OSHER 246 - The Fools of Shakespeare

Shakespeare wrote his plays to be acted. His "fools" were created for dramatic presentation. Their literary qualities were of comparative indifference to him, and the conception and depiction of the major characters of each drama and the arrangements of the incidents of the play being his first consideration. However, the beauty of the diction, the exquisite poetry, and the sublime philosophy of the "fools" showed the spontaneous expression of his transcendent but unconscious genius.