SOURCE: "The Fool as Entertainer and Satirist, On Stage and in the World," in The Dalhousie Review, Vol. 50, No. 1, Spring, 1970, pp. 10-22.

In the essay that follows, McMullen examines the fool's role as a satirical voice in Shakespeare's plays.

As an entertainer, the fool has always been a prime target for laughter. But it is through the jester in man that the riddle of his nature is approached in the twentieth century; and possibly the fool may lead us to discover his true glory. Whether dancing in the komos of Attic comedy, leading the morris, jigging on the apron stage, conducting the singing at a children's pantomime, or just gazing vacantly into a television camera, the fool can always make his audience merry. They wait for his entrance so eagerly that sometimes they will burst out laughing before he has had time to do, say, or even look...