Ironic Foolish Clowns Too

Furthermore

Clowns are ridiculous but worthy, virtual and sensible to a fault. Clowns gracefully accept their own clumsiness. Clowns are more long suffering than they are patient. Clowns, even when cowardly often emerge as serendiptous heroes.

Fools in their paradoxical complexity are more mercurial, more objective, more apt to despair. A Shakespeare clown is blunt, a fool is sharp.

Shakespearean clowns help us to see the comedy within the tragedy as well as the melancholy within the hilarity.

My favorite Shakespearean clown is the clown from Titus Andronicus who innocently,obliviously and naively carries two pigeons in a basket and delivers a taunting message from Titus to murderous Saturninus and is promptly hung for his troubles. I'm convinced that clown had no idea why he was being hung and even less of an idea why people were laughing at his hanging.

Clowns are like that.

Finally there is Trinculo in the Tempest. Trinculo is technically a fool but in his buffonery and lack of conscious irony, he more resembles a clown.

I, myself, sort of alternate between fool and clown. Usually, I'm unaware of my own foibles but every once in awhile, well......

Essays are written and posted by fools like me

But only a clown can walk into a tree.