Summer Storms -- Extra Credit Blog 1

The heaviest storm that we have experienced in Las Vegas in a few years came through today. It was a veritable tempest, albeit a brief one. As the storm raged, I sat out and enjoyed the show put on by the lighting and thunder, and I found my thoughts turning to Lear and his storm, and Nikki Texeira's analysis of the sublime. The experience gave me a more emotional connection to the scene than I had previously had, and it gave more gravity to Lear and his fool for me personally.

Even as I stood under the shelter of a patio awning, I felt little sheltered from the strong winds and sharp rain drops. To imagine that a man would choose to stand, completely uncovered, in such circumstances, is quite compelling. What is even more compelling to me, is that the Fool stayed with Lear. That shows an intense loyalty, and a very interesting aspect of that character. While sitting in my sheltered view of the storm, I tried to imagine the few people that I would stand out in a storm of that magnitude with, and it wasn't a very large list. The Fool does often refer to Lear as "Nuncle" several times in the play, which is an affectionate term, meaning an uncle, but the Fools choice to stay with Lear unquestioningly, no matter the circumstance, illustrates the Fools loyalty far more than his affectionate nick names.

Even more interestingly is the Fools contentment with the situation. While the Fool does plea for Lear to find shelter, even going so far as to plead Lear to forgive his daughters, he does not attempt to leave himself. He stays with Lear even when Lear ignores his pleas. The fool even imparts a wise song relating to accepting one's fortunes:

Fool: He that has and a little tiny wit- 
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain- 
Must make content with his fortunes fit, 
For the rain it raineth every day.

 This relationship seems actually fairly well reciprocated by Lear. At the end of the play Lear laments his Fool with just as much fervor as he does the death of Cordelia, his own daughter, "And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!". Lear's lamentation confirms the Fool to be as dear as a family member. This really gives the fool a lot of power in the play, and elevates him to a status as equal to a prince. Looking at Lear from a moral and social justice point of view, this is part of Lear's lesson. He has truly equalized his view of the world. He values the Fools truth and loyalty over vanity, and the appearance of his elder daughters love. The Fool was just as valuable to Lear as Cordelia was. A Powerful notion for a "lower class" citizen of the time, and definitely something to think about in a summer storm.