I would say that Bolingbroke has the most time onstage, and
his aspirations seem to be much higher and nobler than anyone else’s. While the audience can undoubtedly respect
Anne’s desires to be a free queen and Abigail and Masham’s desires to wed, I
believe that Bolingbroke’s complicated plot to shut down the Duchess’ needless
and destructive war is the most important thread of the story. Unfortunately, it is also pretty difficult to
follow—it was always very easy for me to see where any of the lovers were
coming from, even the Duchess. However,
I still don’t really understand the intricacies of Bolingbroke’s plot, and I’m
sure I didn’t while I was reading the play.
Of course, the audience would note that Bolingbroke is scheming
throughout the entire play and that he always seems to be a few steps ahead of
the Duchess, so even if he cannot be played as a true protagonist, he would
probably at least look like the scheming mastermind—and, let’s face it, in a
well-made play, the character who plots and gossips the most is the most
important character.
Ultimately, though, I can see how it wouldn’t be too
productive to think of this play in terms of a singular protagonist. After all, the audience certainly doesn’t see
anything from one character’s perspective.
While there is one distinct villain to dislike, the rest of the cast is
almost an ensemble, and forcing Bolingbroke to be the main character is a bit
of an unnecessary stretch. After all,
this is a play about the relationships and secrets shared by many people, not
about one person, specifically.
