Jacqueline de Ghent

**Jacqueline de Ghent** is a main character in the 1998 film *Ever After: A Cinderella Story*. She is the less-favored of Rodmilla de Ghent's two daughters. Her father is the late Baron of Ghent. She is portrayed by Melanie Lynskey (adult) and Alex Pooley (child).

## Biography

### Before 1512

We first see Jacqueline in 1502 as a child. Not much is known about her, except that she has good table manners, which impresses the eight-year-old Danielle.

### 1512

#### The morning that Danielle meets the Prince

Jacqueline quotes a book of mannerisms during breakfast to gently reprimand Marguerite, but her mother tells her to shut up. She says nothing else after that, only smiling when Danielle says "Good morning" and looking at her with sympathy when Rodmilla unfairly scolds her.

Later, Jacqueline, Marguerite, and Rodmilla are at the market buying a brooch for Marguerite. Jacqueline stands off to the side, eating a small cake. As Rodmilla haggles her way to the largest brooch she can get, Jacqueline shakes her arms in frustration.

#### Meeting the Prince and Captain Laurent

When Jacqueline meets Prince Henry, she tries to outdo Marguerite out of jealousy by hastily stuffing a large feather into her hair. When the Prince nevertheless pays more attention to Marguerite, she gets Captain Laurent's attention, and especially to the brooch that is strategically pinned to Marguerite's chest, Jacqueline shoves the feather into the front of her dress, causing Captain Laurent to snigger.

Later, Jacqueline comes to Danielle's rescue when Rodmilla interrogates her, telling Danielle what the problem is and unknowingly saving her from revealing her stolen identity as Comtesse Nicole de Lancret.

#### Preparing for the ball

Jacqueline complains to her mother that her dress is too small around the waist, only to get bullied by Rodmilla about her chubbiness and love of eating. Rodmilla leads her two daughters into a bedroom where Danielle's dowry, a beautiful white dress and matching shoes, is kept. Jacqueline admires the shoes especially. She proposes that Danielle wear the dress to the ball, but the suggestion is shot down by her mother and sister, even though the invitation said all women in the house hold can attend. When she tries to tell Danielle that Marguerite is lying about Danielle being welcome to come with them to the ball, Marguerite stops her. As a result, Jacqueline leaves the room in disgust.

That evening at dinner, Jacqueline reports that the Prince went to the King and asked him to release all the people that were being shipped to the Americas as slaves, even getting the law changed in regards to enslaving criminals and debtors.

#### The market

The next day, Jacqueline accompanies her sister and mother to the tennis match between the Prince and the Marquis de Limoges. She mostly stands in the background, watching. When the Prince gives Marguerite chocolate, Jacqueline wants to try it, too, but her mother stops her.

#### Jacqueline switches sides

The next Sunday, after the family returns home from church, Jacqueline complains that Marguerite gets more attention than her. Marguerite and Rodmilla scoff at this, and a disgruntled Jacqueline points out that their treatment of her is becoming more like their treatment of Danielle.

The next day, Jacqueline stands by as Rodmilla wakes up and interrogates Danielle about why she was home so late. She smirks when Danielle stands up to Marguerite and Rodmilla but is outraged when Rodmilla tells her to boil some water because she is convinced that this is the beginning of her life as a house slave alongside Danielle. Later, while Marguerite tries on Danielle's dress, she admires the shoes once again, but guiltily puts them down when an upset Danielle comes into the room. She is shocked when Danielle punches Marguerite and flaps her arms as they fight. She is greatly disturbed when Marguerite burns Danielle's book, which was a last gift from her late father. From then on, she is completely on Danielle's side.

Later, she tends to Danielle's wounds from lashing and bonds with her. At first, she tells Danielle that she brought it on herself, then that she admires Danielle's courage in standing up to Marguerite. When Rodmilla locks Danielle into the pantry to stop her going to the masque and makes increasingly extravagant preparations for the celebration, Jacqueline points out that "it's only a ball".

#### The ball

For the masque, Rodmilla makes Jacqueline wear the horse mask. Angry, she complains, but to no avail. At the ball, she hangs around the food and meets Captain Laurent there again. When Danielle appears, Jacqueline is happy and relieved to see her. She is horrified when Rodmilla accuses Danielle of lying about her identity and manipulates the Prince into rejecting her.

#### Epilogue

The next day, Jacqueline watches the Prince nearly marry Princess Gabriella of Spain, and afterward, she tells the Prince where Danielle is. Later, she tricks Marguerite and Rodmilla into thinking that the Prince wants to marry Marguerite. Therefore, when they are summoned to court, they don't suspect that anything is wrong. At court, Jacqueline stands by as Marguerite and Rodmilla make fools of themselves and are sent to work in the laundry room.

When Danielle is receiving her portrait, Jacqueline is with Captain Laurent. It is implied that they get married.

## Physical Appearance

Jacqueline has long, dark brown hair. As a child, she wears it in an elaborate hood. As an adult, she always wears it down, with a bit at the front tied back with a white ribbon.

Even as a child, Jacqueline looks prettier than her sister because of her apple-shaped face and her pleasant smile.

Her color scheme is dark green, and she only ever wears this color. It is similar to what Rodmilla wears. However, while Rodmilla's dark dresses reflect her evilness while Jacqueline does not, as she is a sweet and shy person.

Of Rodmilla's two daughters, Jacqueline resembles her the most. This is probably why the stepmother prefers Marguerite to Jacqueline.

## Personality

Jacqueline is a very kind-hearted, caring, gentle, but weak-willed person. She is friendly to Danielle but dares not to stand up to her bullying mother and sister. She is awkward, as shown when Jacqueline tries to impress the Prince by stuffing her feather into the front of her clothes, and she is whiny, as seen when she moodily complains about her costume for the ball. However, when pushed to the limit, she can be bold and cunning. This side of her is increasingly displayed towards the end of the film.

## Relationships

* Rodmilla de Ghent
* Marguerite de Ghent
* Danielle de Barbarac
* Auguste de Barbarac
* Prince Henry
* Captain Laurent

Rodmilla is Jacqueline's mother. Jacqueline does not like the way her mother treats her and the other people in the household but does not dare to stand up to her until later in the film. She also seems afraid of her to some extent, as seen when she falters when Rodmilla glares at her during Jacqueline's longer dialogues. However, this has changed by the end of the film after he realizes that her mother and sister would probably make her be the next house slave if Danielle left.

Marguerite is Jacqueline's sister. They do not seem to have much of a relationship - although, at the beginning, Jacqueline still puts stock into their sisterly bond. However, by the end of the film, she has realized that Marguerite does not care about her at all.

Danielle is Jacqueline's stepsister. At first, Jacqueline seems too afraid to properly strike up a friendship with Danielle, although she is sympathetic towards her and values her as a sister. By the end, Jacqueline has the courage to be friends with Danielle despite what her mother thinks.

Auguste is Jacqueline's stepfather. Jacqueline and her stepfather never formed a relationship. However, considering that Jacqueline seems to respect Danielle's mother, it is probably she respects Danielle's father Auguste, too.

At first, Jacqueline follows her sister Marguerite's lead in trying to catch the Prince's attention. However, her attentions eventually turn to his friend, Captain Laurent, and instead, she sees the Prince as a friend.

Jacqueline and Laurent first properly get to know each other at the ball, but after that, they quickly fall in love because they have things in common. Laurent admires Jacqueline because of her sweet personality and that she is not afraid to show off her inner beauty.