Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Bring in the Clowns
In Act 5, Scene 1, Borachio confesses to Don Pedro and Claudio about his deception of them. In the process he makes an observation about Dogberry, the constable and clown of Messina, and his charges: "I have deceived even your eyes. What your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light, . . . "(5.1. 242-3). What is Borachio saying in this observation? Is it applicable to that other clown of comedy, Lancelet Gobbo of Merchant? In general what features do these two clowns have in common? Are there significant differences? Do you have any ideas about the role or purpose of the clown in Shakespearean comedy?
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The character of the clown plays many important roles in Shakespeare’s plays. One example of a clown is Dogberry. In this iconic scene in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, Dogberry goes off on a long speech explaining the confusing situation of this play to the other characters. Borachio, being one of the other characters, makes a claim that it is almost always the fool that knows the most about even the most complicated situations. Wisdom does not always mean someone is the most knowledgeable and a fool is not always blindsided. This same theme applies to the clown of The Merchant of Venice, Lancelet Gobbo, who is well aware and experienced in the theme of conscience while other characters in the play are blind to this idea. Both of these clowns have the commonality of seeming like they know little when they actually know much more than the other characters. They are also both commoners and are of the working class. An example of this is when Dogberry rambles on about what seems to be nothing, confusing his words and their meaning. Yet he really is well aware of the situation surrounding him and is able to understand Don Johns plot against Claudio and Hero. Lancelet on the other hand sounds like he is having a conversation with himself and sounds like he is crazy. But really he is debating whether he should listen to his conscience or not. The one significant difference between the two is that in the two plays they depict Dogberry to be the smarter one. The purpose of the clown character in Shakespeare’s plays is oddly, to encourage a more serious view of the situations, themes and characters of a play. They are not only there to entertain, but they also make the readers think more closely to the situation at hand.
ReplyDeleteThe main role of the clown is to add comic relief to the play and to make the audience laugh more, considering the plays are comedies. Lancelot does not have a big role in Merchant of Venice, only helping in the plan to help Lorenzo and Jessica get together. Dogberry, on the other hand, is integral to Much Ado About Nothing. His action are what make the play turn out as a comedy instead of a tragedy. Because Dogberry, the idiot, is the one to uncover Don John’s deception, everyone else in Much Ado appears to be more foolish. All these other people who can speak logical, coherent sentences are deceived and tricked, yet the fool, who can not speak logical sentences, is the one who catches it. It shows it is not just the idiots who are foolish sometimes. Also that even if you are smart, you can still be tricked just as easily as anyone else. That is what Borachio is commenting on when he says "I have deceived even your eyes. What your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light, . . . "(5.1. 242-3).
ReplyDeleteDogberry also shows how outsiders can have a clearer picture of what is going on than those who are involved. This is the opposite idea of what is shown of outsider in Merchant of Venice. Because Dogberry has no connection to the drama of what is happening, he is able to see the big picture, or at least a larger part of the picture than everyone else. In Merchant, outsiders are the ones who are portrayed as blind.
The figure of the clown in Shakespeare’s plays preform roles that all revolve around a similar theme, that due to their simplicity, they can see the unassuming truths that the otherwise more complex characters could not notice. The clown is generally a lower class than the main characters such as with Lancelet in The Merchant of Venice or the constable Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing. Dogberry plays a very important role by saving the play from becoming a tragedy. He is able to catch Borachio and tell the others that the Prince’s brother Don John framed Hero. While he is only a minor character with few lines, his simplicity allows him to not get caught up with the problems and worries of the main characters. He just does his job and isn’t distracted by love. It is this single-mindedness that allows him to realize what Borachio did. Lancelet is also able to notice the obvious because he is not distracted by Antonio’s predicament. When Jessica converts to Christianity he points out to her that, “the sins of the father / are to be laid upon the children” (3.5.1-2). While Jessica is a Christian, she will never fully fit into Christian society and might not get into Heaven. Society in Venice is so stratified that she wouldn’t know how to behave in everyday life as a normal Christian woman would. Lorenzo doesn’t notice exactly how different she is because he is in love, only a simple outsider like Lancelet would be able to see that her new life won’t be as perfect as she imagined. The role of the clown offers another perspective to the problems that the primary characters face. It tells the story from a common, and often comical, point of view, adding to the dimensions of the play and allowing for seemingly impassable problems to be solved.
ReplyDeleteThe clown is an essential in any Shakespearean comedy, because they often times provide most of the comic relief. However, there is more meaning behind the role of the clown, as portrayed in many of Shakespeare’s plays. Most importantly, the clowns are the best supporting actors of the play, and are key in complimenting other characters.
ReplyDeleteIn Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Lancelet, the clown of the play, plays a role that is very funny but also very important in understanding and interpreting certain characters. In his first speech, Lancelet is arguing with himself. During this exchange with himself, he says, “well, my conscience says, ‘Lancelet, budge not.’ ‘Budge,’ says the fiend. ‘Budge not,’ says my conscience,” (Venice, 2.2.18-20). It is clear from this speech how much of a fool Lancelet is, and this speech is obviously meant to make the audience laugh. However, later on his more important role is revealed. While talking with his father, Lancelet begs, “My master’s a very jew…I am famished in his service…Give me you present to one Master Bassanio…If I serve not him, I will run as far as God has any ground,” (2.2.104-105/107-110). Here, Shylock is portrayed as a villain because of the way that he treats Lancelet. The fact that Lancelet, the clown of the play, would rather run away until the earth ended than be the servant of this evil Jew only amplifies how evil Shylock is. In this way, Lancelet is making it clear how the audience should interpret Shylocks character.
The clown in Much ado about Nothing plays a similar role. Dogberry is not only used as comic relief, but he also amplifies the actions of certain characters. When Dogberry is giving orders to the watchmen, he says nonsensical things such as, “bid those that are drunk get them to bed,” and in response to a watchman asking if they can’t get them to bed, Dogberry says, “let them alone till they are sober,” (Much Ado, 3.3.43/45). These orders don’t make any sense, and it is clear that throughout this scene Dogberry is babbling and is not one of the smarter people in the play. However, Dogberries stupidity is not just for comic relief, but it is to show how oblivious other characters were. When Borachio makes the observation that Claudio and Don Pedro were not able to figure out what even Dogberry, the fool, was able to see. Borachio is saying that they were dumber than the clown of the play. In this way, Shakespeare uses the clowns of his comedies by comparing them and their thoughts to other characters to somehow exaggerate a quality of other characters.
In both of these plays, the clowns are tools that Shakespeare uses to make certain characters look either dumber or more evil. By comparing people to the clown of the play, their weaknesses or negative attributes are exploited and exaggerated.
In Much Ado About Nothing, the clown in Dogberry serves a crucial role in discovering the plot of Don John, while Lancelet in Merchant of Venice simply comes in for comic relief and another example of Shylock’s villainy. As Borachio admits “What your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light” 5.1.242-3. This clown’s actions are crucial to the plot and make this story, which seems to be turning to a tragedy, a comedy. Without Dogberry, Hero might have actually died, Claudio wound have always been unhappy, and Benedick and Beatrice might have never gotten married. Dogberry breaks the chain of misunderstandings and miscommunications, for the most part, and comes through with vital information when he is needed most. Lancelet on the other hand, comes in randomly and has a soliloquy in which he expresses his discontent with Shylock and wants a new master. He throws in some jokes with his father and then goes on to become Bassanio’s servant. Lancelet has no new information, doesn’t change the plot, and really can be completely terminated without any long lasting effects. Overall, while without Dogberry giving us vital information which makes Much Ado a happy story, without Lancelet, Merchant of Venice would remain the same, although it would lack some needed comic relief.
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