The role and function of the fool in Shakespeare′s romantic comedies

by

Bettina Disdorn

WS 2006/2007, 3. Fachsemester

Contents

I Introduction... 3

II Fools in:... 3

1. A Midsummer Night′s Dream... 3
2. Much Ado About Nothing... 5

III The Court Jester in:... 6

1. As You Like It... 6
2. Twelfth Night... 7

IV Conclusion... 8

Works Cited... 9

I. Introduction

The more pity, that fools may not speak wisely what wise men do foolishly. (Shakespeare, As You Like It. (Act I, Scene II, ll. 90-93) Touchstone’s comment on the role of the court jester in As You like It already suggests what is going to be the object of my brief analysis of the fool’s role in Shakespeare’s romantic comedies. I will make an attempt at providing substance to the assertion that once the reader looks beyond the one-dimensional folly and foolery on the surface, he/she will find an informed social voice, providing criticism and commentary to the ceremony and traditions of nobility and aristocracy of the time. I will try to demonstrate the case for this by examining four plays: at first I am going to take a brief look at the fool’s function in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing, before eventually coming to the core of the matter with As You Like It and Twelfth Night.

II Fools in:

1. A Midsummer Night′s Dream

Bottom the Weaver, a member of the group of artisans who are preparing a play for Duke Theseus’s wedding celebration, is obviously putting into question the illusionary effect a representation in the theatre is supposed to create. He does so by having a prologue written that destroys all possible illusion in The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe:

Write me a prologue and let the prologue seem to say we will do no harm
with our swords, and that Pyramus is not killed indeed and (...) that I, Pyramus, am
not Pyramus, but Bottom the weaver (...).

Moreover, when considering to play the lion′s part he suggests to “roar you as gently as any sucking dove” and “roar you and ′twere any nightingale” (Act I Scene II, ll. 66/67) instead of roaring fiercely in closer imitation of a real lion. Clearly, this comments on and puts into question the theatre′s aspiration at substituting illusion for reality. Another important aspect of Bottom′s central function in the play is that of “the agent of the plot” (Hart 1966: 46). He moves the plot forward: On the one hand, he helps to reconcile Oberon and Titania. with “his earthy stupidity and animal appearance revealing to Titania the mad folly of which that night world is capable” (Hart 1966: 33). As for Oberon, he finally takes pity on Titania in her mad frenzy of love for Bottom with his ass’s head and and removes the spell he had cast on her which had made her fall in love with the first living creature she set eyes on when waking up. On the other hand, he and his fellows are essential dramatic elements in the fundamental opposition of reason and love. They move between Athens, the realm of reason and common sense, Theseus’s sphere, and the palace wood, where Titania and Oberon rule a “world of impulse and imagination” (Hart 1966: 34). John A. Hart is right in saying that “Indeed Bottom himself sounds the keynote of this theme [of the opposition and final reconciliation of reason and imagination] when he (Bottom) says upon meeting Titania:

... to say the truth, reason and love keep little company now-a-days; the
more pity that some honest neighbours will not make them friends. (Act
III, Scene I, ll. 146-149)” (1966: 34)

This might lead to the conclusion that Bottom is not a fool in the literal, colloquial sense but that he possesses some insight into the two contrasting worlds. However, he is completely unaware of others and of the implications inherent of the unusual situations he is drawn into. John Hart describes Bottom’s state of mind most accurately:

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