San Diego State University - Del Sudoeste Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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WHITE AND GOLD 21 0f the clowns and the multiplication of their uses were a part of his reformation in the drama. with which he obtains some of his finest effects and whenever a situation becomes too tense and ter- rible, lightens it by an apparently aimless word-juggling ex- hibition by the fool and some, chance confederate. In ttAntony and CleopatraiL-it Will he remembered, the clown enters in all the last aetseand. afte- answering the queens queries concern- ing.r the asp, or ttworlu of Nilus.H which he, brings hidden in a basketeof figs. disappears with the words. HI wish you joy ol the worm.H In ttOthelloll, the clown acts as a ser'ant to the svarthy Moor, and taxes your patience with his verbal quibbling's. And now, by means of the Flying Carpet of Imagination. we, come through Mllhe, 'llempestll. to that enehanted-and enchanting island Where dwell. Prospero, the wisest of Magicians. Miranda. H0 thou wonder of the world,H and Ferdinand. the ideal lover, and with them as fools. the monster Caliban. the drunken butler. Stephano and the court jester, Trinenlo. In the ttMerehant of Venieell, I find that Shylockls servant. young Launeelot Gohho. he who fooled with his conseienee. fooled his blind father and assisted Jessica to fool her father. ainuses most people as well as any of the varied troop of Shalwspearels clowns, for- he is a shrewd little seamp, tiniinble 07 foot and tonguelh Good, too. is Antoniols pun. relative to the debt of the pound of flesh: HFor if the Jew do cut but deep enoughellll pay it presentlyewith all my heart One would not expect to find the slightest trace of humor in HlVIaeheth ebut even here is given a hit of broad farce in the speech of the jolly porter. Ile is used entirely for tone, relief. to sepaiate the nights murder from the agony of the struggle of eoncealnlenteand is said to he, the only my of light which penetrates the gloom of this great tragedy. In NRomeo and JulietH I wish you to recall especially the, gallant young Mereutio, tithe very pink of eourtesyll. who notionly died for his friend, but did it with a brave jest on his lips. ttCourage, man,H says Romeo, che hurt cannot he mueh.H HNo,H says Mereutio, ti itis not. as deep as a well nor so wide as a ehureh door, but ytis enough : ltwill serve. Ask for me tomorrow. and you shall find me a grave man. Two figures likewise claim attention from us in that romance. HA Winter's Tale? one being the clown and the otherAutolyeus. The former was most generous for he not only allowed his pockets to be picked by the light-fingered Autolyeus. Hthat snapper up of uneonsidered tritlesfl but when he meets him later at the sheep- shearing' festival, with his pedtllerls pack and his merry songs. he buys for the maids until he ean do so no longer, I like Autoly- cus-he is one of the most attractive of what has been called uThe Army of Disreputablesli and he is really of use in exchang- ing garments with Florizel at the latterls need. It is in ttTroilus and Cressidall, little read and seldom acted. that the arrant young fool there. gives 11s the much quoted line. hOne touch of nature makes the whole world kin? and that it

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20 WHITE AND GOLD Q The Lure of the Desert Q 011, sun of the desert, How blinding thou art! XVith deep scorching splendor Thou triest my heart! The sands in thy brightness Arc bathed in pure golde Vast shifting wastes hiding Secrets untold 0h, moon of the desert, How kindly thy light! lishers forth the chill breezes iWhieh tell of the night! They breathe forth to man the old Vigor of life, Infusing new strength for the Morrowk hard strife. The Desert is hot, The Desert is cold,m The heart of the desert is merciless. ohl ; But the lure of her vastness.e The promise of gold, Are leading men on to glories untold! And who then can doubt, When the fight is half won- The Desert will atone For the wrong she has done! Marguerite Erzinger. ffjt TA F 001 There Was. A fur avrgunwuls mllm'tml to prom pm'ardoxically Mal fools arc philosoplliral and lhal folly ix salutary. Being one of those who hold the belief that tta smile is worth more than a crownti. that. The is great who makes a man laugh when he,d naturally rather frown? I am suspicions of people who say folly has no place in their lives. and it matters not whether the remark comes from a feeling of superiority, from excessive narrow-mindedness, or from inactive brains. To quote Meredith, I believe. T Jomedy is the saving grace. and that an excellent test of the civilization of a country is to he found in the fiourishing there of the Comic Idea. just as the test. of larger na- tures is found in the breadth of their power of laughterf7 So much for Folly in general. and now for ShakespeareTs comedies and his fools in particular. The elevation of these and

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22 WHITE AND GOLD is variously parodied, witness, ttOne touch of humor makes the Whole world grin , ttOne touch of gossip makes the whole world chin , and HOne touch of Adam ta deeply fatal touehll makes the whole world sin. The conversation of the two clowns and their songs and rid- dles in the earlier part of the churchyard scene in NHamletH were formerly considered humorous, but now they are termed ua mouldy impertinenee. Still they form a fitting prelude to Ham- letts soliloquy on the skull of poor Yorick, the kingk jester, Ha fellow of infinite jest. most excellent fancy? uA Midsummer Nightls Dream,H concerns itself entirely with the mistakes of a night. carried out by a whole handful of comic characters. from Puck. tithe songful and merry wanderer of the night , to that droll old Nick Bottom, ttwrho. like most of mankind would fain play the lions part and brags of the loud roar he will make, but who, unlike his fellow mortals, wears the assls ears quite openly? Do not. forget that gay group, too, in the park of the King of Navarre, in ttLovels Labour's Lostll, and the Hheavenly Rosa- line there who informs us, HThat a. jestls prosperity lies in the ear of him that hears it, never in the tongue of him that makes itll. Leaving all this holiday humor, we now take up a philosoph- ical play, one intended to show pitilessly just what life is: ttDost thou- call me fool. boy? asks Lear. and truly and sadly the Fool tealled his outward eonseieneel replies. HAll thy other titles, thou has given away; that thou waslt born withW A well known critic has said that what you think of the play of ttKing Learlt will depend upon what you have thought of King Leafs Fool. Certainly the play offers a Wide field for discussion, in its great trio of madness; presented by the real insanity of the King, the feigned craziness of Edgar and the professional folly of the Fool. My own opinion is, that while of all the books I ever read the saddest proved to be the humorous Don Quixote. so is Learls Fool.wout in the raging storm, shorn of all of his fool dignity, nothing left in fact but his heroic devotion to a mad old man,- the saddest person 1 ever met. No other character, either in book life or real life. has seemed to me shrewder or more pathetic, nobler or more tender than this faithful soul, disguised in its court dress of motley wear. and carrying its eoxcomh, the symbol of Folly. Lastly, we come to that greatest glory of the English speaking stage, Falstaff:m and his group of merry satellites. Ile belongs to comedy, ttbeeause his big frame is so inoculated with laughter that his faults cannot take the contagion of tragedy. He is built to brag and is too fat to be brave. So large a man is seldom able to do such quick trapeze work mentally or to wrig- gle so unctuously through such narrow places morally. Con- demn him utterly, if you will, he certainly could say With Puck, HThose things do best please me that befall preposterouslyll, but, here is his own apology: HThou knowest in the state of in- noeeney, Adam fell; and what should poor Jack Falstaff do in the days of villainyW, lgrant that his dismissal by the King, tt