Fooling with Reason

Abstract

This chapter examines the fate of the stage fool during what may loosely be described as the European Enlightenment or the Age of Reason; that period which stretches variously from 1600 to 1900 depending upon both country and critical inclination. It is my contention that the notion of ‘reason’, understood as the capacity of humankind to improve their lot progressively through the application of their reasoning faculties, is, at bottom, antithetical to the social function of the fool who is forever pointing to the limitations and fallibility of the species. It is therefore not surprising to find that this period witnessed the gradual erosion of the rituals and social spaces which gave vent to manifestations of the irrational practices that highlighted aspects of human behaviour at odds with the dominant discourse of progress. Whether out of religious, economic or more broadly cultural motives, all over Europe ‘folly’ was in decline and ‘reason’ in the ascendant.