Lear's Fool

I started to notice that Lear's fool was no longer actively in the play once the conflict turned to battle. I am not sure why this is. It is also shortly after Edgar disguises himself as Tom o'Bedlam that the fool seems to be less present. This could be because Tom now serves Lear in the way that the fool had beforehand. The fool seemed to provide an ironic role. He was full of mockery and side-jabs at other characters. Even though he was labeled "the fool", he would often refer to others as fools. He seemed to be very involved with Lear during the stages where his sanity was questioned. The fool says during in the third scene of the third act, "This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen." It's almost as if he is claiming that he is not already a fool. King Lear is on a teeter-totter between being clear-headed and mad. I think that the fool's function during this time is to exaggerate Lear's loss of sanity. I observed that he speaks in verse more commonly than most characters in the play. When he speaks in verse, it seems like he is almost narrating what is going on in his surroundings. That is where I see the irony. King Lear is royalty. He is supposed to be wise, profound and sophisticated. But when he starts to lose his sanity, the fool acts as his sanity, even though he is supposed to be less sophisticated than someone of royal status. The fool thinks much more logically than Lear does. He sees the actions that Lear is doing, such as dividing up his land, and knows they are irrational. In the first act, he repeatedly says, ". . . take my coxcomb . . ." as if what everyone else around him is doing is of foolish origin. That is where the irony plays in.