The "clown," or "rustic fool," seems to be a more fitting title for Lavatch in All's Well That Ends Well. He is not a courtier yet he goes to court. He attempts to fit into the courtier's world, claiming that he "will show [him]self highly fed and lowly taught" (2.2.3); in other words, he identifies himself as the ill-taught country bumpkin with an enormous appetite. He is a little like the clown Lancelot in The Merchant of Venice, who, as Shylock tells us, is a "huge feeder" (2.5.44). In addition, Lavatch is negatively affected by his time at court. When he straggles back to Rossillion, he tells us that "I have no mind to Isbel [his betrothed] since I was at court" (3.2.12). Lavatch cannot be one of the wise fools who, because their job is to expose courtly folly, are traditionally impervious to it.
Lavatch exhibits wit and cunning but does not seem to have the insight of Lear's Fool. Lavatch claims to have an "answer will serve all men" (2.2.11-12). He uses the phrase "O Lord, sir!" as "a simple putting off" (2.2.36). When asked a question, Lavatch evasively answers "O Lord, sir!" With a change in tone, this generic reply can suggest surprise, snobbery, pleasure, or displeasure. However, the Countess outwits Lavatch and proves that his answer is not "like a barber's chair that fits all buttocks" (2.2.14). He is forced to admit that "I see things may serve long, but not serve ever" (2.2.48-49). Lavatch's failings as a wise fool suggest again that he operates more as the rustic clown.
Lavatch is thoroughly a clown in his habit of quibbling. Upon reading a letter from the Countess, Helen asks Lavatch if her mother-in-law is well. Lavatch says that the Countess is not well, eventually explaining that she cannot be well until she is in heaven:
HELEN. My mother greets me kindly. Is she well?Helen is unaware of the point Lavatch is trying to make because his literalism is non-standard or forced usage. She hears the conventional sense of the word "well," meaning that her mother is in good health and is happy. Lavatch, on the other hand, insists upon an absolute definition of "well." Like the gravediggers in Hamlet, Lavatch equivocates; only speaking "by the card" (Hamlet 5.1.126-27) will satisfy him.
LAVATCH. She is not well, but yet she has her health. She's very merry, but yet she is not well. But thanks be given she's very well and wants nothing i'th' world. But yet she is not well.
HELEN. If she be very well, what does she ail
That she's not very well?
LAVATCH. Truly, she's very well indeed, but for two things.
HELEN. What two things?
LAVATCH. One, that she's not in heaven, whither God send her quickly. The other, that she's in earth, from whence God send her quickly. (2.4.1-11)
-- Victoria Abboud and Janelle Day Jenstad, 2001