There is another reason that the Fool is important in the play. Lear has specified that he intends to stay with each of his daughters Goneril and Regan with one hundred knights. He will stay with Goneril for a month and then with Regan for a month. Then return to Goneril. Altogether he will be staying with each daughter for half a year with one hundred knights. This will obviously create chaos. Each daughter will just be getting rid of all these men and restoring domestic order, when here they will be coming back again blowing their hunting horns, with a hundred horses and probably a big pack of hunting dogs. Shakespeare could not show this on his small Elizabethan stage. The Fool therefore has to represent all the hundred knights and the trouble they create. The Fool is consistently insolent to Goneril and encourages the King to be boisterous, rude, demanding, and jocular. Together the King and the Fool suggest the general atmosphere created by one hundred rough, fun-loving men who have...
(The entire section contains 2 answers and 1379 words.)
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.