''The Glass of Water: or, Effects and Causes'' (French: ''Le verre d’eau ou Les effets et les causes'') is an 1840 five-act stage comedy by the French writer

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of ma ...

that is set at the court of

Queen Anne of Great Britain Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as G ...

during the early 18th century. It premiered at the Théâtre-Français in Paris on 17 November 1840 and has been translated into several languages, including into German in 1841 by Alexander Cosmar. The play is a prime example of the

well-made play The well-made play (french: la pièce bien faite, pronounced ) is a dramatic genre from nineteenth-century theatre, developed by the French dramatist Eugène Scribe. It is characterised by concise plotting, compelling narrative and a largely sta ...

or 'Pièce bien faite', in which all the characters' motivations are so interlocked that the action at any given point is markedly consistent in an almost positivist way, with the political and historical processes making up its theme acting perfectly logically and consistently. Its subtitle ''Effects and Causes'' clearly refers to this understanding of history and theories of progression, typical of the mid 19th century.

Plot

Anne is not a strong ruler and remains under the influence of

Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...

. The queen is attempting to end the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

but Sarah hopes to profit from prolonging it and thus keeping her husband the

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

in his position as commander-in-chief of the British army. Sarah's greatest enemy is Lord Bolingbroke (a fictionalised version of Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke), who wants peace, the Marlboroughs' fall from grace and the position of prime minister. To achieve this, he makes use of

Masham Masham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census. Etymology In Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the An ...

, a young officer in the royal guard who is in love with both Sarah and Anne. Bolingbroke thus turns the two women's feelings to the advantage of his own court intrigues. Marlborough opposes Bolingbroke, leading the British government inscrutably and arbitrarily. It is Marlborough who is mainly responsible for what Bolingbroke sees as the unnecessary and costly war against

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

and Bolingbroke accuses him of acting according to the maxim "The most insignificant things can often have the greatest impact. You may think, as does all the world, that political disasters, revolutions, the fall of an Empire, originate from serious, deep, important causes. Not even close! States are subjugated or defended by heroes, by great men, but those great men are led by little passions, caprices, vanities. "(Act I, Scene 4).

Adaptations

The play has been adapted for television in Sweden in 1960 as ''Ett Glas vatten'' (with

Gunnel Lindblom Gunnel Märtha Ingegärd Lindblom (18 December 1931 – 24 January 2021) was a Swedish film actress and director. Career As an actress, Lindblom was particularly associated with the work of Ingmar Bergman, though in 1965 she performed the l ...

as Anne), in Hungary in 1977 as ''Sakk-matt'' (with Judit Halász as Anne) and twice in the USSR of the same title ''Stakan vody'' (''Стакан воды'') (once as a 1957 television play and once as a 1979 telefilm with Natalya Belokhvostikova as Anne). It has also been adapted for film twice times in Germany (once as a 1923 silent film and once as a musical in 1960).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass of Water, The 1840 plays Cultural depictions of Anne, Queen of Great Britain Cultural depictions of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Biographical plays about British royalty Plays set in England Plays set in the 18th century Plays adapted into television shows French plays adapted into films Plays by Eugène Scribe