20th century, dramatic character, Europe, French, play, primary source, quotes
​A not uncommon trope in the jester-king relationship is the reversal of their roles, either in jest, or to provide a corrective to the king, or if the king is forced to take on the role of jester, as in Frank Wedekind’s play King Nicolo (1901). In another...
5th century, dramatic character, India, play, primary source, quotes, Sanskrit, stories
In The Little Clay Cart (Mycchakatika, attributed to Sudraka) the vidusaka Maitreya, whom we met earlier, shows a perhaps even greater degree of familiarity, loyalty and irreverence than Kalidasa’s vidusaka. Â He stands by his master even when the latter has lost...
20th century, dramatic character, Europe, German, Germany, play, primary source, quotes, stories
Occasionally, more in fiction than reality, the king changes place with the jester, sometimes willingly, occasionally under compulsion. There is an example of this role inversion featuring George Buchanan about whom many anecdotes classify him as a jester, although...
18th century, dramatic character, Europe, German, Germany, play, primary source, quotes
Ludwig Tieck’s play Puss-in-Boots (1796) features a court scholar who in the king’s eyes has the same status and function as the jester, as he explains while hurling his sceptre at the scholar’s head: Sir Brazenbold of Scholarship! What presumption...
19th century, China, Chinese, dramatic character, East Asia, historical figure, play, primary source, Qing dynasty, quotes
Perhaps a Chinese equivalent to the Elizabethan Richard Tarlton in being a widely loved and acclaimed comic actor and a self-appointed ad hoc court jester was Liu Gansan 劉趕三 (1817-94), who had all the outspokenness of a jester and:left behind him the reputation of a...
16th century, dramatic character, Europe, France, French, primary source, quotes
Like his court jester counterpart, the fool in French medieval drama was somehow on the edge of the arena of action and therefore more independent – it seems writers made more effort to vary his characterization than with other roles, or alternatively creativity...
16th century, dramatic character, Europe, France, French, play, primary source, quotes
The sottie was a genre of short, satirical play performed in France in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its name comes from ‘sot’ meaning ‘fool’, as many of the characters were one or another kind of fool. The plays could draw attention to...
16th century, dramatic character, Europe, German, Germany, play, primary source, quotes
This is from a 16th century German comic play featuring a jester who mocks the real fool of the story, the visiting doctor. The doctor is learned but condescending to his friend, the jester’s master, and disparaging about life in the country even though he is...
