Four Fools in the Age of Reason
Four Fools in the Age of Reason

Author: Dorinda Outram

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2019-04-15

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0813942020

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Unveiling the nearly lost world of the court fools of eighteenth-century Germany, Dorinda Outram shows that laughter was an essential instrument of power. Whether jovial or cruel, mirth altered social and political relations. Outram takes us first to the court of Frederick William I of Prussia, who emerges not only as an administrative reformer and notorious militarist but also as a "master of fools," a ruler who used fools to prop up his uncertain power. The autobiography of the itinerant fool Peter Prosch affords a rare insider’s view of the small courts in Catholic south Germany, Austria, and Bavaria. Full of sharp observations of prelates and princes, the autobiography also records episodes of the extraordinary cruelty for which the German princely courts were notorious. Joseph Fröhlich, court fool in Dresden, presents more appealing facets of foolery. A sharp salesman and hero of the Meissen factories, he was deeply attached to the folk life of fooling. The book ends by tying the growth of Enlightenment skepticism to the demise of court foolery around 1800. Outram’s book is invaluable for giving us such a vivid depiction of the court fool and especially for revealing how this figure can shed new light on the wielding of power in Enlightenment Europe.

Four Fools in the Age of Reason
Four Fools in the Age of Reason

Author: Dorinda Outram

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780813942018

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Unveiling the nearly lost world of the court fools of eighteenth-century Germany, Dorinda Outram shows that laughter was an essential instrument of power. Whether jovial or cruel, mirth altered social and political relations. Outram takes us first to the court of Frederick William I of Prussia, who emerges not only as an administrative reformer and notorious militarist but also as a "master of fools," a ruler who used fools to prop up his uncertain power. The autobiography of the itinerant fool Peter Prosch affords a rare insider's view of the small courts in Catholic south Germany, Austria, and Bavaria. Full of sharp observations of prelates and princes, the autobiography also records episodes of the extraordinary cruelty for which the German princely courts were notorious. Joseph Fröhlich, court fool in Dresden, presents more appealing facets of foolery. A sharp salesman and hero of the Meissen factories, he was deeply attached to the folk life of fooling. The book ends by tying the growth of Enlightenment skepticism to the demise of court foolery around 1800. Outram's book is invaluable for giving us such a vivid depiction of the court fool and especially for revealing how this figure can shed new light on the wielding of power in Enlightenment Europe.

Fools Are Everywhere
Fools Are Everywhere

Author: Beatrice K. Otto

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2001-04

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 0226640914

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this lively work, Beatrice K. Otto takes us on a journey around the world in search of one of the most colorful characters in history—the court jester. Though not always clad in cap and bells, these witty, quirky characters crop up everywhere, from the courts of ancient China and the Mogul emperors of India to those of medieval Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. With a wealth of anecdotes, jokes, quotations, epigraphs, and illustrations (including flip art), Otto brings to light little-known jesters, highlighting their humanizing influence on people with power and position and placing otherwise remote historical figures in a more idiosyncratic, intimate light. Most of the work on the court jester has concentrated on Europe; Otto draws on previously untranslated classical Chinese writings and other sources to correct this bias and also looks at jesters in literature, mythology, and drama. Written with wit and humor, Fools Are Everywhere is the most comprehensive look at these roguish characters who risked their necks not only to mock and entertain but also to fulfill a deep and widespread human and social need.

Madness and Civilization
Madness and Civilization

Author: Michel Foucault

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2013-01-30

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0307833100

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 - from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity.

Outwitting the Devil
Outwitting the Devil

Author: Napoleon Hill

Publisher: Sharon Lechter

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Originally written in 1938 but never published due to its controversial nature, an insightful guide reveals the seven principles of good that will allow anyone to triumph over the obstacles that must be faced in reaching personal goals.

Fool's Errand
Fool's Errand

Author: Robin Hobb

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 0006486010

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When Prince Dutiful disappears, is it only because he is nervous about his betrothal ceremony, or has he been taken hostage by the Witted? As the situation worsens, Queen Kettricken summons Fitz to track the young prince down than another gifted with the Wit? This is the first in a new trilogy.

Panorama of the Enlightenment
Panorama of the Enlightenment

Author: Dorinda Outram

Publisher: Getty Publications

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9780892368617

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"In this book, the Enlightenment derives its special appeal as the historical staging ground for an intellectual ferment across Europe and America. Dorinda Outram places ideas in their widest possible context, expounding upon their social, political, and cultural implications and how they condition society's conduct in a variety of ways. She looks at what "Enlightenment" meant to contemporaries, how it affected day-to-day life - for instance, by the spread of reading, the open discussion of religion and the relationship between the sexes, self-knowledge and introspection, scientific research, and advances in medicine."--BOOK JACKET.

Useful Fools
Useful Fools

Author: C.A. Schmidt

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2007-08-16

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 1440679231

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Alonso, a dirt-poor teenager living in Peru, helps out at the public health clinic his mother, Magdalena, opened, so that he can see Rosa, the beautiful and wealthy daughter of the clinic’s doctor. Alonso and Rosa are both shattered when Magdalena is assassinated by a revolutionary terrorist organization. Left with no hope, Alonso might be seduced into becoming a guerrilla in the same organization that killed his mother. Rosa becomes disgusted with her father’s complacency and leaves wealth and safety behind to somehow help what is left of Alonso’s family. In this coming-of- age novel, C. A. Schmidt tells the story of how love can find its way through poverty and war.