Louise or Ferdinand? Exploring the protagonists of Love and Intrigue using social network analysis.

This article focuses on identifying the protagonist of Friedrich Schiller’s drama *Love and Intrigue* (original German title *Kabale und Liebe*) through the application of Social Network Analysis (SNA). By quantitatively analyzing character interactions and centrality measures—degree, closeness, and betweenness centrality weighted by both the number of conversation partners and interaction intensity—the study finds that Ferdinand, rather than Louise (after whom the drama was initially titled), holds the most prominent and stable central role in the character network. The authors discuss this finding in the context of eighteenth-century German social realities, Schiller’s personal experiences, and influences from prior German dramatists, suggesting that male dominance and Sturm und Drang ideals shaped the drama’s focus. The study also highlights the roles of other key characters and demonstrates the value of combining quantitative SNA with traditional literary analysis to deepen understanding of dramatic character structures.