Hanah Watts
One of my favorite Shakespearean characters is Touchstone, the fool in As You Like It. At the beginning of the play, he is characterized as a “natural fool” or an idiot, which leads you to believe that nothing much will come from his character. However, it’s quickly apparent this is not the case at all—in fact, he might just be one of the “wisest” characters in the play. He would waste no time trying to best another character in an argument, and his witty observations were always quick and sharp. But among his vast pun usage and his numerous idiosyncrasies, Touchstone always seems to be acutely aware of his situation. And he’s not the only one, there are a handful of other such characters sprinkled across Shakespeare’s many works.
It’s amazing how relatable these “fool” characters are written to be. It’s almost as if Shakespeare created them to be the middle ground between the audience and the other characters in the play. Each one different, yet united in their moniker—“fool.” Some are just there to push the plot along, and some have a much more significant role—such as Touchstone.
In many ways, any point in time in the average person’s life could be compared to that of the fool’s. Has there ever been a time when you might have felt undervalued, and as if you were an outsider looking in? Yeh, it’s no fun…but the fool can relate. In that moment, did you feel as if you understood some little (seemingly minute) aspect of the human condition better than you did before? The fool understands. And then, did you cynically air your grievances and observations for anyone close enough to hear while using a minimum of three puns? Well, congratulations! You’re on your way to living the “fool” life!
But in all seriousness, everyone has found themselves in a similar situation at one point or another. We have all been overlooked, unvalued, disregarded, and left to our own musings. I guess it’s life, we have to figure things out for ourselves even when others will not heed our advice. We just have to remember while others may label you the fool, you’re really the wisest one there, acutely aware of the situation at hand. And ALWAYS prepared to deal with it.
“The more pity that fools may not speak wisely what wise men do foolishly.” —Touchstone, As You Like It
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