Master Jacques

Character Analysis

Master Jacques is a bit player, but also one of the more complicated and interesting characters in The Miser. For starters, he seems to be the only person in the play who has any sympathy at all for the old miser Harpagon. As we find out in Act 3, Jacques can't bear to hear people in the streets saying mean things about his boss: "And on top of that I have to put up with hearing what people say about you all the time, because when all is said and done, I still have a soft spot for you, sir" (3.1.72).

But at the same time, he's willing to disobey Harpagon if it means sparing any other person or animal unnecessary suffering. For example, as the driver of Harpagon's carriage, he refuses to whip the horses or make them walk until they have received proper nourishment, saying to Harpagon, "No sire. I haven't the heart to drive them" (3.1.66).

For all his sympathy, Jacques also becomes a bit of a villain in this play. He develops a strong hate-on for Valère after Valère gives him a beating, and he already dislikes Valère to begin with for being an insincere brown-noser. In short, Jacques is bitter about the fact that he gets punished for looking out for Harpagon and telling him the truth, while Valère gets rewarded for being insincere and only telling the old man what he wants to hear. This leads Jacques to state, "For now on I've done with it. No more telling the truth" (3.2.22). He makes good on this promise later in the play when he lies about seeing Valère steal Harpagon's cash box. But this lie of Jacques ends up with Valère rich and married and Jacques still slaving away as a servant in Harpagon's manor. Poor Jacques: it looks like he's destined to be a punching bag whether he does the right thing or not.