SOURCE: Lukens, Nancy. “Introduction” and “Conclusion.” In Büchner's Valerio and the Theatrical Fool Tradition, pp. 1-29; 192-95. Stuttgart, Germany: Akademischer Verlag Hans-Dieter Heinz, 1977, 221 p.

In the following excerpts, Lukens discusses the ironic function of Valerio in Büchner's Leonce and Lena, relating this character to the stage-fool tradition in European drama.

The first act of Georg Büchner's comedy Leonce und Lena (1836) is introduced by a motto from Shakespeare's As You Like It (II.vii.43-44):

                              O wär ich doch ein Narr! Mein Ehrgeiz geht auf eine bunte Jacke.(1) 

Surely it is no coincidence that Büchner should choose the melancholy Jaques of Shakespeare's creation to evoke the whole complex of attitudes toward reality and self that we sense in Leonce. In fact, Jaques' light-hearted counterpart Touchstone is also unmistakably present in Büchner's conception of Valerio, court fool in the fictitious kingdom of Popo, companion...