" This omnipresent exhibition of superiority of a jester over his king could be punished; instead it is embraced. The fool talks to the king as though Lear was his fool: Fool: Dost thou know the difference, my boy, between a bitter fool and a sweet one? Lear: No, Lad, teach me. Lear joins in the game by allowing it and humors the Fool; which equates him with being the Fool's entertainer, and therefore the Fool's fool. Despite this twisted relationship, Lear also acts as the guardian of the Fool. In one scene, Goneril asks Oswald if her "father gentleman for chiding of his fool." (I, iii, 1.) Lear institutes physical violence to protect the precious fool; a severe act of rebuttal in response to a rather harmless admonition. However, Since only a madman or an evil person would think of striking or scolding the Fool, it may be assumed that Shakespeare wished to emphasize that Oswald and Goneril are of that nature. Lear sometimes threatens to hurt the Fool: "An you lie, sirrah, we"ll have you whipped." (I, iv, 172) but those threats are never manifested. This is also the first mention of the Fool in the play, which emphasizes his importance and favoritism from the king, as he obviously enjoys Lear's highest courtesy and protection. This is not the same relationship that exists between Kent and Lear. Although Kent also tells the brutal truth and is often less incisive, he is shunned and despised by Lear: "If on the tenth day following thy banished trunk be found in our dominions, the moment is thy death." (I, i, 178) This favoritism parallels that of Lear and his daughters, as though Goneril and Regan are Kent, and the fool Cordelia. The Fool is an extension of Cordelia, and she, an embodiment of the Fool. In her absence, the Fool acts in her role of child, and once she is returned, he is no longer present, so that she may fulfill her role appropriately. Lear exercises his paternal instincts on the Fool in Act III: "Come on, my boy.