Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The Glass of Water
I don’t believe there’s a clear cut protagonist in this play and there’s really no need for one. Each character is essential to the plot in his/her own way, including Marquis De Torcy who only appears on stage twice but is partially what this whole thing is about. Bolingbroke is important because he’s the mastermind behind everything that goes down. Masham is the hunk of the play apparently; the Queen and the Duchess have both taken a fancy to him which is why Bolingbroke’s scheme is successful. Abigail is the love of Masham and appointed a respectable position on the court do to her relationship with the Duchess (a distant cousin) and a little black mailing. She acts somewhat as the men’s spy for she knows things that they sometimes do not. Of course, the Queen is the Queen and the Duchess is the Duchess; two powerful women who tolerate each other but dislike each other with a passion for the most part. The Queen appears to be somewhat gullible and innocent. The Duchess is much more aware and down to business. That being said, these two women are the cause and effect of the plot because for the others’ plans to work, they must go through the royals. If I had to pick a protagonist though, like gun forced to my head type thing, it’d have to be Bolingbroke because again, he’s running the show behind closed curtains. Scribe doesn’t really designate anyone as the protagonists, but he definitely wants us to root for Masham, Abigail and Bolingbroke. Their conflicts receive the most stage time (how will Bolingbroke pay off his debt, why can’t Marsham get married and who’s his secret protector/protectress, will Abigail get her man, etc.) They’re also seen as the “good guys” and the Queen and the Duchess are seen as the “bad guys” by default because viewers/readers tend to root for the underdog. Although they’re all in a pretty good situation, it’s obvious that things need to be taken care of and they get to it. The struggles get about the same amount of stage time and there’s a lot of tension/comedy in this piece which suggests that no one character is really the character, but the group as a whole is vital.
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I totally agree that there is no need for a clear cut protagonist and I was actually struggling between picking a protagonist and proving why or just saying that one isn’t really necessary in my response and after I did my response, it became even more apparent to me that depending on how your read the play any of the characters could be twisted to be the protagonist depending on how they are defended. I do find it really funny that you mentioned that Masham and Abigail are seen as more of the “good guys” and that the Queen and the Duchess are seen more as the “bad guys” because people tend to root for the underdog, because hat didn’t really cross my mind and when I was reading the play I didn’t really see any sort of a “bad guy” presence in any of the characters and so when I read this comment I tried to think back on the play to see if I could label any of the characters with that “bad guys/good guys” persona and I actually think it is the opposite simply because the poor Queen and Duchess are just really left in the dark about almost everything and to me they seem to be more of the underdogs in the situation. They are just two women in love with a man who doesn’t love either of them, which sucks for them.
ReplyDeleteI also agree and said the same thing; there is no clear cut protagonist. It's almost like everyone is an antagonist to each other really. They all are affecting each other in different ways in trying to get what they want. Alliances are made and power is constantly shifting from character to character about just who has control. This play seriously relies on cause and effect for things to work and keep the pace of the show. It also seems to add more of a comedic element since there is no protagonist so there isn't really anyone for the audience to hate.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this is my favorite thing said about this play: “Masham is the hunk of the play apparently”. Secondly, I agree with you that all the characters of the play are essential to the plot, but I do honestly think Bolingbroke is the main character (I know you said if you had to pick, you’d pick him so I’ just saying this as a ‘I believe this a little more forcefully than you’ type thing). It appears from the earlier two comments everyone is pretty much agreed on this.
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