" 'I have neither the scholar's melancholy, which is emulation; nor the musician's, which is fantastical; nor the courtier's, which is proud; nor the soldier's, which is ambitious; nor the lawyer's which is politic; nor the lady's, which is nice; nor the lover's, which is all of these: but it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects; and indeed the sundry contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness.' " IV.i. pg 55.
Shakespeare makes a point of using slightly ridiculous characters. They all fall in love at first sight, or make rash decisions, or make very sudden changes of heart. The ridiculous nature of the plot line and the characters in it may be satire of typical love stories, but it is often a little hard to realize it. Jaques is the character that helped me realize that this play was actually a mockery of romances.
The other characters are very stereotypically romantic. They fall in love very quickly and therefore often get happy or sad at the drop of a hat. However, Jaques remains consistently melancholy. His nickname is "Jaques the Melancholy". He even admits in the passage above that he is always in a state of "humorous sadness". His unlikely attitude is very out of place in a love story, which makes the rest of the other characters seem that much more ridiculous. When comparing his actions and speech with that of the others', it becomes more clear that he is a foil character to almost all them. And his purpose is to demonstrate other a contrast so the audience can see that the play is a satire of obnoxious romances.
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