470:. "If any player breathed," Hotson tells us, "who could explore with Shakespeare the shadows and fitful flashes of the borderland of insanity, that player was Armin". Robert Armin explored every aspect of the clown, from the natural idiot to the philosopher-fool; from serving man to retained jester. In study, writing, and performance, Armin moved the fool from rustic zany to trained motley. His characters—those he wrote and those he acted—absurdly point out the absurdity of what is otherwise called normal. Instead of appealing to the identity of the English commoner by imitating them, he created a new fool, a high-comic jester for whom wisdom is wit and wit is wisdom. When Robert Armin replaced Kemp in the Chamberlain's Men, it was considered the "taming of the clown". Armin's new style of comedy brought into play the "world-wisely fool". This urged Shakespeare to create
119:. In the course of his duties, the story contends, Armin was sent to collect money from a lodger at Tarlton's inn. Frustrated by the man's refusal to pay, Armin wrote verses in chalk on the wall; Tarlton noticed and, approving their wit, wrote an answer in which he expressed a desire to take Armin as his apprentice. Though not corroborated, this anecdote is far from the least plausible in
22:
488:, Armin wrote about the difference between a fool artificial and a fool natural. And the way Armin defines the two is important: the character Jack Oates is a true fool natural. He never stops being a fool to save himself; he never tries to do anything but anger his master, Sir William. A fool artificial is always trying to please; he’s a lackey."
195:. A dedication to his patron's widow in 1604 suggests some personal acquaintance with the Brydges family; on the other hand, a reference in another work suggests he may have spent some time, like Kempe, as a solo performer. The pair of books Armin published around the turn of the century demonstrate a performer with an interest in his craft.
353:, so the clown "must be a thoroughly good fellow at heart". Touchstone affects the front of a malcontented cynic, thus serving as proof of Rosalind's quick wit. When she confronts both Jaques and Touchstone, she exposes their silliness and prevents the fools from making Arden out to be worse than it really is.
277:
specifically had begun to tire of Kempe's old-fashioned clowning—is still current, though the main evidence for this view consists of Kempe's departure and the type of comic roles
Shakespeare wrote after 1600. Armin played on the Globe stage by August 1600; Wiles theorizes that he may have joined the
356:
Feste was almost certainly written for Armin, as he is a scholar, a singer, and a wit. Feste's purpose is to reveal the foolishness of those around him. Lear's fool differs from both
Touchstone and Feste as well as from other clowns of his era. Touchstone and Feste are philosopher-fools; Lear's fool
111:, a position of great responsibility. The arrangement moved Armin to a life and a social circle quite different from what he might have expected as a Norfolk tailor. Lonyson died in 1582, and the apprenticeship was transferred to another master. According to a tale preserved in
272:
The timing of Armin's joining the
Chamberlain's Men is as mysterious as its occasion. That it was connected to Kempe's departure has been generally accepted; however, the reasons for that departure are not clear. One traditional view—that the company in general or
538:, one of the major characters is Robert Armin (better known as Robin), a Classics and Theater student at a small college in the Midwestern U.S. during the early 1970s who has a surprisingly detailed knowledge of William Shakespeare's life and work.
175:
indicates that he played Blue John, a clown in the vein of
Tarlton and Kempe; he also seems to have doubled in the role of Tutch, a witty fool of the type he later played in London. The late quarto is associated with a revival by the
215:, improvised song, or by commenting on a person or event. Rather than exchanging words, he gave words freely. Armin reported in that work that on either Tuesday 25 December 1599, or Tuesday 1 January 1600, he would be travelling to
484:, in an interview, summarizes Armin's ideas about the two kinds of fool: "That fool of Shakespeare's, the actor Robert Armin , became so popular that finally Shakespeare wrote him out of Henry IV. In a book called
361:
before disappearing from the play altogether. Lear's fool is hardly around for entertainment purposes; rather, he is present to forward the plot, remain loyal to the king, and perhaps to stall his madness.
211:, named by him Signor Truncheon. In this he demonstrates his style; instead of having a conversation with the audience, as Tarlton did, and entering into a battle of wits, he jests using multiple
375:, on the grounds that Iago sings two drinking songs (most of the songs in Shakespeare's plays from 1600 to 1610 were sung by Armin's characters) and that this was the sole play between
123:. Influenced by Tarlton or not, Armin already had a literary reputation before he finished his apprenticeship in 1592. In 1590, his name is affixed to the preface of a religious tract,
99:
also of King's Lynn. His brother, John Armyn III, was a merchant tailor in London. Armin did not take up his father's craft; instead, his father apprenticed him to
Lonyson in the
357:
is the natural fool of whom Armin studied and wrote. Armin here had the opportunity to display his studies. The fool speaks the prophecy lines, which he tells—largely ignored—to
278:
Chamberlain's Men in 1599, but continued to perform solo pieces at the
Curtain; however, he may also have played with the company at the Curtain, while Kempe was still a member.
654:
Nungezer, Edwin (1929), "A Dictionary of Actors and of Other
Persons Associated with the Public Representation of Plays in England, before 1642", OUP
249:, the subject matter may reflect his family background of tailors. He was a tailor's son, who paralleled in the Italian tailor's apprentice, and the
843:
828:
365:
Although Armin typically played these intelligent clown roles, it has been suggested by a few scholars that he originated the role of
838:
833:
400:; indeed, Marston may have added the part for him when the play was produced by the King's Men. Armin appears in the cast list for
260:, on the grounds that it was published by the same press, mentions a clown with Armin's nickname, and contains verbal echoes of
349:
or one that affects his cynicism to mask a fundamentally genial spirit". As Palmer continues, a true cynic does not belong in
67:
Armin changed the part of the clown or fool from the rustic servingman turned comedian to that of a high-comedy domestic wit.
238:); only in 1608 was he credited by name, though the earlier title pages would have sufficed to identify him for Londoners.
224:
220:
818:
592:
156:
383:
that has no fool or clown for Armin to play. An alternative suggestion, however, is that Iago was originally acted by
416:
675:
653:
230:
The first editions of these two books were credited to "Clonnico de
Curtanio Snuffe"—that is, to the "Clown of the
100:
282:
442:; three of his children named in the parish register appear to have died before adulthood. Fellow King's Man
76:"…the clown is wise because he plays the fool for money, while others have to pay for the same privilege." –
203:), offers the wit of assorted natural fools, some of whom Armin knew personally. The same year he published
305:
492:
219:
to wait on his "right honourable good lord". This was possibly Baron
Chandos, who may have been visiting
338:
177:
37:
281:
Armin is generally credited with all the "licensed fools" in the repertory of the
Chamberlain's and
159:. With this company, about which little is known, he is presumed to have travelled from the western
246:
823:
518:
513:
451:
439:
346:
480:, who was a philosophical social insurgence. He had a place everywhere, but belonged nowhere.
808:
580:
337:
describes him as "rancidly vicious," and writes that "this more intense rancidity works as a
333:. Of these eight, Touchstone is the fool about which there is the most critical discussion.
813:
406:
342:
329:
311:
8:
391:
41:
676:
The Paris Review, "Ken Kesey, The Art of Fiction No. 136 (Interviewed by Robert Faggen)"
427:(1611), and other evidence suggests that he retired in 1609 or 1610. The preface to the
467:
443:
350:
192:
160:
534:
323:
231:
216:
116:
108:
664:
458:. His burial is recorded in the Registers of St Botolph's as 30 November 1615.
411:
396:
287:
136:
88:
802:
732:
Felver, Charles S. "Robert Armin, Shakespeare's Fool: a Biographical Essay."
476:
293:
235:
77:
45:
410:; he may have played Drugger. He is also presumed to have been the clown in
167:. The nature of his work for the company may be estimated from his parts in
155:
At some point in the 1590s, Armin joined a company of players patronised by
334:
185:
128:
92:
790:
A Nest of Ninnies and Other English Jestbooks of the Seventeenth Century.
274:
164:
401:
384:
181:
104:
481:
358:
299:
172:
147:; none of his work in this vein, however, is known to have survived.
96:
40:. He became the leading comedy actor with the troupe associated with
447:
387:, with Armin instead taking the smaller part of Othello's servant.
455:
371:
317:
212:
208:
256:
Sutcliffe argues that Armin wrote a pamphlet published in 1599,
144:
21:
431:
quarto confides, "I would have again enacted John myself, but
207:, a collection of seemingly extemporaneous dialogues with his
471:
241:
Another work of uncertain date (it was published in 1609) is
48:
around 1600. Also a popular comic author, he wrote a comedy,
569:
The Case for Shakespeare: The End of the Authorship Question
390:
In non-Shakespearean roles, he probably played Pasarello in
253:
ring of the play's lore parallels the goldsmith apprentice.
435:, and I cannot do as I would". He was buried in late 1615.
366:
250:
234:". The 1605 edition changes "Curtain" to "Mundo" (that is,
115:, Armin came to the attention of the Queen's famous jester
16:
Member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a Shakespearean actor
722:
Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Web.
609:. Macmillan International Higher Education. pp. 6, 8.
641:
The Elizabethan Theatre and "The Book of Sir Thomas More"
87:
Armin was one of three children born to John Armyn II of
36:(c. 1568 – 1615) was an English actor, and member of the
466:
Armin may have played a key role in the development of
753:
Lippincott, H. F. "King Lear and the Fools of Armin."
341:
should, to prove the true gold of Rosalind's spirit".
643:. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. p. 63.
345:
disagrees and writes that "he must be either a true
191:
Little else is known precisely of Armin's time with
188:, but it was almost certainly written around 1597.
800:
103:in 1581. Lonyson was the Master of Works at the
620:Kawai, Shoichiro (1992). "John Lowin as Iago".
785:. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
776:The Canon of Robert Armin's Work: An Addition.
604:
494:The works of Robert Armin , actor, (1605-1609)
423:He is not named in the cast list for Jonson's
792:Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970.
764:. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1953.
729:. The Paris Review: Issue 130, Spring 1994.
688:Foole vpon foole, or, sixe sortes of sottes
512:Robert Armin is a significant character in
169:The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke
50:The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke
27:The History of the two Maids of More-Clacke
750:. New York: Oxford University Press, 1952.
739:Gray, Austin. "Robert Armine, the Foole."
720:The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre.
505:
267:
778:Notes and Queries (1996) 43(2): 171–175.
771:Notes and Queries (1994) 41(4): 503–504.
638:
125:A Brief Resolution of the Right Religion
29:, 1609. The woodcut shows Armin onstage.
20:
713:Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
692:The history of two maids of more-clacke
581:Verdi's Shakespeare: Men of the Theater
438:In London, he resided in the parish of
801:
150:
619:
500:
491:His works were in 1880 published as
91:, a successful tailor and friend to
769:Robert Armin: Apprentice Goldsmith.
225:Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
221:Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche
13:
844:People associated with Shakespeare
715:. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998.
223:over the holidays, or more likely
157:William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos
14:
855:
829:English male Shakespearean actors
417:The Miseries of Enforced Marriage
199:(1600, 1605; reissued in 1608 as
839:16th-century English male actors
834:17th-century English male actors
558:, New York: Columbia UP, p. 267.
762:Comic Characters of Shakespeare
696:The Italian tailor and his boys
680:
669:
605:Hampton-Reeves, Stuart (2010).
593:Shakespeare and the Poet's Life
245:. A translation of a tale from
734:Kent State University Bulletin
658:
647:
632:
613:
598:
586:
574:
561:
556:Shakespeare and the Poet's War
548:
532:In the 1991 Pamela Dean novel
243:The Italian Tailor and his Boy
62:The Italian Taylor and his Boy
1:
541:
461:
143:) mention him as a writer of
70:
727:Ken Kesey-The Art of Fiction
571:, Westport: Praeger, p. 169.
454:wrote Armin a complimentary
7:
622:Shakespeare Studies (Japan)
309:, and perhaps Thersites in
44:following the departure of
10:
860:
705:
525:
258:A Pil to Purge Melancholie
180:, a short-lived troupe of
171:. The preface to the 1609
819:English male stage actors
595:, Gary Schmidgall, p. 157
554:Bednarz. James P. (2001)
433:tempora mutantur in illis
306:All's Well That Ends Well
639:McMillin, Scott (1987).
262:Two Maids of More-clacke
247:Gianfrancesco Straparola
127:. Two years later, both
583:, Garry Wills, p. 88-90
519:The Shakespeare Stealer
507:The Shakespeare Stealer
452:John Davies of Hereford
141:Pierce's Supererogation
567:McCrea, Scott (2005),
516:'s historical fiction
497:(ed. by A.B. Grosart)
446:bequeathed him twenty
268:Lord Chamberlain's Men
227:who lived in Hackney.
178:King's Revels Children
38:Lord Chamberlain's Men
30:
25:Title page of Armin's
755:Shakespeare Quarterly
718:Brown, John Russell.
24:
748:Shakespeare’s Motley
440:St Botolph's Aldgate
312:Troilus and Cressida
205:Quips upon Questions
82:Shakespeare's Motley
783:Shakespeare's Clown
757:26 (1975), 243–253.
743:42 (1927), 673–685.
736:49(1) January 1961.
665:History of the Fool
468:Shakespearian fools
327:, and Autolycus in
151:The Chandos company
101:Goldsmiths' Company
42:William Shakespeare
774:Sutcliffe, Chris.
767:Sutcliffe, Chris.
444:Augustine Phillips
31:
788:Zall, P. M., ed.
746:Hotson, Leslie.
501:Modern References
486:A Nest of Ninnies
330:The Winter's Tale
201:A Nest of Ninnies
58:A Nest of Ninnies
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725:Faggen, Robert.
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285:: Touchstone in
54:Foole upon Foole
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450:as a "fellow";
381:Timon of Athens
324:Timon of Athens
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121:Tarlton's Jests
117:Richard Tarlton
113:Tarlton's Jests
109:Tower of London
73:
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760:Palmer, John.
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412:George Wilkins
397:The Malcontent
377:As You Like It
321:, the Fool in
297:, the Fool in
288:As You Like It
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197:Fool Upon Fool
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137:Gabriel Harvey
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93:John Lonyson
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34:Robert Armin
33:
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26:
18:
814:1615 deaths
343:John Palmer
291:, Feste in
275:Shakespeare
182:boy players
165:East Anglia
89:King's Lynn
60:(1608) and
803:Categories
542:References
462:A new fool
402:Ben Jonson
385:John Lowin
339:touchstone
283:King's Men
105:Royal Mint
71:Early life
46:Will Kempe
482:Ken Kesey
448:shillings
429:Two Maids
300:King Lear
97:goldsmith
628:: 17–34.
425:Catiline
213:personas
161:Midlands
706:Sources
694:; III.
607:Othello
535:Tam Lin
527:Tam Lin
474:in his
456:epigram
372:Othello
318:Macbeth
232:Curtain
217:Hackney
209:marotte
184:led by
145:ballads
107:in the
690:; II.
173:quarto
135:) and
472:Feste
351:Arden
347:cynic
236:Globe
741:PMLA
379:and
367:Iago
359:Lear
251:ruby
139:(in
131:(in
95:, a
414:'s
404:'s
394:'s
369:in
163:to
80:in
805::
626:30
624:.
522:.
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264:.
64:.
56:,
698:.
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