The Mad Companions: Comparing Edgar and the Fool
In King Lear, Shakespeare draws several character parallels. Comparing the individuals that serve similar roles in the play lets the reader better understand the purpose of each individual. Three characters in the play that have a lot in common, and are often compared, are Edgar, the fool, and Cordelia. Because it is speculated that Cordelia and the Fool were meant to be played by the same people, the two characters are often explored as having the same roles, while Edgar and Cordelia are also sometimes compared as salvation figures. However, Edgar and the Fool have much more integral to the play. Despite being often compared to Cordelia, the Fool and Edgar’s roles are more similar to each …show more content…
In the first half of the play, the fool and the king are nearly inseparable. Tom Clayton, in a source recommended to me, mentions that there is a “sense of possession and close relation to Lear that could accommodate both Cordelia and the Fool” (143). The fool, however, remains in this close relation while Cordelia is absent during most of the play. This critic also notes that the fool ends up “serving the King faithfully from beginning to end” (Clayton 144). Until his departure from the play entirely, the Fool and Lear are nearly always together. When the fool finally does disappear, it isn’t until the king himself has descended entirely into madness. The Fool gives Lear an opportunity to speak out and, in turn, he speaks very clearly to the king on the way things are. In discussing the situation Lear puts himself into by giving his kingdom to his daughters, the fool says outright, “Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown/when thou gav 'st thy golden one away” (Shakspeare 1.4). Here, he gives his honest opinion Lear’s decision, even criticizing it as no one else can. He is, in this way, both a companion and a guide to …show more content…
The fool, despite being supposedly mad, is often saying wise things and, when the king finally actually does go genuinely mad, the fool and his false madness disappear from the play. In fact, near the event of the above image, it is the fool who steps back, sees Lear’s growing madness, and states, “This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen” (Shakespeare 3.4). The king, at this point, is also wise in being mad as he finally starts to understand his own folly. In a similar fashion, while Edgar is pretending to be mad, Gloucester father comes to him blind—a situation that parallel’s Lear’s madness in that it allows Gloucester to see the world truly—and eventually Edgar’s façade of madness starts to fade away. He says in an aside, “I cannot daub it farther” (Shakespeare 4.1). Meaning that he is unsure if he can continue the charade of madness and his normal way of speaking returns. It is only when the blind see and the seeing become blind, that these guides let their false madness
In King Lear, Shakespeare draws several character parallels. Comparing the individuals that serve similar roles in the play lets the reader better understand the purpose of each individual. Three characters in the play that have a lot in common, and are often compared, are Edgar, the fool, and Cordelia. Because it is speculated that Cordelia and the Fool were meant to be played by the same people, the two characters are often explored as having the same roles, while Edgar and Cordelia are also sometimes compared as salvation figures. However, Edgar and the Fool have much more integral to the play. Despite being often compared to Cordelia, the Fool and Edgar’s roles are more similar to each …show more content…
In the first half of the play, the fool and the king are nearly inseparable. Tom Clayton, in a source recommended to me, mentions that there is a “sense of possession and close relation to Lear that could accommodate both Cordelia and the Fool” (143). The fool, however, remains in this close relation while Cordelia is absent during most of the play. This critic also notes that the fool ends up “serving the King faithfully from beginning to end” (Clayton 144). Until his departure from the play entirely, the Fool and Lear are nearly always together. When the fool finally does disappear, it isn’t until the king himself has descended entirely into madness. The Fool gives Lear an opportunity to speak out and, in turn, he speaks very clearly to the king on the way things are. In discussing the situation Lear puts himself into by giving his kingdom to his daughters, the fool says outright, “Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown/when thou gav 'st thy golden one away” (Shakspeare 1.4). Here, he gives his honest opinion Lear’s decision, even criticizing it as no one else can. He is, in this way, both a companion and a guide to …show more content…
The fool, despite being supposedly mad, is often saying wise things and, when the king finally actually does go genuinely mad, the fool and his false madness disappear from the play. In fact, near the event of the above image, it is the fool who steps back, sees Lear’s growing madness, and states, “This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen” (Shakespeare 3.4). The king, at this point, is also wise in being mad as he finally starts to understand his own folly. In a similar fashion, while Edgar is pretending to be mad, Gloucester father comes to him blind—a situation that parallel’s Lear’s madness in that it allows Gloucester to see the world truly—and eventually Edgar’s façade of madness starts to fade away. He says in an aside, “I cannot daub it farther” (Shakespeare 4.1). Meaning that he is unsure if he can continue the charade of madness and his normal way of speaking returns. It is only when the blind see and the seeing become blind, that these guides let their false madness