Profane but PC

 Profane but PC

 

First published in Column 8 on the 17th May1995

 

At one point in Shakespeare’s King Lear the King (witha bit of huff and puff) asks his Fool: ‘Dost they call me fool, boy?’ The foolanswers: ‘All thy other titles thou has given away; that thou wast born with.’

Court jesters spoke the truth others couldn’t speak, throughhumour. When, like politicians, courtiers suffered under a form of politicalcorrectness, fools could deflate the pompous behaviour of kings, as well astha...