Fool In Twelfth Night

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The fool remains both a stock character, or literary tradition, and an element of reality in the time of William Shakespeare. The traditional fool possessed a humorous and boisterous manner, brightly colored, often striped clothing, and an aptitude for practical jokes. In the drama, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare applied several of these characteristics to his fool, Feste, although Feste is more than a one-dimensional character. Feste is a paid fool or jester in the court of the countess Olivia, who is passionately pursued by the Duke Orsino. The true action of the play, however, initializes when a shipwrecked young woman, Viola, disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and works for the Duke Orsino, falling in love with the Duke while Oliva …show more content…
Feste does make common cause with the lower class representatives, or at least, the characters, which are ridiculed to excluded from social prowess within the drama, Maria, Fabian, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Sir Toby Belch. Feste sings, drinks and dances with these individuals in Act II scene III and further, conspires against Malvolio with them (Shakespeare 1233-1235). Simultaneously, however, Feste enjoys increased leisure and freedom within his role in the court than his peers, in the leave he is allowed to suggest and satirize the actions of his employers and also take his leave from the court virtually when he desires to do so. Although Olivia, but more so, Malvolio, are peeved at Feste’s multiple day absence in Act I scene V, he does not suffer repercussions for his actions as other servants presumably would. Therefore, Feste is, “a loner, with few, if any, attachments of affection… [and] he is entrapped, or at the very least defined, by his role––a hired clown who sports his mask because it is the only sanctioned outlet for his insights” (Greif 77). Ultimately, Feste acknowledges he is dissimilar to the other characters surrounding him, thus, he dons his mask continuously to maintain his power and influence within the society and the courts of Olivia and Orsino, but also as an acceptance of his isolation.
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a complex drama incorporating extensive disguise, mistaken identity, and foolery. However, Feste, the paid, professional fool, is not ignorant, rather, he is the most observant character, utilizing his intelligence to create a constant commentary on the situations within the drama, acknowledge his own isolation, and maintain a
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