The fool

Putting the comedy in dramatic comedyWhat is the difference between these stock comic characters?

Trickster

Clown

Fool

Jester

In European cultures, he is often a thief or liar, a practical joker and sometimes clever at disguise. They delight in the chaos and disorder they manage.

Often a person who does comical tricks, but is better defined by the word ‘buffoon’. The character is usually clumsy and unsophisticated.

A silly or stupid person; a person who lacks judgment or sense. They are sometimes a person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing or acting silly or stupid.

Makes his living by begging for tips for his jokes and songs; he is usually attached to a noble household. His role is to deflate, through wit, the more pretentious attitudes of those in power.

Which of these comic characters

do we see in MSND?

Putting the comedy into dramatic comedyLearning Objective

• How does Shakespeare establish the roles of the Clown and the Trickster in MSND?

• What is each ones impact on the dramatic comedy?

• How are their functions different?IMPORTANT: Character as ‘construction’ – not as ‘real’One of the main errors many students make in their discussion of texts is to present studies of characters in dramatic comdies as if they are somehow ‘real’, explaining their characteristics, personality and traits as if they actually exist, and somehow forgetting that they are a fictional construct. You should think about the way the dramatist (Shakespeare) constructs the character – using form, structure and language. It may also be useful to consider their dramatic function in the play.

Robin Goodfellow, the PuckExploring characterisation

Our first encounter with the character of Puck is in Act 2 Scene 1 where the Fairy describes his character.

• Read lines 2:1:32-41. Find as many verbs and adjectives as you can to help describe Puck’s character. What first impressions are we given of Puck?

On Puck’s entrance, he describes himself to the audience.

• Read 2:1:42-57. Add to your verb and adjective list. How does this add to our understanding of Puck’s character?

Robin Goodfellow, the PuckThe context of his character

His name is Robin and he is a puck, a type of goblin. He is not a fairy; the fairy in Act 2 Scene 1 certainly recognises him as different from herself. Before Shakespeare, he was not classified as a puck either, but as an earth spirit. In folklore he always carried a broom with him (as he seems to do in Act 5, when he tells us “I am sent with broom before...”(5:1:379) so that he could help maids who had behaved well and so deserved his assistance. He also took great interest in sorting out love conflicts, as in a fashion he does in MSND.His last name, Goodfellow, is a propitiatory coinage, given to him by countryfolk who wished to flatter him into leaving them alone. We need to remember that despite an overlay of Christianity, people in this period were still very superstitious, believing in the work of fairies and little people.


Lines Action (in own words) Mischief (add the quote here if it shows mischief)

Thoughtfulness (add the quote here if it shows thoughtfulness)

Note on form of speech

2:1:32-58

2:1:175-6

2:2:72-89

3:1:60-63

3:1:88-93

3:2:6-34

3:2:38-40

3:2:42

3:2:92-93

3:2:100-101

3:2:110-115

3:2:118-121

Throughout the play, Puck’s actions reflect his role as a trickster. •Copy and complete the table looking at his actions over the course of the play.

•How do his actions reflect his role as a trickster? Are any of his actions not in fitting with this role?

•Some directors have chosen to present the puck as a dark, malevolent character. What features of Shakespeare’s characterisation support this reading of the puck? •What is an alternative way of presenting the puck? (support with evidence please)

Forms of speech: couplets,

quatrains (four lines of verse),

blank verse, prose.


Lines Action (in own words) Mischief (add the quote here if it shows mischief)

Thoughtfulness (add the quote here if it shows thoughtfulness)

Note on form of speech

2:1:32-58

2:1:175-6

2:2:72-89

3:1:60-63

3:1:88-93

3:2:6-34

3:2:38-40

3:2:42

3:2:92-93

3:2:100-101

3:2:110-115

3:2:118-121

The Trickster...you are that shrewd and knavish sprite Call'd Robin Goodfellow. Are not you he That frights the maidens of the villagery,Skim milk, and sometimes labor in the quern, And bootless make the breathless housewife churn, And sometime make the drink to bear no barm, Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? (2:1:32-38)

I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon, and make him smile, When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, Neighing in likeness of a filly foal; And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl In very likeness of a roasted crab, And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob,And on her withered dewlap pour the ale. The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale, Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me; Then slip I from her bum, down topples she, And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough;And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh...(2:1:42-58)

I'll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes(2:1:175)

This is he, my master said, Despised the Athenian maid; And here the maiden, sleeping sound, On the dank and dirty ground.Pretty soul! she durst not lie Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy. Churl, upon thy eyes I throw All the power this charm doth owe: When thou wakest let love forbid Sleep his seat on thy eyelid. (2:2:72-82)

Enter Robin [Goodfellow (Puck)] (3:1:60) [Re-enter Puck, and Bottom with an ass's head]

(3:1:95)

My mistress with a monster is in love(3:2:30)

I took him sleeping,—that is finish'd too,— And the Athenian woman by his side;(40) That, when he waked, of force she must be eyed(3:2:39-41)This is the woman, but not this the man.(43)

Then fate o'er-rules, that, one man holding troth, A million fail, confounding oath on oath. (3:2:91-92)

I go, I go; look how I go, Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow. (3:2:101)

Captain of our fairy band, Helena is here at hand, And the youth, mistook by me Pleading for a lover's fee; Shall we their fond pageant see?Lord, what fools these mortals be! (3:2:110-115)

Then will two at once woo one. That must needs be sport alone;

And those things do best please me That befall preposterously.(3:2:118)

And those things please me bestThat happen ridiculously.

The Trickster...you are that shrewd and knavish sprite Call'd Robin Goodfellow. Are not you he That frights the maidens of the villagery,Skim milk, and sometimes labor in the quern, And bootless make the breathless housewife churn, And sometime make the drink to bear no barm, Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? (2:1:32-38)

I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon, and make him smile, When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, Neighing in likeness of a filly foal; And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl In very likeness of a roasted crab, And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob,And on her withered dewlap pour the ale. The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale, Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me; Then slip I from her bum, down topples she, And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough;And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh...(2:1:42-58)

I'll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes(2:1:175)

This is he, my master said, Despised the Athenian maid; And here the maiden, sleeping sound, On the dank and dirty ground.Pretty soul! she durst not lie Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy. Churl, upon thy eyes I throw All the power this charm doth owe: When thou wakest let love forbid Sleep his seat on thy eyelid. (2:2:72-82)

Enter Robin [Goodfellow (Puck)] (3:1:60) [Re-enter Puck, and Bottom with an ass's head]

(3:1:95)

My mistress with a monster is in love(3:2:30)

I took him sleeping,—that is finish'd too,— And the Athenian woman by his side;(40) That, when he waked, of force she must be eyed(3:2:39-41)This is the woman, but not this the man.(43)

Then fate o'er-rules, that, one man holding troth, A million fail, confounding oath on oath. (3:2:91-92)

I go, I go; look how I go, Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow. (3:2:101)

Captain of our fairy band, Helena is here at hand, And the youth, mistook by me Pleading for a lover's fee; Shall we their fond pageant see?Lord, what fools these mortals be! (3:2:110-115)

Then will two at once woo one. That must needs be sport alone;And those things do best please me That befall preposterously.(3:2:118)

Rhyming CoupletsStage DirectionsBlank Verse


With one exception (the fairy in Act 2 Scene 1), Puck speaks only to Oberon and the audience.

• What is the effect of this? Look at his final speech to support your views. Think about how this final speech might be staged.

• How does Shakespeare use verse in Puck’s speeches? What might this suggest about his character?

He seems almost to exist outside of the rest of the drama, unconstrained by the actions and expectations of others. To some extent, the puck is our representative, carrying out the mischief we hope to enjoy, commenting on it and addressing us directly at the end.He is free to use a wide range of verse forms, couplets of various lengths and quatrains as well as blank verse, and he employs a wide range of tones.

Exeunt [all but Puck] PUCK: If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd hereWhile these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend.And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call. So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.

(5:1:417-434)


• How does Robin’s character change over the course of the action of the play? Why might this be?

Unlike Bottom, who aspires to play the hero, the love interest and the lion, the puck can actually become a foal, a crab, a stool, a horse, a dog, a hog, a bear and even a fire but he seems unaffected by his experiences and always remains the himself. Where the marriages change the mortals who undertake them as a pivotal part of their journey through life to death, the spirits are immortal, immaterial and incapable of development.

Robin Goodfellow, the PuckA Trickster?

Puck could be described as a trickster figure. He is unpredictable, somewhat manic, and delights in the chaos and disorder he manages. He loves making mischief in the mortals’ world. The relationship between Oberon and Puck has some similarities to the relationships between other Shakespearian created kings and their fools, but Puck is no ordinary fool. Whereas other fools debate and test their masters, Puck does what he is asked.

Trickster: In European cultures, he is often a thief or liar, a practical joker and sometimes clever at disguise. They delight in the chaos and disorder they manage.•To what extent does Shakespeare draw on the conventions of the Trickster character in writing Robin Goodfellow? (Support your answer please)

Putting the comedy into dramatic comedy• What is Robin Goodfellow’s function in this

dramatic comedy? Which elements of dramatic comedy does his character bring to the play?

Puck has multiple functions within the comedy. On one level he is a manifestation of the evil malevolence of Oberon (representing a dark strand of the comedy) and he can sometimes make audiences feel uncomfortable. On another level he is playful – exhibiting the kind of bad behaviour we sometimes admire in others. He is enjoyed by the audience as one who brings fun, which he does without offending our conscience and our sense of identification with the victims. Puck is the instigator of mischief that leads to the disorder we expect to see in a dramatic comedy. He is a symbol of the Green World – a world of freedom, but also a world of confusion. He comments on the foolishness of human behaviour: “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” (3:2:115) and makes the situations more absurd for the Lovers and the Mechanicals, reflecting the idea that dramatic comedy highlights that the order of the world is a veneer that can easily be removed.

Putting the comedy in dramatic comedyLearning Objective



• How are their functions different?Next lesson:

Nick Bottom – to what extend does Shakespeare present him as a Clown?




• How are their functions different?

Nick Bottom – to what extend does

Shakespeare present him as a Clown?

Bottom as Clown

Bottom is more the classical kind of fool we might find in comedy, although he may more rightly be called a clown. Like Robin Goodfellow, he has a number of structural functions within the drama and is key in creating the comedy of the play.

Nick Bottom Although we laugh at Bottom for his crude acting, insensitive self-assertion and lack of

high culture, we also laugh with him because of his adaptability and his determination to keep going and succeed when a ‘wiser’ man would have given up.

Nick Bottom is called by the puck: “the shallowest thickskin of that barren sort” (3:2:13), but he is always full of ideas and enthusiasm, and it is his bumptious self-confidence as much as Quince’s powers of organisation which carries the play through rehearsals and performances. Without him the others simply give up. Nick Bottom is usually played in a clumsy, slapstick style, Bottom is enthusiastic (to the extent he wishes to play everyone’s part) and good-hearted. They call him ‘Bully’, a friendly and appreciative term. He shares something of the exuberance of the puck, and, like him, aspires to take on different identities (a woman, a lion and best of all, a tyrant who rants and swaggers, ‘A part to tear a cat in’ (1:2:26)). Whereas the puck is able to call upon supernatural powers, Bottom has to be content with what can be done by mere acting – at least until the puck lends him a hand with his magic spells. Fortunately, Bottom is too thick-skinned to notice how bad an actor he is. His insensitivity in fact proves to be his salvation. Even when equipped with an ass’s head and propositioned by the queen of the fairies, he is not seriously alarmed or even curious about what has happened to him, but gets on with playing with relish the part in which he finds himself. When he is transformed into an ass, his language alters and becomes polite, pretentious and affected. He also becomes extremely courteous. In his dealings with the fairies, he is not at all self-conscious about mimicking courtly speech and manners. Indeed he manages to be considerably more civilised than the real aristocrats who sneer at his play in Act 5. Since it is likely that the fairies would have originally been played by children, his kindly, slightly patronising treatment of them would probably have been seen in a positive light by the audience.When restored to his normal self, Bottom struggles to find words for his bizarre experiences, but is not overcome by them and is soon enthusing his fellow craftsmen and acting his heart out. When his courtly audience mock him, his gives as good as he gets and wins them over.

TASK: Nick BottomEach group will look at a different section of the play and think about the points below. You will have to feedback to the rest of the group so make sure you have clear conclusions!

• How is Bottom presented in this scene? • How is his role as a comic character established? Are we

laughing at Bottom’s character or with Bottom’s character?• Is he more clown, trickster, fool or jester in this scene?

Evidence?• How does Shakespeare’s use of language create the character of

Bottom and help fulfil his comic function? • How could the scene be enhanced through the direction? How

might an actor portray Bottom in this scene to enhance his comic role?

• Where does this scene fit in the structure of this dramatic comedy?

Then, after feeding back, we will discuss how Bottom’s character’s impacts on the dramatic comedy as a whole – so think about this as you work please.

Task: Nick Bottom

Scenes:• Act 1 Scene 2• Act 3 Scene 1, lines 1-120• Act 3 Scene 1, lines 125-end of scene• Act 4 Scene 1, lines 1-45• Act 4 Scene 1, lines 204-end of scene and Act

4 Scene 2

Context

The actor who first played Bottom was probably Will Kempe, who was the star clown of Shakespeare’s company from about 1594-1599. Kempe was famous for his dancing so when in Act 5 the craftsmen perform a bergomask dance, we have to picture not an irrelevant prance around the stage by modern actors, but a high-powered, expertly comical piece of clowning which would have brought Bottom’s performance to an end on a very high note.

Critical Commentary on the Shakespearian Clown

There were several types of clown on the Elizabethan stage:• There is the figure, derived from Roman comedy and its

sixteenth-century Italian descendants, this type of clown indulges in witty exchanges with his master and others but is also subject to constant physical abuse though the genre of farce can make this seem merely comical.

• The country clown is a creation of the English native tradition – a sweet-natured but unsophisticated figure, whose view of the world is entirely restricted to his local activities. He can be witty, but it is more often an accident than a deliberately professional attempt to hold the intellectual high ground.

Although these roles may simply be classified as ‘comic’, they function – as do the country clowns – as satirical commentators on the doings of the higher folk. It is this commentary role, whether conscious or unintentional, that is the heart of the clown’s function. It acts as a bridge between stage and audience.




• How are their functions different?Nick Bottom – to what

extend does Shakespeare present

him as a Clown?

I also require a side answering this question for Thursday

The fool

Documents