conscience because he is the only character in the play that King Lear allows to criticize him.
The Fool believes that Lear was unwise to leave his entire kingdom to his eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, while disinheriting and banishing his youngest daughter Cordelia, and tells him so. The Fool is proven to be a good judge of character after Regan and Goneril turn against their elderly father. He also proves his loyalty and honesty by remaining with Lear after he leaves Regan's household and wanders the heath at night in a storm. He entreats Lear to find somewhere safe and dry to spend the night as Lear's health deteriorates. While the Fool often criticizes or mocks Lear, he is one of the few characters in the play who truly has Lear's best interests at heart.
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Analysis of Lear's Fool
The play begins with Lear, the fictional king of Britain, dividing his kingdom between his three daughters, saying he will leave the "largest bounty" to the daughter who can prove she loves him the most. His eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, exaggerate their love for him in flowery detail; his youngest daughter Cordelia, who is honest and kind, refuses to do so. Lear then divides his entire kingdom between Regan and Goneril and disinherits and banishes Cordelia.
In his first appearance in Act 1, Scene 4, the Fool states his belief that it was unwise for Lear to leave all of his kingdom to his two eldest daughters Regan and Goneril and banish his youngest daughter Cordelia. He tells Lear, "when thou clovest thy crown i' th' middle and gav'st away both parts...thou hads't little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav'st thy golden one away" (Act 1, Scene 4). Another character mentions that the Fool has been sad since Cordelia's departure. The Fool's assessment of Lear's elder daughters' disloyalty, as well as Cordelia's steadfastness, proves to be correct when first Goneril and then Regan say that they will not house Lear's retinue of 100 knights.
The Fool is also one of the only characters willing to criticize Goneril in her presence, telling Lear, "For you know, nuncle/The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long/That it's had it head bit off by it young" (Act 1, Scene 4). He loudly and mockingly expresses his fear of Goneril when they leave. While Lear is sure that Regan will welcome them, the Fool expresses his doubts, pointing out that Regan and Goneril are very similar to one another: "Shalt see thy other daughter will use thee kindly; for though she's as like this as a crab's like an apple...She'll taste as like this as a crab does to a crab" (Act 1, Scene 5).
The Fool is proven right about Regan in Act 2, Scene 4 when he and Lear arrive at Regan's household and Goneril arrives shortly after them. Both Regan and Goneril tell Lear that they will not house his retinue, and as the Fool previously pointed out, Lear is powerless against Regan and Goneril's whims. Lear leaves in anger, venturing into the stormy night. The Fool follows him out of loyalty, and Regan and Goneril close the doors behind him. (In the next scene, another character specifies that the Fool was the only person who went with Lear when he left.)
In Act 3, Scene 2, Lear and the Fool are outside in the storm. The Fool, concerned for Lear's health, says that they should go back to Regan's home: "Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughter's blessing! Here's a night pities neither wise men nor fools" (Act 3, Scene 2). However, the Fool stays with Lear as he wanders in the stormy night, and they follow the Earl of Kent (who is disguised, having previously been banished by Lear for questioning his decision to disinherit Cordelia) to a nearby hovel that will offer some shelter from the storm.
Throughout the play, the Fool acts as Lear's protector, first offering him advice about his mistakes, and then following him into the storm and endeavoring to keep him safe.
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The Fate of the Fool in King Lear
The Fool's last appearance in King Lear is in Act 3, Scene 6 (the play has five acts total). In this scene, Lear and his allies (the Fool, Edgar, the Earl of Kent, and the Earl of Gloucester) take cover from the storm and pretend to put Regan and Goneril on trial. Then Lear rests, declaring "We'll go to supper i' th' morning" (Act 3, Scene 6). The fool responds "and I'll go to bed at noon" (Act 3, Scene 6). This is the fool's last line in the play; 'go to bed at noon' may be a reference to the fact that he disappears halfway through the play.
One reason for the Fool's disappearance may be that he is, among other things, a humorous character, and may therefore have been removed from the narrative before the play's worst tragedies occurred. Another reason may be more practical; in the original productions of King Lear, it is possible that the Fool and Cordelia were played by the same actor and therefore could never appear onstage together. (Cordelia is absent from Act 1, Scene 1 until Act 4, Scene 2.) After Cordelia's death in Act 5, Scene 3, Lear refers to her as "my poor fool," possibly a reference to the fact that Cordelia and the Fool were often played by the same actor.
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"There, take my coxcomb! Why, this fellow hath banished two on's daughters...If I gave them all my living I'd keep my coxcombs myself. There's mine! Beg another of thy daughters" (Act 1, Scene 4).
- "Coxcomb" has a double meaning in this quote; the fool is literally referring to his own cap; However, when he talks about Lear banishing "two on's daughters," he is talking about the fact that Lear gave away his crown, his kingdom, and all his power to Regan and Goneril and must now live on their sufferance.
"Thou hads't little wit in thy bald crown when thou gavs't thy golden one away" (Act 1, Scene 4).
- The Fool knows that Cordelia is the only one of Lear's daughters who truly loves him. He believes that Lear made a horrible error in judgment by disinheriting Cordelia, and tells him so.
"Thou shouldst not have been old til thou had been wise" (Act 1, Scene 5).
- While Lear and his retinue prepare to travel from Goneril's house to Regan's, the fool again laments the fact that he does not think Lear was wise to leave everything to Regan and Goneril.
"Look! He wears cruel garters. Horses are tied by the head, dogs and bears by th' neck...and men by th' legs" (Act 2, Scene 4).
- Lear and the Fool arrive at Regan's household to find the Earl of Kent locked in the stocks. (Kent has been working for Lear in disguise, having previously been banished by him.) The fool observes that this ill-treatment of one of Lear's few remaining allies by Regan and her husband does not bode well for how Regan will treat her father.
"O nuncle, court holy water in a dry house is better than this rain water out o' door. Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters blessing! Here's a night pities neither wise men nor fools" (Act 3, Scene 2).
- Out of loyalty, the Fool follows Lear when Lear leaves Regan's house. However, as they wander in the storm, the Fool advises Lear to go back to Regan and Goneril and apologize, because his only other option is to wander outside on a stormy night. While the Fool sometimes mocks Lear, he is loyal and always has Lear's best interests at heart.
"And I'll go to bed at noon" (Act 3, Scene 6).
- This is the Fool's last line in the play; his response to Lear saying "We'll go to supper I' th' morning." It may also be a reference to the fact that this scene, roughly halfway through the play, is the Fool's last appearance in the play.
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In William Shakespeare's King Lear, the Fool is King Lear's court jester. He is the only character who Lear allows to question his decisions; because of this, the Fool acts as a wise advisor as well as an entertainer to Lear. The Fool disapproves of Lear's decision to disinherit his daughter Cordelia and leave everything to his daughters Regan and Goneril, believing that it was unwise for Lear to give Regan and Goneril absolute power over him. He is proven right when first Goneril and then Regan refuse to house Lear's retinue of 100 knights. The Fool follows Lear when Lear leaves Regan's house and wanders outside in the storm. Lear and The Fool encounter certain allies as they travel: first the Earl of Kent, in disguise; then the Earl of Gloucester's son Edgar, also in disguise; then the Earl of Gloucester himself. As Lear's health deteriorates, his allies bring him to a hovel where he can rest. The Fool's last appearance is in Act 3, Scene 6, slightly over halfway through the play. This is probably because the role of the Fool was often played by the same actor who played Cordelia; the two never appear onstage at the same time. While his role is to entertain Lear, the Fool proves himself to be one of the wisest and most loyal characters in the play.
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Video Transcript
The Fools of Shakespeare
A lot of very bad stuff happens in the tragic plays of William Shakespeare. Things like star-crossed lovers committing suicide in Romeo and Juliet, or a husband getting blinded by jealousy and rage to kill a wife he loves more than anything in the world in Othello. But Shakespeare wasn't all sobs and wet tissues.
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In order to add a little comic effect to otherwise tragic stories, and also to help make tragic scenes more relatable, Shakespeare would sometimes throw in a fool/court jester-type character. His fools were always common folks who used their cleverness to help along characters of higher social classes. Perhaps there is no wiser fool than the Fool in King Lear.
The Fool's Role
The terms 'funny,' 'witty,' 'intelligent,' 'loyal' and 'honest' perfectly describe the Fool from King Lear. The Fool does not have the biggest role in the play, but his role is pivotal.
King Lear, who is King of Britain, is by nature a sensitive and prideful man who doesn't take criticism very well. For instance, he banishes his own daughter Cordelia for speaking her mind. But the King allows his court jester to tell it like it is because the Fool blends his criticism with humor. The Fool can also be honest and speak bluntly about the King's decision making when everyone else must watch their tongue.
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Lear needs him. If we could pick one adjective to describe the Fool, it would be 'loyal.' He stays with the King even when they are without a home. Without the Fool, Lear is a madman with no one around to tell him the truth, no one around to be reasonable and wise. When Lear gives away his land, he is not quite a king anymore. The Fool is even blunt enough to call him 'nothing.'
'Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no need to
care for her frowning; now thou art an O without a
figure: I am better than thou art now; I am a fool,
thou art nothing.'
A King and His Fool
One would think that a king would act responsibly and make decisions based on reason and wisdom. That's not the case for King Lear, who grows more and more insane as Shakespeare's tragedy moves along. At the beginning of the play, King Lear decides to retire. In order to help decide who will inherit his great wealth, he sets up a game where each of his three daughters gets to tell daddy how much she loves him.
The results of the game are disastrous. King Lear shuns the one daughter who actually does loves him, Cordelia, because she refuses to express in words how much she adores her dad. She is exiled and flees to France. Then he gives all his wealth to his two daughters, Regan and Goneril, who only pretend to love him.
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The Fool lets King Lear know what a huge mistake it was to give up his land.
'To give away thy land
Come place him here by me
Do thou for him stand.'
William Shakespeare clearly had a goal in mind when writing King Lear. He wanted to show his audience that wisdom has absolutely nothing to do with wealth or social class. In fact, the Fool knew that letting Cordelia, 'the golden one,' because her hair was blond, go was an awful decision. 'Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav'st thy golden one away.'
Speaking his mind again, he tells the King that being a fool isn't the best lot in life but being King Lear is worse. 'I had rather be any kind o' thing than a Fool, and yet I would not be thee.'
Where Does the Fool Go?
Perhaps the biggest mystery in King Lear is what happens to the Fool. Without warning or explanation after Act 3, Scene 6, the Fool is gone from the play. There has been a lot of speculation about the fate of the Fool. The play has an enormously high body count. Characters drop like flies, and it's quite possible the Fool was killed as well. King Lear does state, 'And my poor fool is hanged.'
There is also speculation that since Cordelia and the Fool never share the stage that the two characters were originally played by the same actor. Dual-roling was common during Shakespeare's era. In turn, the Fool just had to be gone when Cordelia's character reentered the action of the play after she returned from France.
The Fool's last line in the play is 'And I'll go to bed at noon.' At this point, Lear is almost totally insane. It could be that Lear had taken in all the Fool's criticisms and his character was no longer needed in the play. Since every character in every single Shakespeare play serves a purpose in moving the narrative forward, when the Fool was no longer necessary to the story, Shakespeare simply disposed of him.
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Lesson Summary
The Fool was the one character in King Lear who could tell the King the honest and brutal truth. As Lear quickly descended into total madness, the Fool stayed by his side. The Fool disappears in Act 3, and although there is speculation about what happened to him, we will never know for sure.
Learning Outcome
When you're through with the video, it should be easier for you to examine and analyze the character of the Fool in King Lear.
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Fool in King Lear | Quotes, Role & Analysis
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