A wise man and a fool

 In Scene 2 of Act 3, Shakespeare gives us the image of what King Lear has become now that he has been basically kicked out by both of the daughters that he didn't disown as long as he intends on keeping his knights. I’m going to skip over the fact that that was the condition of him giving them the land in the first place and stick mainly to Lear himself as well as the Fool. The image that Shakespeare gives us in this Scene is one of a man who has become undone. He is talking to nature, appearing to try and convince it to conjure up a storm as the Fool tries to calm him down and get him to go inside.

The part that really strikes me is when Kent enters the scene and asks who is there, and the Fool replies: “Marry, here’s grace and a cod-piece; that’s a wise man and a fool” (3.2.38-39). Now, he never specifies which is supposed to be which, but the irony that is supposed to be taken is that he is inferring that the King has now become the fool, where he is the wise man. The King is supposed to be the wisest among the land, he is the one that is supposed to rule fairly and justly and therefore he must be knowledgeable, but we have seen King Lear to be anything but. It is this relationship between them, that one is the fool while the other is wise at all times, that is interesting and catches my attention at the least.

The relationship between the King and the Fool is something that has always been interesting for me to read about and watch, no matter how many times I read or see this play. There is an interesting dynamic between them that is hard to ignore. For the start, the Fool is allowed to tell him the truth, such as the fact that he is being foolish, without getting banished or punished as others (such as Cordelia who dared tell him the truth that she loved him just as much as she should). The King also, in this scene, before Kent shows is seen to be alone with the Fool, though he is not listening to the Fool’s council it is almost as if he is taking the Fool as his only advisor, making him truly the Fool as the Fool states. Within the pair of them, one must always be the fool and one must always be the wise man, it appears. And King Lear rarely appears wise in his decisions (he gives the kingdom to the two daughters who kick him out and refuse him the conditions that came along with them getting the land and disowned the only daughter who didn’t just flatter him for the land) so where does that leave the Fool?

Perhaps it is as the gentleman says when Kent speaks to him: “None but the fool, who labors to out-jest/His heart-struck injuries.” (3.1.16-17). That the Fool is merely trying to cheer up the King, but when seeing the conversation it appears more like the Fool trying to be a good council to the King, to take up the role of wise man now that the King has abandoned it to yell at the storm. And it is King Lear’s yelling at the storm that either makes him appear the fool, or at the very least mad. The Fool attempts to steer him inside, out of the storm, and even Kent mentions that not even night wanderers would be outside. He appears to be the one giving all the advice here, but King Lear just wants to cause the skies to cast his revenge instead.