In the play of As You Like It, we are confronted with the witty character, Touchstone.
Just a background about jesters in the Elizabethan Era:
- They were commonly used in royal courts to entertain monarchs, particularly if the monarch was sad, angry, etc.
- Their costume consisted of floppy hats (meant to look like donkey ears) with bells on the ends; gaudy, bright, and mismatched clothing to appear ridiculous; and they often carried a mock scepter which had a carved head for adornment (though some of them had carved bladders).
- By Shakespeare's time, many of the jesters were also actors. Shakespeare employed many jesters for his plays. Thus, the role of the jester had been complicated and made complex because their reputations were becoming more three-dimensional.
I looked into this third point more, because Touchstone, while described as a silly dimwit by Rosalind and Celia, is shown to be quite witty and socially adept. He still provides some comedic moments, but they are generally in circumstances where he is the wise one, not the fool (e.g. when speaking with Audrey, the simple shepherd girl).
Albert R. Cirillo says in his article, "As You Like It: Pastoralism Gone Awry" that Shakespeare uses As You Like It as a vehicle for some social commentary of the times. He is disdainful of the country life, and points out how it is ridiculously romanticized.
Touchstone, in essence, is more than an offshoot character that dresses up in silly costumes. He reminds the audience, as Cirillo believes, that in contrast with the silly Thoreauvian (an anachronistic phrase, mind you) lifestyle of the Duke and his men in the forest of Arden, Touchstone presents order, real life, and shows that the elements of romance are for the true fool.
