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PP

A Clown is one of the more curious characters.

The base fellow (the term ‘clown’ means rustic, rather than a red-nosed person in a silly wig) brings Cleopatra her asps in a basket of figs; being a country clod, he is not considered important enough to keep from approaching the Queen by the Romans. One of Shakespeare’s bumpkins who do not quite master the language, he apparently has absolutely no sense of the gravity of events and prevents things from reaching sublimity while he is on stage. Seemingly rather dense, he does not take Cleopatra’s very obvious hints that he should leave, instead continuing to make labored comical comments.

 

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