In Shakespeare's King Lear, the fool and Edgar may be minor chracters, but in actuality, they play vital roles in Lear's tragic tale. The fool is the only person in the play who, from beginning to end, has insight as to what is really going on. He understands the truth, and attempts to relay it to the poor king under the guise of seemingly senseless songs. Had the king paid closer attention to his fool's wise words, he may have realized the faultiness in his "love test" much sooner, and perhaps this tragedy would have had a happy ending.

As it turns out, however, the king's true epiphany is brought about by another secondary character named Edgar. Edgar's illegitimate brother Edmund set him up for banishment and hatred from his father, which is how noble Edgar wound up as Tom the pitiful naked fool. "Tom" ended up speaking with King Lear in Lear's time of mad desperation during the wild storm. Edgar, who was unclothed and blunt, made King Lear realize that "nothing" is something to be embraced and respected, for talk is cheap and true justice is served through nature and not custom, as one may mistakenly think. In other words, Edgar aided the king in having his epiphany of his tragic flaw, and to understand how he wronged his most beloved daughter Cordelia.

Both the fool and Edgar are comic creatures on the outsides, but wise men on the inside. They are the only ones in this sad tale who know the ruth about King Lear and his familial conflicts. The only difference between the two vital characters is, that King Lear chose to ignore the fool and dismiss his silly remarks as meaningless, while Edgar's seemingly nonsensical words and actions caused the flawed king to have his ultimate epiphany.