The common definition of the word fool is “ A silly person or simpleton who is deficient in judgment or sense or acts or behaves stupidly” (“Fool,” Oxford English Dictionary). When mentioning to a natural or born mental disability specifically, it means “a weak-minded or idiotic person who is deficient in, or destitute of, reason or intellect” (OED). It is also defined as “A dupe who is made to appear a fool or is imposed on by others”(OED). Additionally, it indicated “a jester or clown who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others” in many literary works (OED). When the word fool appears in a sentence, the whole sentence has a strong negative and pejorative feeling for readers, before readers understand the meaning of the sentence. The overarching idea of fool, as a pejorative and harsh word, refers to a person who is silly and acts unwisely. However, originally, the word has more meaning than its modern definitions.
The origin of the word fool is from the Latin follem
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The American literary critic Edgar Allan Poe wrote that, “I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends will call it,” which illustrates that fools do not know their capabilities and can sometimes achieve great things (BrainyQuote). Fools always believe that they are right, which brings them self-confidence. Also fool is an attitude toward to pursuit dreams in this quotation. Since the belief in what they pursuit, fools…In Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, he wrote that, “A fool may ek a wis-man ofte gide”, which means a fool man may guide the wise (TC, I, 630). Fools may make more mistakes compared to the wise because of innate, acquired or induced inability, but they learn from these mistakes. After that, fools learn lessons and may teach these lessons to the wise. Hence, fool can also be positive and commendatory, rather than a complete pejorative