Lear's Fool

    Although I cannot exactly remember the exact moment when the Fool disappears for me the he represented the regret and mistakes of King Lear from the first part of the play that haunt him. Any interaction with the Fool seems to be critical and he seems to poke fun at the King in certain times of despair. I think his function in the play is to serve as a sort of conscience or inner lens for King Lear as he goes through his interactions with his unappreciative daughters and slowly loses his own sanity. Sometime around the return of Cordelia is when I first remember losing track of the Fool. I think this is because Cordelia comes trying to act as a a saving grace for her father who is talking to himself and has lost almost all his sanity. Cordelia sends her doctors after the King and they take him under their care. The disappearance of the Fool could be because Lear has been so distraught he has completely lost his mind and therefore the fool who serves as his conscience. It could also be because Cordelia returns and in the first act she plays the role of Lear's critic when he is dividing up his estate so therefore the fool is no longer necessary to critique and prod the King. I think with Cordelia's absence most of the play Shakespeare wanted to create a character in the mold of Cordelia in order to remind King Lear of his follies and to act as a critic in Cordelia's absence. When Cordelia steps back in to take her father under her care and to attempt to nurse him back to normal mental health the fool is no longer necessary and he quickly leaves right before the return of Cordelia to the storyline becomes obvious. The last line that I could find from the fool is "And I'll go to bed at noon" (3.6.90) which is an interesting statement which could reflect King Lear's statement right before that " So, so, we'll go to supper i' th' morning" (3.6.87). I think the fool is stating by the time that King Lear wakes up (supper in the morning) that he will be "going to bed at noon" or gone by the time the King wakes up.