Feste, The Fool

Erin Carr

Explore and debate the function of Feste, the fool. To what extent does he offer honest insight to at least one other character and to the audience?

There are typically two types of fool; licensed and natural. Licensed fools are paid to joke about their world in a satirical manner and natural fools are often lower class with no common sense. However, they surprisingly have the ability to reveal great truths. What is interesting is that Feste is actually an overlap of the two types of fool. This is because technically he is a licensed fool since he is paid by Olivia, formerly by her father, but on the other hand he is of a lower social class and can point out honest insights. Several critics have observed the ‘deeper, thematic functions of Shakespeare's

Taking that into consideration, it could be said that Feste’s most important function is his ability to put other character’s behaviour into perspective, for example Olivia and Orsino. Feste is used as a device to subvert the audience’s expectations; he is meant to be the most foolish character when actually he is proven to be the wisest.

Feste’s role in the play is to comment on the main scene, much like a greek chorus would, but also to act within them. Kate Flint remarks that ‘the fools role was an important one in Shakespearean theatre, forming a bridge between the role of the play and the outside role’. This is true since he not only comments on scenes but also acts within them which makes him seem a kind of bridge between the play and the audience. By doing this he also provides a greater insight into the characters. In certain ways he also controls the events of the play by influencing the other characters behaviour by trying to help them. A production in Oregon (1974) actually chose to play him as a kind of stage manager. This makes him seem like the manipulator and controller of the