Indirect Characterization- As You Like It

"Indeed, my lord,
The melancholy Jaques grieves at that,
And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp...
Almost to bursting, and the big round tears
Coursed one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase; and thus the hairy fool,
Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,
Stood on the extremists verge of the swift brook,
Augmenting it with tears." (II,i, 18)

In this quote, the first lord is characterizing Jaques. He is introduced before we actually meet him. We learn about his emotions and feelings before he enters the action. Through this conversation about him, we learn that he is very interested in the environment. He feels bad for the deer that was killed. This is an effective way of introducing the character without directly saying what he is like. This lets the audience know what the other characters think about him. Jaques does not actually enter the action right away. He is introduced by the other characters then enters later. It is hard to directly characterize in a play unless a narrator speaks. I think the introducing Jaques is effective because the audience can make judgement on him. The use of indirect characterization allows the audience to learn about Jacques before he is even in the play. This gives us background information.