Source: "Shakespeare's Wise Fools," in Wise Fools in Shakespeare, 1955. Reprint by Michigan State University Press, 1963, Pl'. 47-67.
[Goldsmith calls Lear's jester a "wise fool" and distin. gUishes him from traditional fools known principally for being halfwitted or cunning, satirical or ironical. The Fool's chief characteristic is devotion to the king, the cntic declares, and in thiS steadfastness he demonstrates the virtues of "patience, humility, and love. "Goldsmith notes that this devotion sometimes clouds the Fool's reason, a paradoxical situation Since the Fool's principal task is to help Lear clarify his own judgment. But nursing the mad king back to sanity is beyond his skills, the cntic asserts, and when it becomes apparent that others will take on this responsibility, the Fool departs.]
The Fool in King Lear has become so enmeshed in the.....
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