# Costard — Love’s Labour’s Lost character guide

> Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Costard the swain, goodman Costard

**First appearance:** 0001-act-i

## Snapshot

A rustic swain hauled before the King for dallying with Jaquenetta, then conscripted as the unwitting courier of the lords' secret letters.

## Who they are

Costard is the play's clown, a laborer whose confessed affair with the wench Jaquenetta lands him in the King's custody just as the court swears to three years of austere study. His plain speech and cheerful guilt expose the gap between the lords' lofty vows and ordinary appetite, and his role as letter-carrier lets him tangle the threads of Armado's and Biron's rival affections. He matters because his body and his blunders keep puncturing the court's pretensions to purity.

## Relationships

### [Holofernes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/holofernes)

_social_

Costard, the clown, and Holofernes, the pedant, interact as comic foils in the play's subplot.

### [Biron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/biron)

_social_

Biron and Costard share a comedic dynamic as lord and clown, often involved in mistaken deliveries and wordplay.

### [King of Navarre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/king_of_navarre)

_professional_

Costard is a subject of the King, often delivering messages and getting into trouble with the court's laws.

### [King of Navarre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/king_of_navarre)

_professional_

Costard is a subject of the King, often delivering messages and getting into trouble with the court's laws.

### [Biron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/biron)

_social_

Biron and Costard share a comedic dynamic as lord and clown, often involved in mistaken deliveries and wordplay.

### [King of Navarre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/king_of_navarre)

_professional_

Costard is a subject of the King, often delivering messages and getting into trouble with the court's laws.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-i-scene-i)

Brought in under arrest for being with Jaquenetta; he humorously confesses and quibbles over the proclamation.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-i-scene-ii)

Brought in by Dull, sentenced to fast three days a week, and taken to prison by Moth.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-i)

Costard is freed by Armado and given a letter for Jaquenetta; he later accepts a shilling from Biron to deliver a letter to Rosaline.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-i)

Delivers the misdirected letter from Biron to the Princess, mistaking her for Rosaline.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-ii)

Accompanies Jaquenetta and delivers the letter.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iii)

Costard delivers Jaquenetta's letter to the king, revealing Biron's poem, and is dismissed with Jaquenetta.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/chapters/act-v-scene-i)

Exchanges jests with Moth and mentions the remuneration from Armado.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters/costard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/love_s_labour_s_lost_se/characters