Jaques De Boys
Jaques de Boys is the messenger whose Act V report of Duke Frederick's conversion resolves the play's last political obstacle, completing the de Boys family's reconciliation alongside the romantic resolutions of his brothers.
Appears In
Who is Jaques De Boys?
Jaques de Boys is the second of the three de Boys brothers, sent away to be educated and largely absent from the play until its final scene, where he arrives in the forest with the news that resolves the last remaining obstacle to universal happiness: Duke Frederick, marching on Arden with an army, met an old religious man on the forest's edge, was converted on the spot, and has restored the dukedom to Duke Senior while retiring to a religious life himself.
His arrival is functional rather than emotional - he is not a character the play has developed, and he delivers his report with the brisk clarity of a messenger rather than a family member reuniting with his brothers. Even so, his presence quietly completes the de Boys family's own reconciliation, the third brother returning just as the second (Oliver) has been redeemed and the first (Orlando) has found his happy ending.
He is easily confused, in casual reading, with Jaques the melancholy lord, and the play makes no effort to distinguish them beyond context - a small, likely unintentional joke about how thoroughly the forest's final scene is crowded with resolutions arriving from every direction at once.
Motivation
Jaques de Boys is motivated by a straightforward filial and fraternal duty to deliver news that will restore both his family's fortunes and the rightful dukedom.
Personality
Jaques de Boys exists almost entirely as a functional messenger, defined by the news he brings rather than any developed personality - his brief appearance is the play's most efficient piece of late exposition.