You'll remember I posted a little while ago on the topic of jesters. I have decided that since humor in Shakespeare is my broad topic, I will be focusing it more specifically on jesters. I've looked at several sources that I will be expounding on...
Roberta Mullini's article, "Playing the Fool: The Pragmatic Status of Shakespeare's Clowns," and various other sources.
Thesis
My thesis for these more academic blog posts is that Shakespeare effectually changed the role of "the fool," or the jester, in comedy, continuing the postmodern tradition today of an ironically wise and enlightened individual remarking on the foolishness of the socially privileged characters around him.
I will be analyzing jesters pre-Shakespeare, peri-Shakespeare, and post-Shakespeare and comparing the similarities and what Shakespeare could have contributed to the differences between pre and post the Elizabethan Era.
This is just a start. I'll begin posting when I get my hands on these books, and after I read some more articles.
Toodle-oo!
