Literary notes about Fool (AI summary)
The term "fool" emerges in literature as a multifaceted device that can convey self-reproach, critique social behavior, or inject humor into a narrative. In certain passages, it reflects a moment of regret or vulnerability when a character deems herself foolish in a burst of emotion [1]. In other contexts, it is wielded as a sharp rebuke meant to underscore imprudence or lack of wisdom, as when a character is chastised for his actions or naivety [2, 3]. At times, however, the word carries a convivial or satirical air, suggesting that embracing foolishness may serve as a deliberate, humorous defiance of convention [4, 5]. This varied employment reveals the term's richness as a literary tool that both illuminates and criticizes the human condition.
- She seemed sorry that in her alarm she had called herself a fool.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - What should such a fool Do with so good a wife?
— from Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare - "No," said her father, "Wickham's a fool, if he takes her with a farthing less than ten thousand pounds.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - The humour seems to be infectious; for Clinker, alias Loyd, has a month’s mind to play the fool, in the same fashion, with Mrs Winifred Jenkins.
— from The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by T. Smollett - I’m not going to look a fool; that’s the first thing, not to look a fool.”
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
