On Anges and Tobias

“Do we dislike happiness? 

We manufacture such a portion 

of our own despair…such busy folk.”

-Agnes

”You, who make all the decisions,

really rule the game.”

-Tobias

Agnes and Tobias are a very dynamic couple. While Agnes tries to maintain a balance and "keep shape," Tobias is one of the characters who directly threatens Agnes' desire. While Agnes is outspoken and frank, Tobias is quiet and seemingly unobservant. The couple puts on a show of having a strong relationship but throughout the play, cracks in their foundation are revealed. Bigsby accurately summarizes Agnes and Tobias' relationship:

“Agnes and Tobias are approaching sixty

and it is clear that they have evolved 
a workable relationship which,

while protecting them from obvious 
loneliness,equally clearly has left them 
fundamentally estranged from one another” (224).