Jaques Character Study
In our work on As You Like It I play Jaques in act 3 scene 3. We are making our scenes contemporary, choosing a modern setting over a traditional one because of its increased relevance today. We chose to place the scene at a music festival, we thought it would fit the scene and would give us an opportunity to play our characters inebriated. My vision of Jaques is of a 25 year old man. He doesn't have any contact with his immediate family, choosing not to speak with his parents and being an only child. How I imagine Jaques looks is with long, straight, black hair and a thin figure. At the time of our scene he is in the middle of a field, at a festival. It is set in the present day, specifically, I imagine in late summer. I picture a modern Jaques wearing casual clothes, a plain black T-shirt, jeans, and because he is at a festival, walking boots. I don't see Jaques with any props though, I don't think an emotional attachment to an object fits the character.
Jaques is melancholy but seems to revel in it. He is cynical, always looking for the negatives; judgmental, but not to an unreasonable degree; and passive, never looking for positivity or trying to better anything. Jaques does, however, come across as very passionate about what makes him melancholy. The famous speech "All the world's a stage" shows a passion about these thoughts. He speaks about the futility of life but shows a stark fear of death with his last line "Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." The repetition of "Sans" is what brings the sense of fear into it, it shows a side of Jaques valuing life that he is afraid of losing such thins as taste and sight. The speech also specifically deals with aging going through the "seven ages". This focus on aging may represent Jaques having a fear of growing old and by extension death. His melancholy attitude born out of this idea that life is just a cliche that is repeated by everyone is countered by his appreciation of the sensory satisfaction gained from life, that of taste and sight. Jaques passes judgment on other people, in my scene he is judging Touchstone. His first line in my scene is, referring to Touchstone, saying that "Knowledge ill inhabited is worse than Jove in a thatched house". This essentially means that he thinks Touchstone has knowledge but doesn't know how to use it. The line is an aside to the audience and he works to entertain them. This refers back to a sensationalist reading of Jaques, he tries to make the audience laugh because the feeling of laughter is a key component of life, it makes us feel good. His passivity involves him staying impartial and excluded from the action. This act of staying on the sidelines and avoiding being involved is his way of staying impartial, he can observe life better from outside it and feel melancholy about how it is because he is only watching it and not experiencing it.
Jaques doesn't have a specific space on the stage, I think he is comfortable anywhere. This comfort stems from seeing himself as an outsider. This is demonstrated when he barges in on Touchstone and Audrey's false wedding. This idea also links in with the speech "All the world's a stage" because all the world is his stage. Despite this, Jaques prefers to stay on the sidelines, observing the action as opposed to in the midst of it. Without a space of his own, with no props and no family, Jaques is not tied to the world in any way. Again he remains an outsider. This may be why he is melancholy, he has reached his age without anything to show for it. He was a lord but that was stripped of him and now all he has is his thoughts and contemplation. Like his lack of attachment to any object he lacks much attachment to other characters. The only characters he interacts with are those he takes interest in and Duke Senior. Jaques takes an interest in Touchstone in my scene, he finds his wooing of Audrey interesting. At first Jaques thinks that he is just a fool but he grows to discover that Touchstone is, in fact, more intelligent than he thought.
Jaques' super objective is to contemplate, to think. He wants to observe the world and all it has to offer, not experience it but just see it. He spends his time in quiet reflection doing this, occasionally interacting with what interests him such as Amiens, the "fool i'th forest". He often favours engaging with what he finds frivolous, foolish, or what he seeks to understand better. Studying frivolity and foolishness gives him satisfaction, it makes him feel smarter. He thinks that due to all of his reflection and observation he will never be as foolish. Jaques' objective in my scene is to understand Touchstone, he seems to accomplish this, he appears to learn Touchstone's motives with Audrey and leaves the scene wanting to 'council' him.
Jaques is a very interesting character. Shakespeare gives him a few monologues and some strong wit. Jaques is a friend to the audience, the one who directly converses with them about the scenes, offering them his jokes and insight. Shakespeare gives such a high place to a character so melancholy, cynical and with a low opinion of life when the rest of the play is about love. Perhaps Shakespeare wrote a kindred spirit, Shakespeare himself was always observing life, his plays are an observation of life. Jaques may be melancholy but his approach to life is honest and inquisitive. He studies and takes an interest in people. He is partly tragic in his fear of life and his final choice in the play to stay in the forest, alone, rejecting a return to society in favour of the freedom given by the forest.
Jaques is melancholy but seems to revel in it. He is cynical, always looking for the negatives; judgmental, but not to an unreasonable degree; and passive, never looking for positivity or trying to better anything. Jaques does, however, come across as very passionate about what makes him melancholy. The famous speech "All the world's a stage" shows a passion about these thoughts. He speaks about the futility of life but shows a stark fear of death with his last line "Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." The repetition of "Sans" is what brings the sense of fear into it, it shows a side of Jaques valuing life that he is afraid of losing such thins as taste and sight. The speech also specifically deals with aging going through the "seven ages". This focus on aging may represent Jaques having a fear of growing old and by extension death. His melancholy attitude born out of this idea that life is just a cliche that is repeated by everyone is countered by his appreciation of the sensory satisfaction gained from life, that of taste and sight. Jaques passes judgment on other people, in my scene he is judging Touchstone. His first line in my scene is, referring to Touchstone, saying that "Knowledge ill inhabited is worse than Jove in a thatched house". This essentially means that he thinks Touchstone has knowledge but doesn't know how to use it. The line is an aside to the audience and he works to entertain them. This refers back to a sensationalist reading of Jaques, he tries to make the audience laugh because the feeling of laughter is a key component of life, it makes us feel good. His passivity involves him staying impartial and excluded from the action. This act of staying on the sidelines and avoiding being involved is his way of staying impartial, he can observe life better from outside it and feel melancholy about how it is because he is only watching it and not experiencing it.
Jaques doesn't have a specific space on the stage, I think he is comfortable anywhere. This comfort stems from seeing himself as an outsider. This is demonstrated when he barges in on Touchstone and Audrey's false wedding. This idea also links in with the speech "All the world's a stage" because all the world is his stage. Despite this, Jaques prefers to stay on the sidelines, observing the action as opposed to in the midst of it. Without a space of his own, with no props and no family, Jaques is not tied to the world in any way. Again he remains an outsider. This may be why he is melancholy, he has reached his age without anything to show for it. He was a lord but that was stripped of him and now all he has is his thoughts and contemplation. Like his lack of attachment to any object he lacks much attachment to other characters. The only characters he interacts with are those he takes interest in and Duke Senior. Jaques takes an interest in Touchstone in my scene, he finds his wooing of Audrey interesting. At first Jaques thinks that he is just a fool but he grows to discover that Touchstone is, in fact, more intelligent than he thought.
Jaques' super objective is to contemplate, to think. He wants to observe the world and all it has to offer, not experience it but just see it. He spends his time in quiet reflection doing this, occasionally interacting with what interests him such as Amiens, the "fool i'th forest". He often favours engaging with what he finds frivolous, foolish, or what he seeks to understand better. Studying frivolity and foolishness gives him satisfaction, it makes him feel smarter. He thinks that due to all of his reflection and observation he will never be as foolish. Jaques' objective in my scene is to understand Touchstone, he seems to accomplish this, he appears to learn Touchstone's motives with Audrey and leaves the scene wanting to 'council' him.
Jaques is a very interesting character. Shakespeare gives him a few monologues and some strong wit. Jaques is a friend to the audience, the one who directly converses with them about the scenes, offering them his jokes and insight. Shakespeare gives such a high place to a character so melancholy, cynical and with a low opinion of life when the rest of the play is about love. Perhaps Shakespeare wrote a kindred spirit, Shakespeare himself was always observing life, his plays are an observation of life. Jaques may be melancholy but his approach to life is honest and inquisitive. He studies and takes an interest in people. He is partly tragic in his fear of life and his final choice in the play to stay in the forest, alone, rejecting a return to society in favour of the freedom given by the forest.
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