“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit”: Feste in Twelfth Night and Erasmus’s The Praise of Folly
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
English
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Matthew Fike
Abstract
William Shakespeare was definitely familiar with Erasmus’s philosophy, and several of Shakespeare’s fools have been successfully compared to Folly. No previous study, however, links Folly and Feste. This paper argues that Shakespeare uses Feste to convey Folly’s sense that foolishness can lead to wholeness through the acknowledgement of emotion. The balance between reason and emotion is similar to C. G. Jung’s individuation, the process of bringing unconscious content to conscious awareness. Malvolio, the play’s joyless Puritan, fails to achieve either folly or individuation because he represses his emotions, which synonymous with progress toward psychological well-being. Lacking folly, as Malvolio does, one can be neither truly wise nor fully human.
Course Assignment
Shakespeare, ENGL 305, Dr. Matthew Fike
Start Date
22-4-2016 2:00 PM
End Date
22-4-2016 2:15 PM
“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit”: Feste in Twelfth Night and Erasmus’s The Praise of Folly
DiGiorgio Campus Center, Room 220
William Shakespeare was definitely familiar with Erasmus’s philosophy, and several of Shakespeare’s fools have been successfully compared to Folly. No previous study, however, links Folly and Feste. This paper argues that Shakespeare uses Feste to convey Folly’s sense that foolishness can lead to wholeness through the acknowledgement of emotion. The balance between reason and emotion is similar to C. G. Jung’s individuation, the process of bringing unconscious content to conscious awareness. Malvolio, the play’s joyless Puritan, fails to achieve either folly or individuation because he represses his emotions, which synonymous with progress toward psychological well-being. Lacking folly, as Malvolio does, one can be neither truly wise nor fully human.
