Glass of Water

           The Glass of Water, uses his character Bolingbroke as the protagonist to illustrate his point of confusion in the English court of Queen Anne. Lord Bolingbroke manipulates the characters to achieve his own agenda.

            Lord Bolingbroke uses his friendship with Abigail Churchill and Arthur Masham to manipulate his desire for the return of the Tory government and his return to power as the Prime Minister. Scribe attempts to trick the audience into believing that Bolingbroke is not a major character and always appears to be in the background. Scribe utilizes this technique so that the audience is always rooting for Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke’s character never ceases to amaze the audience and the comic aspects of the play work to antagonize the character of Sarah Churchill, thus playing into Bolingbroke’s plans for his agenda.

            Whereas Bolingbroke is the protagonist, the character of Sarah Churchill, the Duchess, is the antagonist. Hers is the character that appears to be always plotting and playing against Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke attempts to blackmail the Duchess into allowing Abigail Churchill into Queen Anne’s court as a lady-in-waiting; the Duchess counterattacks by informing Bolingbroke that she holds all his markers and that she will have him thrown into debtors’ prison the next day at the close of the Parliament Session.  

            This farce continues throughout the play. Each time that Bolingbroke is foiled by the Duchess, he returns with another counterattack. The audience’s attention is held throughout the play by the exchange between Bolingbroke and the Duchess, with interludes by Abigail, Masham, and Queen Anne. Scribe uses the subplots of the attraction on the part of the Queen and the Duchess for Masham as a backdrop to highlight the protagonist character of Bolingbroke thus allowing him to further his Tory agenda and his return to power as Prime Minister.