The Glass of Water Response

In The Glass of Water, it is hard to pick out the protagonist because there are many important stories going on at the same time revolving around different characters. Though if I had to choose, I would say Masham and Abigail are the protagonists together. I say this because The Glass of Water is, in part, a story revolving around love. What I mean by that is the major dramatic question is: Will Masham and Abigail be together? One might say that Bolingbrook is the protagonist because he gets the most stage time. But the majority of Bolingbrook’s problems revolve around the war which is not the prominent conflict in the story! So even though Masham and Abigail do not get the majority of stage time, I still deem them as the protagonist. Also Scribe makes it so the audience roots and feels for the couple. One way he does that is by portraying Abigail as just a poor, sweet jewelers assistant. We automatically feel sympathy for Abigail and want her to finally be happy with Masham. Determining the protagonist of every play you are analyzing is very important, but I get the feeling that it is not the most important order of business in a well-made play. The plot is a lot stronger than the character in most well-made plays, and in this particular play there is not one, but multiple secrets revolving around every character. Therefore I do not believe the play would have appeared differently if you looked at Anne, the Queen of England, as the protagonist. The majority of secrets are equally important, and I believe the majority of characters are too.