Shakespeare Weekend
Fools and clowns were common characters within Shakespeare’s plays. They often provided comic relief, but also contained enough depth to speak on themes of “love, psychic turmoil, and identity.” British antiquary and museum curator Francis Douce (1757-1834) explored the Shakespearean fool in Volume Two of Illustrations of Shakespeare, and of ancient manners: with dissertations on the clowns and fools of Shakespeare through his Dissertation on the Clowns and Fools of Shakespeare.
Douce classifies Shakespeare’s clowns and fools into nine categories: the general domestic fool, the clown, the female fool, the city or corporation fool, tavern fools, the fool of the ancient theatrical mysteries and moralities, the fool in the old dumb shows exhibited at fairs and perhaps at inns, the fool in the Whitsun ales and Morris dance, and the mountebank’s fool. He goes on to discuss in detail the costumes, characteristics, and accessories of the clowns and fools including exemplifying woodcut engravings by British artist John Berryman (1778-1840).
Illustrations of Shakespeare, and of ancient manners: with dissertations on the clowns and fools of Shakespeare was published in 1807 by Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme in London and is known as a historical work of Shakespeare criticism.
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-Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern
