A wise fool is someone who may appear foolish or ignorant, but can offer profound insights. This is different from an idiot savant who lacks mental facility but has a talent. The concept of the wise fool gained popularity in the Middle Ages and was embodied in the character of the jester. Shakespeare also had a fondness for wise fools in his plays.
Most people have a good idea of what a fool is; in fact, most people have dated one or two. The term wise fool, however, is another matter. Despite a lack of education, intelligence, or even common sense, even fools can come across truths that are both heartwarming and profound. This fool might appear naïve or narrow-minded, but another kind of intelligence is filtered through his actions or words.
A wise fool is not the same as a wise idiot. An idiot savant is truly devoid of mental facility, but has an inexplicable talent, even a genius, for something. Some idiotic scholars are brilliant artists; others have math skills that defy logical explanation. A wise fool may act foolish or he may be ignorant, but his pearls of wisdom are often not entirely accidental.
The metaphor of the wise fool gained popularity during the Middle Ages when certain behaviors or manners began to be codified. A fool would be someone who persistently does the opposite, either through lack of understanding or intention. By the Renaissance, the fool had become a staple of parties through the character of the jester, who was allowed to mock members of the court and even the king himself, behave rudely, and otherwise prance around to the shock and delight of onlookers. This type of fool might get away with wry or insightful social commentary that would get other men hanged.
This particular fool is one who understands that breaking social rules is permissible for those who appear to have childhood vulnerabilities. In some circles, it was believed that such a fool was actually a little closer to God than other human beings. Were a fool to blurt out a cutting truth about an individual, the words would be met with the laughter of those who recognized how accurate the truth was; the subject of the joke would also be forced to giggle or become the fool himself.
The great Bard himself, William Shakespeare, had a special fondness for fools. This passion was shared by the common people who flocked to the Globe Theater to find goofy characters who were often social underdogs who outwitted the rich and powerful and were champions of their own society. Among Shakespeare’s most famous wise fools were the undertakers in Hamlet, the fool in King Lear, and the delightfully mischievous Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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