The statement, "The fool is the most foolish character in the play King Lear", can be seen as true from one perspective, as well as false from another perspective. Different scenes of the play portray the fool as being quite foolish, whereas others seem to show his hidden intelligence. The word "fool" according to the online free dictionary as one who is deficient in judgement, sense or understanding as well as one who is made to appear ridiculous. Throughout the play both meanings of the word "fool" seemed to be quite evident, thus giving the impression that yes the fool was foolish and may be considered to be the most foolish, but then again, he still might not be.
Firstly, the fool may not be seen as the most foolish character in the play because in Act 1 as well as within various parts of the play, King Lear was seen as foolish for many reasons. In Act 1 for example, the King was giving away his land and riches to his three daughters, where he would be left without any land, money and not even his crown. This seems to be a very foolish move, since without all of those assets he cannot be considered a king for the power lies within the luxuries of the kingdom and not merely just the title of king. In addition, he also seems quite foolish when he banished Cordelia because she was unable to proclaim her love for him in a flattering way like her sisters did. This showed that Lear was blinded by all the nice words his daughters spoke and did not use good judgement when he made his decisions of banishing his favourite daughter, as well as giving away all of his kingdom and power to his snobby daughters Goneril and Regan.
Secondly, it may be said that the fool was quite wise since he always seemed to know what was going on throughout the play, and he always tried to help various characters in the play to realise their mistakes. This is made evident in Act 1 scene 4 where King Lear asks the Fool if he is calling him a fool and the Fool replies by saying, "All thy other titles thou hast given away that thou wast born with," which means that the King has given away all of his other rightful titles to his daughters foolishly, and the only title left for him now is the one of "fool". He further says a speech to the King in Act 1 scene 4 page 45, where he states that whe the king cut his own kingdom and crown in half and gave away both parts, he was foolish and was as foolish as the old man who carried his donkey on his back instead of letting the donkey carry him and he was not that smart in giving away the gold crown of his kingdom. The fool ends that speech with a song, where the king merely brushes off the speech in the end and takes no interest in it whatsoever. This thus proves that the Fool is wise and does realise what is going on and tries to help the King to realise his mistakes but since he is made to appear ridiculous, the King does not take him seriously. Goneril also gives evidence of the Fool being intelligent where she tells the Fool "I would you would make use of your good wisdom, " which directly gives the audience the impression that Goneril does realise that the Fool is quite intelligent and there is truth to what he is saying.
On the other hand, it may be argued that the Fool is quite foolish since according to one of the definitions, he did appear to be ridiculous by the way in which he constantly used metaphors, rhymes and illustrations to make his character more humourus and appealing to the audience. This is made evident by the way in which he mocks Kent in the stocks, by answering Kent's question- " Where learn'd you this fool"- by saying, "Not i' th' stocks fool." Another example would also be in Act 2 scene 4 where he uses an egg as a metaphor and symbol to King Lear's crown and kingdom and calls Lear a fool for giving them away as well as in Act 3 scene 6 where he says, "Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool," which he says in a way to ebarrass Goneril by stating that he thought she was a good person or a well made chair instead of a crude stool- bad person. This thus shows that the Fool seems to make a joke out of everything as well as him mocking people, which in turn makes the characters in the play not take his words seriously even though what he is saying is the truth.
In conclusion it may be seen that the Fool is not necessarily the "most" foolish character in the play, but he is considered to be foolish because of him appearing to be ridiculous. This is because King Lear is considered to be quite foolish since he gave away all his power to his daughters and no longer has authority over the kingdom and nothing that can really be called his and the fool also seems quite foolish since he continues to follow the King even though he has nothing, but he may also be considered as being loyal to the King and persistent in making sure that the King realises his mistakes. The fool is this considered as being quite wise since he always knew what was going on within the play, and seemed to try to warn the other characters of the wrong they have done. He may be seen as the most foolish wise man within the play.
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