Erasmus as Folly

Erasmus’ Praise of Folly is one of the most highly acclaimed works to come out of the Renaissance, and it’s certainly one of the most longevous (especially since humour doesn’t tend to age well). The book centres on a satirical speech performed by Folly — the Greek goddess — in praise of herself. She claims that she is responsible for all the things we love in life: ‘Nothing happens in this world which isn’t full of folly, performed by fools amongst fools’. No one is exempt; everyone is a fool. Even the seemingly practical man and woman who decide to get married and have kids are fools:

Just tell me, please, what man would be willing to offer his neck to the halter of matrimony if he applied the usual practice of the wise man and first weighed up its disadvantages as a way of life? Or what woman would ever agree to take a husband if she knew or thought about the pains and dangers of childbirth and the trouble of bringing up children?

It is this same folly, she says, that ‘creates societies and maintains empires, officialdom, religion, law courts, and councils — in fact the whole of human life is nothing but a sport of folly’. And this coming from a churchman himself. He even goes as far as to say, speaking through Folly, that she may be the deity that we all really worship. Forget Diana and her blood sacrifices, Folly is propitiated by our everyday actions: