Minor Characters

Don Adriano de Armado - Categorized by Shakespeare as "as an affected Spanish braggart", he is the Shakespearean fool in the play. He functions as a parody of a courtly lover, both due to his station and his laughable proclamations of love. He is silly, affected, pretentious, and proud of what he perceives to be his own skill as a suitor.

Moth - He is Don Armado's Page, and he periodically mocks Armado. He is a plain dealer, and sharp-tongued at that, so he often casts a comic light on Don Armado's silliness.

Costard - He is a "clown" and rival to Don Armado over the hand of Jaquenetta, a country maid. He, like Moth, has a fairly sharp wit when it comes to Don Armado's speech and behavior.

Jaquenetta - She is "the country wench", who serves to create a love triangle as both Don Armado and Costard try to woo her.

Holofernes - This pedant teaches Latin and considers himself the final authority in academic considerations. He thinks he is in a position to critique the pronunciation and verses of everyone else, though he is himself sometimes quite unintelligible because of big words he is fond of spouting.

Nathaniel - He is a curate and follower of Holofernes, in extreme awe of the pedant's apparent 'knowledge.' The conversations between him and Holofernes lend to the humor of the play, for they are in striking contrast to the superior language elsewhere in the play.

Boyet - He acts as advisor to the Princess and is something of a negotiator between the men and the women. He primarily advances the plot.

Mercade - He is the messenger who brings the news of the sad demise of the King of France to the Princess and, hence, brings an end to all the revelry and the play itself.

A Forester - He assists the Princess in hunting a deer.

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