"A fool! A fool! I met a fool i' the forest, A motley foot; a miserable world! As I do live by food, I met a fool;" II.vii.28

     I chose the above quote because it encompasses two characters who do not play major roles but add some comic relief to the plot. Touchstone, a clown and the companion to Celia and Rosalind, gets embroiled in a small feud with Jaques. Jaques is described as a melancholy fellow who takes delight in the macabre and somber elements of life rather than the delights most other people in the forest enjoy. As the play progressed, I found myself growing less fond of these two characters. They seem like people who seek out the petty conflicts that entangle the less ambitious individuals of the play. Touchstone becomes much too full of himself, insulting his eventual wife and giving Corin lessons about the merits of court life. Jaques makes some degrading comments about the lovers int he play, essentially going against their decisions. In a sense, these two characters act as quasi-villians in the absence of tragic drama antogonists. Shakespeare puts these characters in the play to temper the constant happiness which proceeds from the constant love stories.