Twelfth Night - Analysis of Fools A fool can be defined in many meanings according to the Oxford English Dictionary On Historical Principles. The word could mean "a silly person", or "one who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, a jester, clown" or "one who has little or no reason or intellect" or "one who is made to appear to be a fool" (word originated from North Frisian). In english literature, the two main ways which the fool could enter imaginative literature is that "He could provide a topic, a theme for mediation, or he could turn into a stock character on the stage, a stylized comic figure". In William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, Feste the clown is not the only fool who is subject to foolery. He and many other characters combine their silly acts and wits to invade other characters that "evade reality or rather realize a dream", while "our sympathies go out to those". "It is natural that the fool should be a prominent & attractive figure and make an important contribution to the action" in forming the confusion and the humor in an Elizabethan drama. In Twelfth Night, the clown and the fools are the ones who combine humor & wit to make the comedy work.Clowns, jesters, and Buffoons are usually regarded as fools. Their differences could be of how they dress, act or portrayed in society. A clown for example, "was understood to be a country bumpkin or 'cloun'". In Elizabethan usage, the word 'clown' is ambiguous "meaning both countryman and principal comedian". Another meaning given to it in the 1600 is "a fool or jester". As for a buffoon, it is defined as "a man whose profession is to make low jests and antics postures; a clown, jester, fool". The buffoon is a fool because "although he exploits his own weaknesses instead of being exploited by others....he resembles other comic fools". This is similar to the definition of a 'Jester' who is also known as a "buffoon, or a merry andrew. One maint...
