Shakespeare's Clowns and Fools - Fools In The Histories And Historical Fools
FOOLS IN THE HISTORIES AND HISTORICAL FOOLS
Charles S. Felver (essay date 1961)
SOURCE: "Armin's Foolish Parts with Shakespeare's Company 1599-1607," in Robert Armin, Shakespeare's Fool: A Biographical Essay, Kent State University, 1961, pp. 39-68.
[In the following essay, Felver describes the fool roles in the plays of Shakespeare's middle period (1599-1607) that were likely performed by the versatile comedic actor Robert Armin.]
This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,
And to do that well craves a kind of wit.
Twelfth Night
The only Shakespearean part which Armin directly alludes to as his in any of his works, as I have remarked earlier, is that of Constable Dogberry, and yet it is clear that this was a part fashioned originally not for Armin but for Kempe. In the Ql edition of the play, which appeared in 1600, the names of Kempe and Cowley still occur in IV.ii in place of...
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