with his characteristic manner. He immediately changes the form of his speech
and finds the way to escape the whipping. He stops himself from another
biting remark and in response to Lear’s warning he provides less acute answer.
More to the point, in dangerous situations “ the truth he tells is disguised”. A
good illustration being when he disguises the meaning of his answer in
something that sounds like a metaphor:
FOOL: “ Truth’s a dog must to kennel, he must be whippe’d
out, when the Lady Brach may stand by th’ fire and stink.’’ (I.4.112-113)
When he sees that he did not manage to entirely soften King’s irritation he
makes his taunting more restrained and uses another trick. He alleviates
the acuteness of his comments “by a flight into the ridiculous”, namely, he slips
into words that act like apparent nonsense:
FOOL: …Have more than thou
Speak less than thou knowest
Lend less than thou ,
Ride more than thou ... (I.4.118-121)
The Fool also uses this defense when he taunts both Lear and Goneril. He
wants to demonstrate Lear’s plight and Goneril’s rapacity. In demonstrating that
he provides a speech with an image of ‘the hedge – sparrow who fed the cuckoo
so long / That it’s had it head bit off by it young’ (I.4.233-234) and again slips
into senseless words which in his intention should not match with the earlier
lines:
FOOL: “So out went the candle, and we were left darkling’ (I.4.235).
A little further on the Fool makes another biting thrust at Lear and Goneril:
FOOL: ‘‘May not an ass know when the cart draws the horse’’ (I.4.244-245)
but immediately softens its effect adding: ‘Whoop Jug, I love thee!’ (I.4.246)
It seems reasonable to assume that the Fool with his defensive irrelevancies
probably makes a confusion in minds of those to whom were directed
and thereby distracts their attention.
Another useful trick which helps the Fool appease Lear’s anger is as Leslie
Hotson calls it in her book ‘Shakespeare’s Motley’ – ‘mad fooling’. Reffering to
these words the Fool is acting a half-wit. He can see and speak the truth but
when necessary he disguises his commentaries in a form of imbecility. He acted
before Lear as a babbling imbecile. Thanks to this defensive skill he can let
himself to speak some outrageous things since his statements could be only seen
as babblings of a fool. Although the Fool speaks the truth he may not be
believed which Fool himself confirms in a following exchange:
FOOL: …Can you make no use of nothing, Nuncle?
LEAR: Why, no, boy. Nothing can be made out of nothing.
FOOL:[ To Kent] Prithee tell him, so much to rent of his land comes to; he
will not believe a Fool. (I.4.143-147)
A little further the Fool provides a line in which he confirms that again.
He says: “… if I speak like myself in this…”(I.4.175). He has the awareness that
he may not be believed and makes clever use of it. He interlaces his barbed
comments and raillery with babblings that help him prevent Lear’s irritation to
turn into fury. He wants to stay with his master and push him towards the truth
but this is a difficult and risky task to tell the truth to such a choleric master.
Needless to say he must be careful in how he reveals the truth but all of those
evasions and verbal shifts help him remain with the king.
