User:Torbach/Quinapalus

Quinapalus is a fictional character by William Shakespeare's Feste in the play Twelfth Night

1.5.35        Wit, an't be thy will, put me into good fooling! Those wits, that think they have thee, do very oft prove fools; and I, that am sure I lack thee, may pass for a wise man: for what says Quinapalus? "Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit."

Feste speaks through his bauble using Chiasmus illustrating his obscured wit and expanded ability to joke about serious issues without the threat of being taken completely serious. Though fancy sounding, there are a few ways to interpret the name Quinapalus that suggest the work of William Shakespeare is not arbitrary and holds deeper meaning.

In French; "Qui n'a pas lu" translates to "He who hasn't read" As a name Quinapalus is a loose play on Quinapaslu.

Or as mock-Italian for "quina-palo" for "'There on the stick' suggests that the clown pretends to interrogate the carved head on his [bauble]" 

Along with his use of Chiasmus, Anagrams are often found in the work of William Shakespeare, as the words "Aquinas" + (Saint) "Paul" will create A Quinapalus

Feste is also shown to speak latin; “Cucullus non facit monachum”. (Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene V, Lines 53-54) Assuming he makes up the name Quinapalus; Opalus meaning Opal in Latin and Quin to negate or state "without."  Feste makes a comparison of Orsinos mind as "a very opal" Quinapalus loosely Quin-opalus suggests "Without Opal" characterizing Quinapalus a contrast to Orsino.