As a whole, many prophecies seem to say "When X happens, then Y will happen." When I first approached this particular speech and read the first few lines, I thought I knew where he was going:
When priests are more in word than matter,
When brewers mar their malt with water,
When nobles are their tailors' tutors, [3.2.79-81]
Because these are three events that could possibly happen or already were happening in Shakespeare's time (priests sometimes don't practice what they preach and brewers DO distill their beer with water), I initially assumed that the prophecy was a "when pigs fly" kind of satirical social commentary; I thought he was saying that these things are so outlandish, which is ironic since they are not. He even ends the prophecy by saying, "Then comes the time, who lives to see ’t,/That going shall be used with feet" (3.2.91-92) He's saying that those who will live to walk with their feet, which people already do. However, the next lines:
When every case in law is right,
No squire in debt nor no poor knight,
When slanders do not live in tongues,
Nor cutpurses come not to throngs,
When usurers tell their gold i' th' field,
And bawds and whores do churches build [3.2.83-88] are full of events that are actually highly unlikely - every law suit ends fairly, no man is poor, nobody slanders, nobody steals, etc. So which is it? Because the prophecy ends by saying "...then shall the realm of Albion/Come to great confusion," or in other words, Britain will be in a state of decay (3.2.89-90). So is the Fool making a comment about present-day (Shakespearean) England, suggesting that it is already in ruins? That was my initial thought, seeing as how so much of this speech references things that already happen. But then again, I could be reading this entire prophecy incorrectly.
3 comments:
I applaud you for taking on this really difficult and interesting passage, Liz! There is a kind of satire here of Shakespeare's world, potentially, but I think it also relates to the religious undercurrent in this play. As a prophecy, it might anticipate what has not happened yet--the coming of Christ--reminding us that we are in a world without god, ruled by fortune (see Mark's post below and my brief response). That's one way of thinking of it at least--but I'd be curious to hear what others have to say.
And on a textual note, this speech only appears in the Folio version of the play...it's not in the Quarto.
*** The Fool is one lonely voice that refers to a state of justice, equality, and freedom from exploitation, and his mysterious ‘prophecy’ dwells on how natural these states are—as easy as walking, in fact—and yet how unlikely the seem to be for humans to achieve, at least in the ‘confusion’ upsetting this play’s ‘Albion’, i.e. King Lear’s kingdom. In other words, when the world is honest, then living will be as easily natural as walking. (Adapted original criticism from Natural Law in English Renaissance Literature by R.S. White).
Although the fool is the great guider he also is human having his own desire to be free from being the fool.
I think he means
When there is falsehood and injustice the people will be blinded or enslaved but when there is righteousness each person will be free to go where their feet takes them.
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