Something for everyone : Plautus and his heterogeneous audience
Date
1998
Authors
Wilson, Paul Francis
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Abstract
This thesis examines the work of the late third and early second century B .C. Roman comic poet Plautus, and in particular considers the question of whether any serious, sophisticated or thought-provoking themes which Plautus might have included in his comedies could have been appreciated by members of his original Roman audience.
In the first two chapters, textual evidence from antiquity and modem psychological theory are used to establish the existence of conditions which suggest the heterogeneous appreciation of Plautus' comedies by members of his original Roman audience. From these conditions, the case for the appreciation of serious, sophisticated or thought-provoking themes by members of Plautus' original Roman audience is given strength.
In the final three chapters, interpretative treatments of three Plautine comedies (the Menaechmi, the Amphitruo and the Asinaria) are offered in order to demonstrate the possible existence of serious, sophisticated and thought-provoking themes within Plautus' comedies.