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...
dramatic character, India, primary source, quotes, Sanskrit
Rare to find a clear prescription concerning the recommended physical appearance of a jester type, in this case, a litany of desirable defects. This is from the Indian classic hand book of drama, the Natyasastra (c. 200 BCE), showing a wealth of permutations in comic...
6th century, folk fool, India, primary source, quotes, Sanskrit
A lively line up of skills and attributes reminding me of jesters and in particular vidusaka, the stock comic character of Sanskrit drama, commonly paired up in a close if argumentative relationship between a king and the jester. His appearance in plays and the...
5th century, dramatic character, India, play, primary source, quotes, Sanskrit
Vidusaka is a stock comic character in ancient Sanskrit drama; there has been much ink spilled as to whether he was a jester or not, and many of the arguments against this proposition seem rather to confirm it. We’ll be featuring more quotes and stories about...
19th century, dramatic character, England, English, Europe, historical figure, play, primary source, quotes
A number of historical jesters had plays written about them, including Dongfang Shuo 東方朔 (c. 160 – c. 93 BCE) in China, and Henry VIII’s jester Will Somers. Here we find Charles the First (1824), a dramatic fragment by Shelley, which has Charles I give an...
16th century, England, English, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes
A curious account of Elizabeth I’s love of jesters. Notable is the fact that she didn’t like to have dwarfs or jesters with physical disabilities, particularly as this was still within the period in Europe when many courts had dwarfs and others of...
21st century, Europe, primary source, quotes, Ukraine
Humour can help people cope and even survive. As the cartoonist Chappatte put it, it helps us digest the horror of the world, and breathe a little (is that why laughing can also have you take in deep breaths?)I was glad to read of signs of humour in Odessa and the...
21st century, Europe, primary source, quotes, Ukraine
We know from Rubinstein, who mocked and cavorted in the Warsaw Ghetto, that jesters and humour can play a role in even extreme and violent situations. I was struck by references to this in an interview with President Zelensky by journalists from The Atlantic. ...
