Fool

[StandingOnTheEdge]

In early January, my wife and I participated in a playreading that focused on a fictional incident of a real-life actor named Robert Armin. He became the original Feste in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", and he was much acclaimed for his clown roles. He wrote a book called "A Nest of Ninnies", in which he researched many of the Fools of his day, those who were in manor houses and those who were in asylums like Bedlam. People would go there for amusement.

It was the playwright's intention to provoke awareness of how society looks upon the mentally disordered, because in those days people with schizophrenia, various forms of mental retardation, etc. were a source of entertainment. All well and good, but the play put me on the side of the House Fool, and I was led to believe he would be the hero of the play. Instead, the playwright has him rape the lord's daughter, and the House Fool is executed.

It was days before I could shake off my sorrow. It left me mulling over...what is funny? Certainly our society treats mentally challenged people a bit better than in Elizabethan times, but we still find humor in another's suffering. And I'm wondering if this humor is the humor of the psychopath. The discussion on the topic of the C's Transcript of Jan 30th has brought up the topic of Spindle cells, and psychopathic humor or lack thereof, and I am just starting to read all the great information that all of you have supplied around it.

I would like to open this thread to a sort of brainstorming session. I'd love to hear your input on ideas around the concept of the Fool. What kind of laughter comes from out of love? When I see the truth, I many times will laugh. Could there be a clue to one's psychopathic disorder by what they find funny? How could this be dramatized?

Have fun with this...be creative...tell me what you laugh at...

Thanks so much!

 

[Buddy]

I'd love to hear your input on ideas around the concept of the Fool.

Your use of the capital F in 'Fool' has me wondering. Are you talking about the 'Fool' as in the "esoteric Way of..."? Because it seems to me, the playwright's drama is based on another use of 'fool'...like some kind of catchall term for the 'mentally ill'.

Just curious.

 

[StandingOnTheEdge]

Hi Bud,
I guess I capitalized the "f" in Fool out of intuition, it got on the page unconsciously. The Way of the Fool in esotericism vs. people who are foolish vs. the court fool are possibilities I'd like to explore, compare, contrast.... My thoughts of the play certainly center around an entertainment value while provoking thought in the audience as to what it is we laugh at. There is also the point of view of the Fool him/herself. Why would someone would want to be the brunt of a cruel joke? I haven't seen much of these guys, but there was a TV show of guys that would try to outdo each other with stunts that went far beyond the 3 Stooges, almost into a form of perversion. They seemed to enjoy themselves at the expense of the other, and TV must have seen money in it to televise it. I watched enough to realize how inane it was to me, but I wondered who was enjoying their pain and getting a laugh out of it.

You are correct in thinking that the playwright who we read for, intended her fool to be mentally ill. She also made it clear that the fool's relationship with his father may have led to the illness. The father was a neighboring lord, and he 'gave' his son over to the lord with a daughter, and the fool and the daughter were raised together. The playwright also gave the fool enough lucid moments to start rooting for his return to 'health'.

 

[hnd]

Hi,standingontheedge

I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast the concept of `the fool` in drama and esoterism and the Tarot, maybe. Since I haven’t read Zelator where Mark Heasal discusses `The Way Of The Fool`, I don’t know much about the Fool he mentions, I just have an idea about it and I did some research on wikipedia on the concept:

In ancient times courts employed fools and by the Middle Ages the jester was a familiar figure. In Renaissance times, aristocratic households in Britain employed licensed fools or jesters, who sometimes dressed as other servants were dressed, but generally wore a motley. Regarded as pets or mascots, they served not simply to amuse but to criticise their master or mistress and their guests. Queen Elizabeth (reigned 1558-1603) is said to have rebuked one of her fools for being insufficiently severe with her. Excessive behaviour, however, could lead to a fool being whipped, as Lear threatens to whip his fool.
One may conceptualize fools in two camps: those of the natural fool type and those of the licensed fool type. Whereas the natural fool was seen as innately nit-witted, moronic, or mad, the licensed fool was given leeway by permission of the court. In other words, both were excused, to some extent, for their behavior, the first because he "couldn't help it," and the second by decree.

The ones you saw on tv may be natural ones and I also wonder what type of pathology makes people laugh at them. Enid Welsford says that the natural fool was touched by God in his The Fool : His Social and Literary History. I can’t say I understood what he meant by this,but it reminds me what Ra says about people who go mad or it can be about their being free of many sufferings as they aren’t aware many things.
Also, there is the Shakespearian fool which is more like the licensed fool and said to be developed by Shakespeare thanks to the actor, Robert Armin.

...Shakespeare created a whole series of domestic fools for [Armin]. [His] greatest roles, Touchstone in "As You Like It,"(1599), Feste in "Twelfth Night,"(1600), and (the) fool in "King Lear,"(1605); helped Shakespeare resolve the tension between thematic material and the traditional entertainment role of the fool. Armin became a counter-point to the themes of the play and the power relationships between the theatre and the role of the fool--he manipulates the extra dimension between play and reality to interact with the audience all the while using the themes of the play as his source material. Shakespeare began to write well-developed sub-plots expressly for Armin's talents.

....Whereas the jester of old often regaled his audience with forms of clowning--tumbling, juggling, stumbling, and the like--Shakespeare's fool, in sync with Shakespeare's revolutionary ideas about theatre, began to depart from a simple way of representation. Like other characters, the fool began to speak outside of the narrow confines of exemplary morality, to address themes of love, psychic turmoil, and all of the innumerable themes that arise in Shakespeare, and indeed, modern theater.

As for the Fool mentioned in Zealot, as far as I read in Cassiopaea Glossary, it is ,first of all, an archetype and it also says:

…. the Way of the Fool is an independent path of initiation where the student can at different times study under many masters but will not make any lifelong commitment to any one path or enter into vows of secrecy.

It seems as if the Fool’s or the fool’s relationships with masters seem to be different than what is generally observed.

The Way of the Fool is no easy way, for it involves a balancing act, in which the Fool may stumble and become a fool. It is a cunning way, a way of strange knowledge. And what is the result of such a journey? The result is a wise Fool. A fool is the one who gives up everything for an idea. The wise Fool is the one who knows that he never had anything to give up in the first place. Is that foolish?

I also remember what Laura wrote in The Wave about the figurative nakedness of the Fool, and that must be about their honesty which can also be observed in the case of the court fool.

And finally, the symbolism of the fool in Tarot.

The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him represents the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance. On his back are all the possessions he might need. In his hand there is a flower, showing his appreciation of beauty. He is frequently accompanied by a dog, sometimes seen as his animal desires, sometimes as the call of the "real world", nipping at his heels and distracting him. He is seemingly unconcerned that he is standing on a precipice, apparently about to step off.
The number 0 is a perfect significator for the Fool, as it can become anything when he reaches his destination. Zero plus anything equals the same thing. Zero times anything equals zero.Zero is nothing, a lack of hard substance, and as such it may reflect a non-issue or lack of cohesiveness for the subject at hand.

The fool in Tarot seems to make the Fool in esoteric sense better to understand,OSIT. It was enjoyable to read and think about it knowing and feeling that in one sense or other we all may be fools. Thanks for opening this thread : )

BTW, recently I came across a sentence on the cover of a book, which I’m going to translate since it wasn’t in the original language. Anyway, it says:

` If you aren’t laughing at your destiny, it means that you didn’t get the joke.`

The joke must be there is a reason for everything and that must be related with the lessons, so I try to laugh at that as much as it is possible.

 

[hnd]

Sorry, being my comment, this part shouldn't be in `quote`:

I also remember what Laura wrote in The Wave about the figurative nakedness of the Fool, and that must be about their honesty which can also be observed in the case of the court fool.

It must be `the fool` in me who did that : ))

 

[StandingOnTheEdge]

BTW, recently I came across a sentence on the cover of a book, which I’m going to translate since it wasn’t in the original language. Anyway, it says:

` If you aren’t laughing at your destiny, it means that you didn’t get the joke.`

Hi hnd,

I love the quote you found. My wife is always pointing out that Americans don't seem to understand the humor of irony. It may be that this kind of humor needs to be learned. If the humor found in cruelty is because psychopaths aren't capable of empathy, and this type of humor seems to pervade American culture, then it seems to me that those people who do have Spindle cells (i.e, not psychopathic) have learned to laugh at the humor of cruelty. Fools have brought it to an art form, especially when one looks at commedia del arte and the development of slapstick.

Another word that resonated for me from you was "counter-point". The job of the Fool was to reflect the behavior of their master. We can certainly see that kind of humor in Shakespeare and the development of satire. One of our friends wrote a play about Queen Elizabeth I's fool. She portrays her as a very intelligent woman. I'm just now rereading the play for any insights.

Thanks so much for yours!

 

[Maundy]

Hi, Well the Fool. Such an interesting character. I can only talk about the Fool from my own experience and it seems to me that the Fool is Wise beyond our comprehension. In 'his' Foolishness he leads us onward into unknown territory, through storms and the inner labyrinth. Don't ask me how, but he knows the Way, he knows the landscape and the schemes of our inner demons and how to 'play the fool' when it is called for; somehow protected in his 'seeming' innocence. This innocence is in no way (how do you spell naieve?). He has a little of the sly Coyote about him, cunningly, leading you to learn through experience. He can lead you to your greatest errors and show you the error of your ways. He never let me drown or fall completely, and I learned to be grateful for his presence and companionship, even though the lessons were sometimes harsh. The inner archetypal Fool knows the Way, if only we can have the courage to follow his lead. What a blessed Fool he is, with all his tactics of foolery! Not stupid or mentally out of whack that's for sure, and he knows a good joke or two ;)

At the end of the day, it is the Fool that treads where Angels fear to tread. This is true from my experience, and part of the alchemical magic. He is the instrument of Psyche; her greatest ally in the Quest for knowledge and healing. The Fool takes his rightful place in my eyes, amongst our greatest and most faithful inner companions.

Interestingly, it is perhaps a reason why the 'fool' has been subverted in the eyes of society; relegated to the place of 'stupidity' and mental imbalance, because if we really know him and his works, we are led by him to liberation from the labyrinth. My point and question is, 'who' would want us to think of him otherwise?