Fool (stock character)

William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Three Wise Men of Gotham, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose

The fool is a stock character in creative works (literature, film, etc.) and folklore. There are several distinct, although overlapping, categories of fool: simpleton fool, wise fool, and serendipitous fool.

The six volume Motif-Index of Folk-Literature contains (in volume four) a group of motifs under the category "Fools (and other unwise persons)".^[1]

^ Thompson, Stith. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books, and Local Legends. "J1700-J2799". Indiana University Press; Revised ed. edition (January 22, 1960) (Volume 1 - 6). ISBN 978-0253338815

[1] Thompson, Stith. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books, and Local Legends. "J1700-J2799". Indiana University Press; Revised ed. edition (January 22, 1960) (Volume 1 - 6). ISBN 978-0253338815

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