Today, the day of fools and jesters

Someone has rightly remarked that life is nothing but an illusion and a fool’s paradise. Taking this illusion as reality, we all are the denizens of this illusory world, a fool’s paradise. Much to our amazement, like many days of historic import, we have a designated day April 1 as Fools’ day.

There are plenty of people who eagerly wait all the year for April 1. The fake bugs are collected, the keys are swapped, and the tales are carefully cooked to derive fun by playing a variety of pranks on a host of the easy preys.

How long have we been celebrating this weird day? And where does its origin lie? To answer these somewhat baffling queries, the intelligent Google Devta offers many explanations, though no such explanation has been corroborated with any plausible evidence.

But with no intention of playing any mischievous prank and in order to celebrate this day in an entirely different manner, I have chosen to dwell upon the significance of fools in the world of drama and literature. In our day-to-day communication, we often use the word ‘fool’ when we are a tad agitated and want to hold someone in derision on account of his sheer lack of common sense in dealing with some ordinary situation.

On the contrary, this mildly offensive word has an altogether different standing in the realm of drama. The doyens of theatre like William Shakespeare and many more are still famous for giving us the best and the wisest of fools. What an oxymoron it is! Going against the connotative meaning of the word in our daily communication, fool is the wisest and the wittiest character in the Elizabethan drama.

Inarguably, he is endowed with the qualities of deep insight and remarkable intelligence and is thereby assigned many paramount roles to perform in a drama.
A Shakespearean fool has an absolute liberty to express his opinions and speak the truth in a context where even the closest of the king choose to stay tongue-tied, for fear of their lives. When the protagonist Lear, in one of great tragic plays by Shakespeare, decides to disown his faithful daughter Cordelia, his Court Fool immediately rises to the occasion and admonishes the royal master fearlessly against his sheer lack of judgement.

Not holding his punches back, he also exposes the nefarious design of king’s two older daughters Goneril and Regan. He even goes on to the extent of calling the king a big fool and satirically says,’ All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.”

Unfortunately, the real fool Lear brushes aside the clarion of his sane fool for which he has to pay a heavy price in the long run. Fool is also shown acting like the chorus in Greek drama and gives a lucid commentary on the characters and the action in order to help the spectators understand the play in a better manner.
While commenting upon ‘fools’ in Bard’s world, celebrated poet-critic Matthew Arnold writers, “Shakespearean fool is different from the fool/s of today. He is a jester, a court-jester to be precise”. It is worthwhile to mention that a fool in Elizabethan Era possesses abundance of wit with which he evokes peels of laughter from the people around.

Even Samuel Johnson describes the meaning of a ‘fool’ in his dictionary, which is considered to be the first full-fledged dictionary of English language: According to his description “A fool is a person with humour full to the brim.”
Out of 37 plays the Bard of Avon has given to us, the 19 have at least a fleeting reference to fools. Shakespeare himself writes to Boswell, “Methought, I was a fool........” in sooth, Shakespearean fool is basically a metaphor for the playwright’s own ability to laugh at himself and the shoddy conditions prevailing all around.

There is no denying the fact that times and circumstances often harden words and twist their pristine connotations. The same fate befalls Shakespeare’s fool. Much to our dismay, its relegation to today’s joker may not have been expected even by the genius of dramatic world himself. But as we say, “Wise turns into a fool and a fool becomes wise in the same breath.” Both are the two sides to the same coin. Every individual has a wise and fool residing in him/her.
So next time when someone attempts to scoff at you by addressing you as fool, you should not lose your temper and simply laugh away his comment as an indirect compliment. Fool is none other than but the replica of your existence or your own alter ego. So, let us celebrate this day with gusto. Happy Fools’ Day to all!

(The writer is Head, Department English Language and Linguistics, Dev Samaj PG College For Women, Ferozepur, Punjab)