Shakespeare's Great Stage of Fools (PDF)

ROBERT HUNTLEY BELL is Frederick Latimer Wells Professor of English at Williams College, USA.

'Bell's thoughtful and provocative work is deeply invested in Shakespeare and the play of ideas . . . the arguments on fools in love, unpleasant scourges of folly, and foolish tragic protagonists are brimming with insight and new readings. Bell teases out subtle affinities between such diverse characters and fools, finding that foolery was central to Shakespeare's dramaturgy in ways that have previously been underestimated [in] masterful close readings. Anyone who loves Shakespeare, his fools, and their complexity will find much to engage with here.' - Robert Hornback, Comparative Drama

'This engaging book examines a broad range of foolery, folly, and fooling throughout Shakespeare's plays . . . Especially insightful is Bell's discussion of the folly of tragic heroes, Hamlet, Othello, and Lear. Precise, witty, figurative, and lyrical, Bell's writing, valuable to scholars, students, and all lovers of Shakespeare, will remain important both for its clarity and its well-substantiated, perceptive observations.' - Vicki K. Janik, Renaissance Quarterly

'Lives up to the formula of the Roman poet Horace, who urged authors to teach while delighting. Offering witty, insightful close readings that explain the ways fools help one make sense of the seemingly senseless, Bell shows how 'the fool is on our side and at one with us.' Summing Up: Highly recommended [for] all readers.' - D. Pesta, Choice

'Reading Shakespeare's Great Stage of Fools is a great pleasure. Written with verve and an almost explosive wit, as if the fools helped write it, it reflects both a good deal of recent scholarship and a great deal of experience teaching. Useful to any students as a compendium of good insights, it will infect them with Bell's sense of the sheer fun of reading and watching Shakespeare.' - Michael K. Ferber, Professor of English and Director of Graduate Studies at University of New Hampshire

'I have been waiting for the sequel to Jocoserious Joyce for