As many are fond of pointing out, The Fool in Shakespeare’s plays is the one figure that may speak freely against authority.  While the rest of a king’s court is sycophantic, the fool’s role in court is privileged because he is honest.  We are meant to be  in awe of this fact.  After all, free speech is democracy’s most favored virtue and to see it exercised by one with so little social power pleases a modern audience. But really, this Fool is a dramatic innovation, not a political one.