I must say one of the parts that truly intrigued me, when discussing King Lear the other day in class, was the prophecy of the Fool in Act III scene two. His prophecy is about when the kingdom of England will come to ruin and he lists different things that will occur. I was able to sort the things that will happen into three categories.
At a first they all seem like things that will never happen but probably should such as whores building churches, no one slandering, the thief not stealing, or the nobleman teaching his tailor how to sew. Secondly, they seem to describe things that are already happening but probably shouldn't such as when the priests are not practicing what they preach, when brewers dilute their beer with water, or when moneylenders count their money out in the open. Thirdly, in my opinion he is almost saying that whenever everyone is true to themselves or their stereotypes whether they are good or bad, for example if your a gentleman you shouldn't be in debt or if your a lawyer your should judge every case fairly, then the kingdom will fall. While some of the things he mentions can fit into two or more categories there are some that only fit into one
So what exactly the Fool is saying I'm not sure, but it is slightly ironic to me that though he is characterized as the Fool he seems more wise than others in the play. In a way I think the Fool is simply pointing out that the ruin of the kingdom of England might already be occurring and that the characters need to be very careful with their next actions.
p.s. commented on Mallory Searcy's I love Lear
Like I mentioned in class, any time a fool in Shakespeare speaks, pay attention. No matter how funny or stupid they may seem, they always know what is going on. Take Feste in Twelfth Night, he is the only character to recognize that Viola, who is disguised as a man, is not actually a man. He doesn't come right out and say she's a female, but if you pay close enough attention, you realize that he knows.
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