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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9970-0.txt b/9970-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c0cd27 --- /dev/null +++ b/9970-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3511 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by Wilton Wallace Blancke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +Author: Wilton Wallace Blancke + +Release Date: August 12, 2006 [EBook #9970] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +University of Pennsylvania + +The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +By + +Wilton Wallace Blancké, A.M., Ph.D. +Professor of Latin in the Central High School of Philadelphia + +A Thesis + +Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial fulfillment +of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy + +1918 + + + + +Foreword + + + +This dissertation was written in 1916, before the entrance of the United +States into The War, and was presented to the Faculty of the University of +Pennsylvania as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its +publication at this time needs no apology, for it will find its only +public in the circumscribed circle of professional scholars. They at least +will understand that scholarship knows no nationality. But in the fear +that this may fall under the eye of that larger public, whose interests +are, properly enough, not scholastic, a word of explanation may prove a +safeguard. + +The Germans have long been recognized as the hewers of wood and drawers of +water of the intellectual world. For the results of the drudgery of minute +research and laborious compilation, the scholar must perforce seek German +sources. The copious citation of German authorities in this work is, then, +the outcome of that necessity. I have, however, given due credit to German +criticism, when it is sound. The French are, generically, vastly superior +in the art of finely balanced critical estimation. + +My sincere thanks are due in particular to the Harrison Foundation of the +University for the many advantages I have received therefrom, to +Professors John C. Rolfe and Walton B. McDaniel, who have been both +teachers and friends to me, and to my good comrades and colleagues, +Francis H. Lee and Horace T. Boileau, for their aid in editing this essay. + +Wilton Wallace Blancké. +1918. + + + + +Part 1 + +A Résumé of the Criticism and of the Evidence Relating to the Acting +of Plautus + + + + +Introduction + + + +This investigation was prompted by the abiding conviction that Plautus as +a dramatic artist has been from time immemorial misunderstood. In his +progress through the ages he has been like a merry clown rollicking +amongst people with a hearty invitation to laughter, and has been rewarded +by commendation for his services to morality and condemnation for his +buffoonery. The majority of Plautine critics have evinced too serious an +attitude of mind in dealing with a comic poet. However portentous and +profound his scholarship, no one deficient in a sense of humor should +venture to approach a comic poet in a spirit of criticism. For criticism +means appreciation. + +Furthermore, the various estimates of our poet's worth have been as +diversified as they have been in the main unfair. Alternately lauded as a +master dramatic craftsman and vilified as a scurrilous purveyor of +unsavory humor, he has been buffeted from the top to the bottom of the +dramatic scale. More recent writers have been approaching a saner +evaluation of his true worth, but never, we believe, has his real position +in that dramatic scale been definitely and finally fixed; because +heretofore no attempt has been made at a complete analysis of his +dramatic, particularly his comic, methods. It is the aim of the present +dissertation to accomplish this. + +I doubt not that from the inception of our acquaintance with the pages of +Plautus we have all passed through a similar experience. In the beginning +we have been vastly diverted by the quips and cranks and merry wiles of +the knavish slave, the plaints of love-lorn youth, the impotent rage of +the baffled pander, the fruitless growlings of the hungry parasite's +belly. We have been amused, perhaps astonished, on further reading, at +meeting our new-found friends in other plays, clothed in different names +to be sure and supplied in part with a fresh stock of jests, but still +engaged in the frustration of villainous panders, the cheating of harsh +fathers, until all ends with virtue triumphant in the establishment of the +undoubted respectability of a hitherto somewhat dubious female +character.[1] + +Our astonishment waxes as we observe further the close correspondence of +dialogue, situation and dramatic machinery. We are bewildered by the +innumerable asides of hidden eavesdroppers, the inevitable recurrence of +soliloquy and speech familiarly directed at the audience, while every once +in so often a slave, desperately bent on finding someone actually under +his nose, careens wildly cross the stage or rouses the echoes by +unmerciful battering of doors, meanwhile unburdening himself of lengthy +solo tirades with great gusto;[2] and all this dished up with a sauce of +humor often too racy and piquant for our delicate twentieth-century +palate, which has acquired a refined taste for suggestive innuendo, but +never relishes calling a spade by its own name. + +If we have sought an explanation of our poet's gentle foibles in the +commentaries to our college texts, we have assuredly been disappointed. +Even to the seminarian in Plautus little satisfaction has been vouchsafed. +We are often greeted by the enthusiastic comments of German critics, which +run riot in elaborate analyses of plot and character and inform us that we +are reading _Meisterwerke_ of comic drama.[3] Our perplexity has perhaps +become focused upon two leading questions; first: "What manner of drama is +this after all? Is it comedy, farce, opera bouffe or mere extravaganza?" +Second: "How was it done? What was the technique of acting employed to +represent in particular the peculiarly extravagant scenes?"[4] + +There is an interesting contrast between the published editions of Plautus +and Bernard Shaw. Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate +network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of +the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find +nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such +editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken +lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at +least does not lie on the surface of the text. + +For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are +necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a résumé of the +evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a +consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and +stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the +plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We +hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading +questions. + + + +§1. Critics of Plautus + + +Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things, +time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from +a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the +rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of +denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation. + +Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously. +Stylistically he was translated to the skies. [Sidenote: Cicero] Cicero[5] +imputes to him "iocandi genus, ... elegans, urbanum, ingeniosum, facetum." +[Sidenote: Aelius Stilo] Quintilian[6] quotes: "Licet Varro Musas Aelii +Stilonis sententia Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si latine +loqui vellent." [Sidenote: Gellius] The paean is further swelled by +Gellius, who variously refers to our hero as "homo linguae atque +elegantiae in verbis Latinae princeps,"[7] and "verborum Latinorum +elegantissimus,"[8] and "linguae Latinae decus."[9] [Sidenote: Horace] If +our poet is scored by Horace[10] it is probably due rather to Horace's +affectation of contempt for the early poets than to his true convictions; +or we may ascribe it to the sophisticated metricist's failure to realize +the existence of a "Metrica Musa Pedestris." As Duff says (_A Literary +History of Rome_, p. 197), "The scansion of Plautus was less understood in +Cicero's day than that of Chaucer was in Johnson's." (Cf. Cic. _Or._ 55. +184.) + +[Sidenote: Euanthius] We have somewhat of a reaction, too, against the +earlier chorus of praise in the commentary of Euanthius,[11] who condemns +Plautus' persistent use of direct address of the audience. If it is true, +as Donatus[12] says later: "Comoediam esse Cicero ait imitationem vitae, +speculum consuetudinis, imaginem veritatis," we find it hard to understand +Cicero's enthusiatic praise of Plautus, as we hope to show that he is very +far from measuring up to any such comic ideal as that laid down by Cicero +himself. + +But of course these ancient critiques have no appreciable bearing on our +argument and we cite them rather for historical interest and +retrospect.[13] [Sidenote: Festus] [Sidenote: Brix] While Festus[14] makes +a painful effort to explain the location of the mythical "Portus Persicus" +mentioned in the _Amph._,[15] Brix[16] in modern times shows that there is +no historical ground for the elaborate mythical genealogy in _Men._ 409 +ff. We contend that "Portus Persicus" is pure fiction, as our novelists +refer fondly to "Zenda" or "Graustark," while the _Men._ passage is a +patent burlesque of the tragic style.[17] + +[Sidenote: Becker] On the threshold of what we may term modern criticism +of Plautus we find W.A. Becker, in 1837, writing a book: "De Comicis +Romanorum Fabulis Maxime Plautinis Quaestiones." Herein, after deploring +the neglect of Plautine criticism among his immediate predecessors and +contemporaries, he attempts to prove that Plautus was a great "original" +poet and dramatic artist. Surely no one today can be in sympathy with such +a sentiment as the following (Becker, p. 95): "Et Trinummum, quae ita +amabilibus lepidisque personis optimisque exemplis abundat, ut quoties eam +lego, non comici me poetae, sed philosophi Socratici opus legere mihi +videar." I believe we may safely call the _Trinummus_ the least Plautine +of Plautine plays, except the _Captivi_, and it is by no means so good a +work. The _Trinummus_ is crowded with interminable padded dialogue, +tiresome moral preachments, and possesses a weakly motivated plot; a +veritable "Sunday-school play." + +But Becker continues: "Sive enim <Plautus> seria agit et praecepta pleno +effundit penu, ad quae componere vitarn oporteat; in sententiis quanta +gravitas, orationis quanta vis, quam probe et meditate cum hominum ingenia +moresque novisse omnia testantur." We feel sure that our Umbrian fun-maker +would strut in public and laugh in private, could he hear such an encomium +of his lofty moral aims. For it is our ultimate purpose to prove that +fun-maker Plautus was primarily and well-nigh exclusively a fun-maker. + +[Sidenote: Weise] K. H. Weise, in "Die Komodien des Plautus, kritisch nach +Inhalt und Form beleuchtet, zur Bestimmung des Echten und Unechten in den +einzelnen Dichtungen" (Quedlinburg, 1866), follows hard on Becker's heels +and places Plautus on a pinnacle of poetic achievement in which we +scarcely recognize our apotheosized laugh-maker. Every passage in the +plays that is not artistically immaculate, that does not conform to the +uttermost canons of dramatic art, is unequivocally damned as "unecht." In +his Introduction (p. 4) Weise is truly eloquent in painting the times and +significance of our poet. With momentary insight he says: "Man hat an ihm +eine immer frische und nie versiegende Fundgrabe des ächten Volkswitzes." +But this is soon marred by utterances such as (p. 14): "Fände sich also in +der Zahl der Plautinischen Komodien eine Partie, die mit einer andern in +diesen Hinsichten in bedeutendem Grade contrastirte, so konnte man sicher +schliessen, dass beide nicht von demselben Verfasser sein könnten." He +demands from Plautus, as _ein wahrer Poet_, "Congruenz, und richtige +innere Logik <und> harmonische Construction" (p. 12), and finally declares +(p. 22): "Interesse, Character, logischer Bau in der Zusammensetzung, +Naturlichkeit der Sprache und des Witzes, Rythmus und antikes Idiom des +Ausdrucks werden die Kriterien sein mussen, nach dem wir uber die +Vortrefflichkeit und Plautinität plautinischer Stücke zu entscheiden +haben." + +On this basis he ruthlessly carves out and discards as "unecht" every +passage that fails to conform to his amazing and extravagant ideals, in +the belief that "der ächte Meister Plautus konnte nur Harmonisches, nur +Vernunftiges, nur Logisches, nur relativ Richtiges dichten" (p. 79), +though even Homer nods. The _Mercator_ is banned _in toto_. To be sure, +Weise somewhat redeems himself by the statement (p. 29 f.): "Plautus +bezweckte ... lediglich nur die eigentliche und wirksamste Belustigung des +Publicums." But how he reconciles this with his previously quoted +convictions and with the declaration (p. 16): "Plautus ist ein sehr +religioser, sehr moralischer Schriftsteller," it is impossible to grasp, +until we recall that the author is a German. + +[Sidenote: Langen] Such criticism stultifies itself and needs no +refutation; certainly not here, as P. Langen in his _Plautinische Studien_ +(_Berliner Studien_, 1886; pp. 90-91) has conclusively proved that the +inconsistent is a feature absolutely germane to Plautine style, and has +collected an overwhelming mass of "Widerspruche, Inkonsequenzen und +psychologische Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" that would question the +"Plautinity" of every other line, were we to follow Weise's precepts. +Langen too uses the knife, but with a certain judicious restraint. + +We insist that the attempt to explain away every inconsistency as spurious +is a sorry refuge. + +[Sidenote: Langrehr] Langrehr in _Miscellanea Philologica_ (Gottingen, +1876), under the caption _Plautina_[18] gives vent to further solemn +Teutonic carpings at the plot of the _Epidicus_ and argues the play a +_contaminatio_ on the basis of the double intrigue. He is much exercised +too over the mysterious episode of 'the disappearing flute-girl.' + +Langen, who is in the main remarkably sane, refutes these conclusions +neatly.[19] How Weise and his confrères argue Plautus such a super-poet, +in view of the life and education of the public to whom he catered, let +alone the evidence of the plays themselves, and their author's status as +mere translator and adapter, must remain an insoluble mystery. The simple +truth is that a playwright such as Plautus, having undertaken to feed a +populace hungry for amusement, ground out plays (doubtless for a +living),[20] with a wholesome disregard for niceties of composition, +provided only he obtained his _sine qua non_--the laugh.[21] + +[Sidenote: Lessing] In our citation of opinions we must not overlook that +impressive mile-stone in the history of criticism, the discredited but +still great Lessing. In his "Abhandlung von dem Leben und den Werken des +M. Accius Plautus" Lessing deprecates the harsh judgment of Horace and +later detractors of our poet in modern times. Lessing idealizes him as the +matchless comic poet. That the _Captivi_ is "das vortrefflichste Stück, +welches jemals auf den Schauplatz gekommen ist," as Lessing declares in +the Preface to his translation of the play, is an utterance that leaves us +gasping. + +[Sidenote: Dacier] But Lessing's idea of the purpose of comedy is a +combination of Aristotelian and mid-Victorian ideals: "die Sitten der +Zuschauer zu bilden und zu bessern, ... wenn sie nämlich das Laster +allezeit unglücklich und die Tugend am Ende glücklich sein lässt."[22] It +is on the basis of this premise that he awards the comic crown to the +_Cap._[23] His extravagant encomium called forth from a contemporary a +long controversial letter which Lessing published in the second edition +with a reply so feeble that he distinctly leaves his adversary the honors +of the field. How much better the diagnosis of Madame Dacier, who is +quoted by Lessing! In the introduction to her translations of the +_Amphitruo_, _Rudens_ and _Epidicus_ (issued in 1683), she apologizes for +Plautus on the ground that he had to win approval for his comedies from an +audience used to the ribaldry of the _Saturae_. + +[Sidenote: Lorenz] Lorenz in his introductions to editions of the _Most._ +and _Pseud._ is another who seems to be carried away by the unrestrained +enthusiasm that often affects scholars oversteeped in the lore of their +author. Faults are dismissed as merely "Kleine Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" +(Introd. _Ps._, p. 26, N. 25.) "Jeder Leser," says he, "<wird gewiss> +darin beistimmen, dass ... der erste Act <des _Pseudolus_> eine so +gelungene Exposition darbietet, wie sie die dramatische Poesie nur +aufweisen kann." Such a statement must fall, by weight of exaggeration. In +appreciation of the portrayal of the name-part he continues: "Mit welch' +überwältigender Herrschaft tritt hier gleich die meisterhaft geschilderte +Hauptperson hervor! Welche packende Kraft, welche hinreissende _verve_ +liegt in dem reichen Dialoge, der wie beseelt von der feurigen Energie des +begabten Menschen, der ihn lenkt, fröhlich rauschend dahin eilt, +übersprudelnd von einer Fulle erheiternder Scherze und schillernder +Spielereien!" + +In curious contrast to this fulsome outpouring stands the expressed belief +of Lamarre[24] that the character of Ballio overshadows that of Pseudolus. +In support of this view he cites Cicero (_Pro Ros. Com._ 7.20), who +mentions that Roscius chose to play Ballio. + +Lorenz in his enthusiasm exalts the _Epid._ to an ideal of comic +excellence (Introd. _Ps._ p. 27). He even goes so far as to contend that +Plautus lives up to the following characterization:[25] "Nicht blos durch +naturgetreue and lebhafte Charakterschilderungen und durch eine komisch +gehaltene, aber die Grenzen des Wahrscheinlichen und des Graziösen nicht +überschreitende Zeichnung des täglichen Lebens soll der Dichter des +Lustspiels seine Zuschauer interessiren und ihr heiteres Gelächter +hervorrufen, sondern auch so reiche Anwendung zu geben, durch die es in +den Dienst einer sittlichen Idee tritt, und so gleichsam die moralische +Atmosphäre ... zu reinigen." + +Such emotional superlatives merely create in the reader a cachinnatory +revulsion. Yes, Plautus was great, but he was great in a far different +way. He approached the Rabelaisian. It is doubtful if "die Grenzen des +Graziösen" lay within his purview at all. + +[Sidenote: Lamarre] The treatment of Lamarre cited above contains[26] a +highly meritorious analysis of the Plautine characters, discussed largely +as a reflection of the times and people, both of New Comedy and of +Plautus, without imputing to our poet too serious motives of subtle +portrayal. But he too ascribes to Plautus a latent moral purpose: "En +faisant rire, il veut corriger"![27] + +[Sidenote: Naudet] This sounds ominously like an echo from Naudet[28] who, +in the course of lauding Plautus' infinite invention and variety of +embroidery, would translate him into a zealous social reformer by saying: +"L'auteur se proposait de faire beaucoup rire les spectateurs, mais il +voulait aussi qu'ils se corrigeassent en riant." All this is +disappointing. We should have expected Gallic esprit to rise superior to +such banality. + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed +by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled _Daos Tableau de la comedie +grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle_ (Annales de l'Université de +Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques +et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au +point de vue moral, la νέα dut être inoffensive (en son temps)." This is +the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis of the +extant remains of New Comedy and _Palliatae_. + +Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status +of a petty moralizer[29]. In particular, he lauds the _Aul_ unreservedly +as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of character delineation and pronounces it +immeasurably superior to Molière's imitation, "L'Avare."[30] This whole +critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing +to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.[31] + +[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very +point in remarking[32] that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in +the _Cas_[33] implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic +worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and +remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen +still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the _Miles_[34]: +"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der +Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf +man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen. +Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack +_eines_ Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat." + +But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of +the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns[35], the +scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that +the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is +supposed to be conveying secret information.[36] If carried out in a +broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing. + +[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his _History_[37], in the course of an +interesting discussion on _palliatae_ and their Greek originals, has a far +saner point of view. He says of the authors of New Comedy, "They wrote not +like Eupolis and Aristophanes for a great nation; but rather for a +cultivated society which spent its time ... in guessing riddles and +playing at charades.... Even in the dim Latin copy, through which we +chiefly know it, the grace of the original is not wholly obliterated. <In +_palliatae_> persons and incidents seem capriciously or carelessly +shuffled as in a game of cards; in the original a picture from life, it +became in the reproduction a caricature." + +Naturally we are not concerned with any consideration of the value of his +estimate of New Comedy. Assuredly he rates it too highly, as later +investigations have indicated.[38] But here for the first time we are able +to quote a well-balanced appreciation of some essential features of +Plautine drama: a "capricious shuffling of incidents" and "caricature." In +fact it will be our endeavor to show that the _palliata_ was not a true +art form, but merely an outer shell or mold into which Plautus poured his +stock of witticisms. + +[Sidenote: Korting] Still more trenchant is the conclusion of Korting in +his _Geschichte des griechischen und römischen Theaters_ (P. 218 ff.): +"Die neue attische Komödie und folglich auch ihr Abklatsch, die romische +Palliata, war nicht ein Lustspiel im höchsten, im sittlichen Sinne des +Wortes, sondern ein blosses Unterhaltungsdrama. Amüsieren wollten die +Komödiendichter, nichts weiter. Jedes höhere Streben lag ihnen fern. Wohl +spickten sie ihre Lustspiele mit moralischen Sentenzen.... Aber die +schönen Sentenzen sind eben nur Zierat, sind nur Verbramung einer in ihrem +Kerne und Wesen durch und durch unsittlichen Dichtung ... Mit der +Wahrscheinlichkeit der Handlung wird es sehr leicht genommen: die +seltsamsten Zufälle werden als so ziemlich selbstverständliche +Möglichkeiten hingestellt ... Es ginge das noch an, wenn wir in eine +phantastische Märchenwelt geführt werden, in welcher am Ende auch das +Wunderbarste möglich ist, aber nein! es wird uns zugemutet, überzeugt zu +sein, dass alles mit natürlichen Dingen zugehe. + +"Alles in allem genommen, ist an dieser Komödie, abgesehen von ihrer +formal musterhaften Technik, herzlich wenig zu bewundern.... An +Zweideutigkeiten, Obscönitäten, Schimpfscenen ist Überfluss vorhanden." + +With admirable clarity of vision, Korting has spied the vital spot and +illuminated it with the word "Unterhaltungsdrama." That amusement was the +sole aim of the comic poets we firmly believe. But if this was so, why +arraign them on the charge of trying to convince us that everything is +happening in a perfectly natural manner? The outer form to be sure is that +of everyday life, but this is no proof that the poets demanded of their +audiences a belief in the verisimilitude of the events depicted. Can we +have no fantastic fairyland without some outlandish accompaniment such as +a chorus garbed as birds or frogs? But we reserve fuller discussion of +this point until later. We might suggest an interesting comparison to the +nonsense verse of W. S. Gilbert, which represents the most shocking ideas +in a style even nonchalantly matter-of-fact. Does Gilbert by any chance +actually wish us to believe that "Gentle Alice Brown," in the poem of the +same name, really assisted in "cutting up a little lad"? + +Korting regains his usual clear-headedness in pronouncing 'that there is +little in the technique of _palliatae_ to excite our admiration.' Again we +insist (to borrow the jargon of the modern dramatic critic) it was but a +"vehicle" for popular amusement. + +[Sidenote: Schlegel] Wilhelm Schlegel, in his _History of the Drama_[39] +has the point of view of the dramatic critic, rather than the professional +scholar; while expressing a measure of admiration for the significance of +Plautus in literature, he is impelled to say: "The bold, coarse style of +Plautus and his famous jokes, savour of his familiarity with the vulgar +... <He> mostly inclines to the farcical, to overwrought and often +disgusting drollery." This is doubtless true, but, by making the +incidental a criterion for the whole, it gives a gross misconception to +one that has not read Plautus. + +[Sidenote: Donaldson] J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek +theatre[40], has plagiarized Schlegel practically _verbatim_, while giving +the scantest credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as being a +mere echo, or compilation of second-hand material. + +We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient comedy that +he enthusiastically superintended the translation and production of plays +of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel[41]: "I once witnessed at Weimar a +representation of the _Adelphi_ of Terence, entirely in ancient costume, +which, under the direction of Goethe, furnished us a truly Attic evening." + +[Sidenote: Scott] In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may +be interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar _par excellence_, +may be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's +_Amphitryon_ he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of +Amphitryon which has _had the honour_ to be deemed worthy of imitation by +Molière and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and +inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that +of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to +which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious +literary technician![42] + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all +is certainly attained by LeGrand in _Daos_.[43] He appreciates clearly +that "la nouvelle comédie n'a pas été, en toute circonstance stance, une +comédie distinguée. Elle n'a pas dédaigné constamment la farce et le gros +rire."[44] How much more then would this apply to _palliatae_! + +We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of +criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which +Plautus has been subjected.[45] The ancients overrated him stylistically, +but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz +and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of +Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and +therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that +offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the +_Captivi_. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our +poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit +without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness. +Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his +inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but +Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while +aiming solely at provoking laughter. + +From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the +prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his +conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy +situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's +original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a +grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him +for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any +illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent and consummate +technique? Did he for a single instant imagine himself the inspired +reformer of public morality? Did he believe that his style was elegant and +polished? Indeed, he must have effected an appreciable refinement of the +vernacular of his age to produce his lively verse, but without losing the +robust vitality of "Volkswitz." Or is it true that nothing further than +amusement lay within his scope? + +If so, we may at least posit that almost unbounded license must be allowed +the pen which aims simply to raise a laugh. We do not fulminate against a +treatise on Quaternions because it lacks humor. If the drawings of +cartoonists are anatomically incorrect, we are smilingly indulgent. Do we +condemn a vaudeville skit for not conforming to the Aristotelian code of +dramatic technique? Assuredly we do not rise in disgust from a musical +comedy because "in real life" a bevy of shapely maidens in scant attire +never goes tripping and singing blithely though the streets. If then we +can establish that Plautus regarded his adapted dramas merely as a rack on +which to hang witticisms, merely as a medium for laugh-provoking sallies +and situations, we have at once Plautus as he pretended to be, and in +large measure the answer to the original question: "What manner of drama +is this?" + +We say only "in large measure," because it is part of our endeavor to +settle accurately the position of our author in the dramatic scale, +considered of necessity from the modern viewpoint. We cannot believe that +he had any pretensions to refined art in play building, or rather +rebuilding, or to any superficial elegance of style, or to any moralizing +pose. We believe him an entertainer pure and simple, who never restricted +himself in his means except by the outer conventions and form of the Greek +New Comedy and the Roman stage, provided his single aim, that of affording +amusement, was attained. To establish this belief, and at the same time to +interpret accurately the nature of his plays and the means and effect of +their production, is our thesis. + +If then we run the gamut of the dramatic scale, we observe that as we +descend from the higher forms, such as tragedy, psychological drama and +"straight comedy," to the lower, such as musical comedy and burlesque, the +license allowed playwright and actor increases so radically that we have a +difference of kind rather than of degree. Certain conventions of course +are common to all types. The "missing fourth side" of the room is a +commonplace recognized by all. If we ourselves are never in the habit of +communicating the contents of our letters, as we write, to a doubtless +appreciative atmosphere, we never cavil at such an act on the stage. The +stage whisper and aside, too, we accept with benevolent indulgence; but it +is worth noting that in the attempted verisimilitude of the modern +"legitimate" drama, the aside has well nigh vanished. As we go down the +scale through light comedy and broad farce these conventions multiply +rapidly. + +With the introduction of music come further absurdities. Melodious voicing +of our thoughts is in itself essentially unnatural, to say the least. +Grand opera, great art form as it may be, is hopelessly artificial. +Indeed, so far is it removed from the plane of every day existence that we +are rudely jolted by the introduction of too commonplace a thought, as +when Sharpless in the English version of "Madame Butterfly" warbles +mellifluously: "Highball or straight?" And when we reach musical comedy +and vaudeville, all thought of drama, technically speaking, is abandoned +in watching the capers of the "merry-merry" or the outrageous "Dutch" +comedian wielding his deadly newspaper. + +It is important for our immediate purposes to note: first, (as aforesaid), +that the amount of license allowed author and actor increases immeasurably +as we go down the scale; second, that the degree of familiarity with the +audience and cognizance of the spectator's existence varies inversely as +the degree of dramatic value. Thus, at one end of the scale we have, for +instance, Mrs. Fiske, whose fondness for playing to the centre of the +stage and ignoring the audience is commented upon as a mannerism; at the +other, the low comedian who says his say or sings his song directly at the +audience and converses gaily with them as his boon companions. Now it will +be shown that familiar address of the audience and the singing of monodies +to musical accompaniment are essential features of Plautus' style, and +many other implements of the lower types of modern drama are among his +favorite devices. If then we can place Plautus toward the bottom of the +scale, we relieve him vastly of responsibility as a dramatist and of the +necessity of adherence to verisimilitude. Where does he actually belong? +The answer must be sought in a detailed consideration of his methods of +producing his effects and in an endeavor to ascertain how far the audience +and the acting contributed to them. + + + +§2. The Performance + + +[Sidenote: The Audience] As it is perfectly patent that every practical +playwright must cater to his public, the audience is an essential feature +in our discussion. The audience of Plautus was not of a high class. +Terence, even in later times, when education had materially progressed, +often failed to reach them by over-finesse. Plautus with his bold brush +pleased them. Surely a turbulent and motley throng they were, with the +native violence of the sun-warmed Italic temperament and the abundant +animal spirits of a crude civilization, tumbling into the theatre in the +full enjoyment of holiday, scrambling for vantage points on the sloping +ground, if such were handy, or a good spot for their camp-stools. In view +of the uncertainty as to the actual site of the original performances, +this portraiture is "atmospheric" rather than "photographic." (See +Saunders in TAPA. XLIV, 1913). At any rate, we have ample evidence of the +turbulence of the early Roman audience. (Ter. Prol. _Hec._ 39-42, and +citations immediately following). Note the description of Mommsen:[46] +"The audience was anything but genteel.... The body of spectators cannot +have differed much from what one sees in the present day at public +fireworks and gratis exhibitions. Naturally, therefore, the proceedings +were not too orderly; children cried,[47] women talked and shrieked, now +and then a wench prepared to push her way to the stage; the ushers had on +these festivals anything but a holiday, and found frequent occasion to +confiscate a mantle or to ply the rod."[48] + +Impatient if the play be delayed, and voicing their disapproval by lusty +clapping, stamping, whistling and cat-calls, they are equally ready with +noisy approval if the dramatic fare tickle their palate.[49] The +_tibicen_, as he steps forth to render the overture, is greeted +uproariously as an old favorite. The manager perhaps appears and announces +the names of those taking part, each one of whom is doubtless applauded or +hissed in proportion to his measure of popularity. Differences of opinion +as to the merits of an individual actor may culminate in the partisans' +coming to blows.[50] Horace (_Ep._ II. I. 200 ff.) comments on the +turbulence of the audiences of his day too; while under the Empire +factions for and against particular actors grew up, as in the circus.[51] +Late-comers of course often disturbed the Prologus in his lines. The +continual reiteration that we find in such prologues as the _Amph._, +_Cap._ and _Poen._ was naturally designed as a safeguard against such +disturbance. Yet these prologues were undoubtedly composed, as Ritschl has +shown (_Par._ 232 ff.), shortly after 146 B.C., and the turbulence of the +original audience must have been far greater. + +To win the favor of such a crowd, which would groan if instead of the +expected comedy a tragedy should be announced,[52] what methods were +necessary? Slap-sticks, horse-play, broad slashing swashbuckling humor, +thick colors daubed on with lavish brush! + +By Cicero's time the public had attained to such a degree of +sophistication that the slightest slip on the part of the wretched actor +was greeted by a storm of popular disapproval. "Histrio si paulum se movit +extra numerum, aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut +longior, exsibilatur, exploditur," says Cicero.[53] The actor dare not +even have a cold, for on the slightest manifestation of hoarseness, he was +hooted off, though favorites such as Roscius might be excused on the plea +of indisposition.[54] The Scholiast Cruquius to Hor. _Ser._ I. 10.37 ff. +notes: "Poemata ... in theatris exhibita imperitae multitudinis applausum +captare." + +It is evident from all this that, while the Roman public had made +considerable advances in education, their demonstrative temperament had +not cooled. It seems eminently fair to deduce that the far ruder and less +cultivated audiences of Plautus' day were even more violent in their +manifestations of pleasure and displeasure, but that their criterion of +taste was solely the amount of amusement derived from the performance and +that they bothered themselves little about niceties of rhythm. To the +Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production. +Again we reiterate, only the bold brush could have pleased them. + +That the plays of Plautus attained a permanent position in ihe theatrical +repertoire of Rome is of course well known; but he wrote primarily for his +own age, and in a difficult environment. Not only did he have to please a +highly volatile and inflammable public, but he must have been forced to +exercise tact to avoid offending the patrician powers, as the imprisonment +of Naevius indicates. Mommsen has an apt summary:[55] "Under such +circumstances, where art worked for daily wages and the artist instead of +receiving due honour was subjected to disgrace, the new national theatre +of the Romans could not present any development either original or even at +all artistic." + +[Sidenote: The Actor] This brief discussion of the relation between public +and playwright will suffice for our purposes. In the course of it we have +insensibly encroached upon the next topic: the relation of public and +actor. Who after all is the chief factor in the success or failure of a +drama, in spite of the oft misquoted adage, "The play's the thing?" The +actor! The actor, who can mouth and tear a passion to tatters, or swing a +piece of trumpery into popular favor by the brute force of his dash and +personality. That this was true in Plautus' day, no less than in our own, +is plainly indicated by the personal allusion inserted in the _Bac._ +(214-5): + + Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo, + Nullam aeque invitus specto, _si agit Pellio_. + +The servile status of the ancient actor is an index to the energy of his +performance, if to nothing else. Failure meant a beating, success a drink +at least.[56] Augustus humanely abrogated the whipping of actors, but an +attempt was made in Tiberius' time to renew the practice.[57] On the other +hand, there seem to have been prizes awarded to successful actors,[58] as +well as to the poet;[59] but this practice surely arose after Plautus' +lifetime. At any rate, whatever was the nature of the reward, in his day +the large emoluments won by Roscius and other popular favorites were +impossible.[60] The effort demanded by the elaborate education of the +actor,[61] in which naturally gesticulation was the most vital element, +was out of all proportion to the precarious reward. A rigid course of +training was prescribed and strenuous exercises were required, for both +actor and orator to keep the voice in proper form.[62] Indeed, Quintilian +advises the budding orator to take instruction in voice production and +gesticulation from the comic actor.[63] For the comic actor was at all +times recognized as livelier and more vivid in his performance than the +tragedian.[64] The two were usually sharply differentiated.[65] +Specialization arose, too, and we hear of actors who confined their +efforts to feminine roles,[66] though naturally every performer was cast +for parts to which his physique was best suited.[67] + +It is doubtful whether such an elaborate system had been developed in +Plautus' time, but this much is certain: the comedian was on the stage +lively, energetic and constantly spurred on by the fear of punishment from +the _dominus gregis_ and the violent disapproval of a fickle, tempestuous +and withal exacting public. Polybius[68] relates that the visit of a +troupe of Greek actors to Rome was a failure because of their over-staid +deportment, until, learning the desires of the volatile Italians, they +improvised a vastly more vivid pantomime depicting a mock battle, with +huge success. Assuredly the early Roman comedian must have acted with +greater abandon and clownish drollery, if not with the elaborate +histrionic technique of the later actor.[69] We have heard Dr. Charles +Knapp relate that the performance of the _Ajax_ of Sophocles by a troupe +of modern Greek players went with amazing and incredible rapidity and +vivacity. It is all of a piece. We must inevitably associate vivid +temperament with the sons of the Mediterranean in all ages. Yet we have +just seen that the Greeks of old were too self-contained for their Italian +brethren. + +[Sidenote: The Histrionism] With this brief discussion of the condition, +incentive and motive of the Plautine actor, let us pass on to a more +detailed consideration of his methods and technique. Naturally by far the +most important part of this was gesture. Here again, while some of our +evidence is somewhat unreliable, practically every shred of extant +testimony indicates an extreme liveliness and vivacity. In the +rhetoricians frequent warning is issued to the forensic neophyte to avoid +the unrestraint of theatrical gesticulation. Cicero says (_De Or._ I. 59. +251): "Nemo suaserit studiosis dicendi adulescentibus in gestu discendo +histrionum more elaborare." Quintilian echoes (I. 11. 3): "Ne gestus quidem +omnis ac motus a comediis petendus est.... Orator plurimum ... aberit a +scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius." And in the _Auctor +ad Herennium_ we find (III. 15. 26): "Convenit igitur in vultu et pudorem +nec acrimoniam esse, in gestu et venustatem nec turpitudinem, ne aut +histriones aut operarii videamur esse."[70] That the nature and liveliness +of gesture on the stage was determined by the character portrayed, it is +almost needless to say.[71] + +Cicero's analysis (_de Or._ III. 59. 220) of the difference between +theatrical and forensic gesture implies that the former illustrates +individual words and ideas, while the latter comprehends more broadly the +general thought and sentiment.[72] It is most unfortunate that we have +lost Cicero's treatise _De Gestu Histrionis_.[73] + +By Cicero's time a more restrained mode of acting was evidently considered +good taste; witness _de Off._ (I. 36. 130): "Histrionum non nulli gestus +ineptus non vacant, et quae sunt recta et simplicia laudantur."[74] But +the passages cited above bear ample testimony to the vigor of histrionic +gesticulation even at this later and far more cultivated epoch. Again we +repeat, what must have been the energy and abandon of the original +Plautine actor?[75] + +Apart from the rhetoricians, the most fruitful literary source of our +information on gesture is Donatus' commentary on Terence. The +trustworthiness of this has been the subject of much argument. Sittl[76] +accuses him of speaking merely from the standpoint of a professor of +rhetoric, as comedies of Terence were no longer given in the time of +Donatus. Weinberger in his "Beitrage zu den Buhnenaltherthumern aus Donats +Terenz-commentar,"[77] admonishes us to be very careful not to put too +high a value on the commentary. Van Wageningen[78] is of the opinion that +much of the work was inspired by Donatus' having seen in his own time +unmasked actors play. To this view color is lent by Donatus' note to +_And._ 716: "Sive haec <Mysis> personatis viris agitur, ut apud veteres, +sive per mulierem, ut nunc videmus." + +If this is true, it makes Donatus' work of more significance to us, as it +would imply a harking back to the play of feature of the unmasked +performances of Plautus' day. But while it is certain that Donatus had +other sources than the Terentian text for his annotations,[79] it is +equally certain that practically everything he has to say relative to +gesture and stage business is readily to be deduced from the text and is +in the main interesting only as a compilation.[80] However, everything he +says continues to point persistently to lively gesture and action; and +this too in Terentian comedy, where the text makes far less rigorous +demands on the actor's muscles than in Plautus' works. + +Donatus remarks occasionally that certain words must have been accompanied +by especially expressive gesture and byplay, evidently of feature, as +_vultuose, cum gestu_ and similar phrases are used to indicate this.[81] +His note to _And._ 722 is: "Haec scaena actuosa est: magis enim in gestu +quam in oratione est constituta." Of gestures emphatic and yet not foreign +to everyday life Quintilian notes (XI. 3. 123): "Femur ferire--et usitatum +et indignantis decet"; a movement plainly employed in _Mil._ 204 and +_Truc._ 601. But, says Quintilian further (ib.): "Complodere manus +scaenicum est et pectus caedere."[82] + +One of the notable "hits" of the ancient stage is recorded by Donatus ad +_Phor._ 315: Ambivius (as Phormio) entered "oscitans temulenter atque +aurem minimo scalpens digitulo ... et labia lingens ut ebrius et ructans." +But Ambivius' potations resulted in an extremely spirited and lifelike +imitation of the parasite character and he was forthwith forgiven his +drunkenness. + +Passing mention must be made of the Terentian Mss. illustrations, though +they add but little weight to the foregoing. For a complete list of their +sources and editions see Sittl, "Gebärden der Griechen und Römer," Chap. +XI, p. 203 ff.[83] But whatever be the exact date of the original, in our +extant copies the old traditional gestures are lost and the gesture of +everyday life supplied. In fact, in the analyses appended by Leo, van +Wageningen and Warnecke, in the works cited above, we arrive at little but +that the gestures natural to any Italian-born person in a like situation +are reproduced, such as "gestus abeuntis, cogitantis, parasiti," etc. It +is almost too much to make any of this a basis for argument as to +classical and pre-classical stage-craft. It is at least significant that +every character with hands free is gesticulating and the scene from _Eun._ +IV. 6-7 is evidently full of vigorous action. + +An old and discursive article[84] by T. Baden, containing a description +and analysis of the gestures and posture of a number of familiar figures +from comedy exemplified in some collections of statuettes (chiefly those +in Borgia's Museum of Baden's time), is open to the same objection as the +above. The gestures of slave, pander, parasite, etc., described in the +article are lively and expressive to be sure, but contain little to +differentiate them from those of daily life. + +While much of our evidence is still to come, we believe that we are +already justified in the deduction that the actor contemporary with +Plautus must have indulged in the extravagances of the players in the +Atellan farces and the mimes. The _mimus_ of the Empire, we know, +specialized in ridiculous facial contortions.[85] + +We must not forget too the vivacity indicated by the comic scenes among +the Pompeian and Herculanean wall-paintings,[86] which have a close +kinship with the Terentian MSS. pictures. Nor must we lose sight of the +fact that all our pictorial _reliquiae_ portray the later masked +characters, and hence play of feature, which must have been a notable +concomitant of the original Plautine performance, is entirely obscured. + +As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent of our +poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order. Whether we +agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first introduced for comedy +and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius Prothymus respectively,[87] +or with Diomedes' explanation[88] that Roscius adopted them to disguise +his pronounced squint, it is certain that they were not worn in Plautus' +time, when wigs and make-up were employed for characterization.[89] In +fact, the early performances of Plautus, unless we except the original +Terentian productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman +comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the practice of +lively grimace and facial play. + +The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward +appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries of make-up +that rival those of the Old Comedy. From _As._ 400-1 we learn that Saurea +was: + + Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ventriosus, + Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte. + +In the _Mer._ Lysimachus is described as a veritable _thensaurus +mali_ (639-40): + + Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum, + Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum. + +Curculio was one-eyed: "Unocule, salve" (Cur. 392). Pseudolus must have +been a joy to the groundlings _(Ps._ 1218 ff.): + + Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger, + Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum + Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes. + Pseudolus fuit ipsus. + +His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization. +(Cf. Ter. _Phor._ 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer, +he inquires (_Rud._ 316 ff.): + + Ecquem + Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum, + Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?[90] + +The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in +vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this +respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One +must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as +on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too +slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore, +deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and +developed their Greek and Etruscan models.[91] When Livius Andronicus +first fathered _palliatae_, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as +the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his +audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him, +and he doubtless seized upon the _palliata_ form as the natural medium for +the exploitation of his talents. By Cicero's time considerable technical +equipment was required; the actor must be an adept in gesticulation, +gymnastic and dancing.[92] Appreciable refinement had been reached in +Quintilian's age, for he scores the comic actor who departs too far from +reality and pronounces the ideal player him who declaims with a measured +artistic heightening of everyday discourse.[93] It is noteworthy that this +practically coincides with the accepted standard of modern realistic +acting. But the Plautine actor could never have felt himself trammeled by +any such narrow and sophisticated restrictions, as we believe the evidence +accumulated above amply proves. At any rate, the delineation of different +roles must have been at all times strictly in character. The need of +feminine vocal tones, unless another jest is intended is indicated by +_Rud._ 233: + + Certe vox muliebris auris tetigit meas. + +And Quintilian admonishes the youth who is taking lessons from a comic +actor in voice-production not to carry his precepts so far as to imitate +the female falsetto, the senile tremolo, the obsequiousness of the slave, +the stuttering accents of intoxication or the intonations of love, greed, +fear.[94] + +Where Donatus gives instructions as to the vocal expression with which +certain lines are to be delivered, as in the case of his comments on +gesture, they are almost painfully evident from the context. He cites for +instance irony[95], anger[96], exhaustion [97], amazement [98], +sympathy[99], pity[100]. He appears as the lineal ancestor of the modern +"coach" of amateur theatricals in somewhat naively remarking[101] that +upon leaving Thais for two days, Phaedria must pronounce "two days" as if +"two years" were written. + +Another phase of the delivery of the dialogue that deserves passing +mention is song and musical accompaniment. Livy's anecdote[102] of the +employment by Livius Andronicus of a boy to sing for him while he +gesticulated is almost universally accepted as an exceptional instance, +prompted by the failing of Livius' voice through age[103]. We are now +fairly well informed of the tripartite diversion of the dialogue into +_canticum_ or song proper, recitative, and _diverbium_ or spoken +utterance[104], with the incidental accompaniment of the _tibia_. Though +there may be some dispute as to the apportionment of the various classes, +the general truth is established.[105] The important feature of this for +our purpose is that, if the ancient tragedy with its music and dancing was +rather comparable to modern grand opera than to drama proper, the song and +musical accompaniment of comedy lend it a strong flavor of the opera +bouffe and even of the musical comedy of to-day. In Part II we shall draw +numerous other parallels between this style of composition and the plays +of Plautus. West, in A.J.P. VIII. 33, notes one of the few comparisons to +"comic opera" that we have seen. Fay, in the Introduction to his ed. of +the _Most._ (§ 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early +schools." + +One feature of the performance still remains to be discussed--the +"stage-business," that is, the movements of the actors apart from mere +gesticulation and dialogue. Much of this too will find a place in Part II, +in the treatment of special peculiarities, but in general we note here +that the text itself contains many indications that are as plain as +printed stage directions regarding the movements being made or about to be +made by the characters. Examples of the more significant follow: _Amph._ +308: Cingitur: Certe expedit se; 312: Perii, pugnos ponderat. (Sosia +speaks aside of Mercury and similarly during the succeeding scene); 903: +Potin ut abstineas manum?; 955: Aperiuntur aedis. This motif is +commonplace and frequent; 958: Vos tranquillos video; 1130: quam valide +tonuit; _As._ 39: Age, age, usque excrea; _Bac._ 668: quod sic terram +optuere?; _Cap._ 557: Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuitur?; 594: +Ardent oculi;[106] 793: Hic homo pugilatum incipit; _Ep._ 609: illi +caperrat frons severitudine; _Mer._ 138: iam dudum spato sanguinem; _Mil._ +1324: Nefle; _Most._ 1030: vocis non habeo satis. (He must have been +shouting); _Ps._ 458: Statum vide hominis, Callipho, quam basilicum; 955: +transvorsus ... cedit, quasi cancer solet: _Trin._ 623 f.: celeri +graducunt uterque: ille rcprehendit hunc priorem pallio.[107] + +This practice of indicating business in the lines, of making the +play act, is common to all the older types of drama, Elizabethan as +well as classic. A single striking example from Shakespeare will +furnish a parallel, in the well-known lines from _Macbeth_: + + The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon, + Where gott'st thou that goose look? (V. 3). + +The modern playwright robs his lines of their vividness and +throws the onus on the actor through the medium of his interpolated +direction, a custom which reaches its most exaggerated form +in the plays of Bernard Shaw, as mentioned above. + +[Sidenote: Thesis] We have now made a perceptible advance towards getting +an answer to our original questions: "What manner of drama is this?" and +"How was it done?" The comments of the most eminent critics on the former +question have left us rather bewildered by their diversity. Almost to a +man they have taken Plautus too seriously or else have arraigned him for +not conforming to their preconceived code of comedy, without questioning +whether it were Plautus' own or not. This has really nullified their +efforts to explain away the peculiarities and absurdities of his style. +Some _solvent_ of these difficulties is needed. + +As to the second question, we have examined briefly the extant evidence +regarding the actor's employment of gesture and business, his delivery of +the dialogue, make-up and character delineation, and found a disappointing +paucity, but a general and irresistible trend towards liveliness, vivacity +and broad undiluted comedy that must have been the sort of dramatic fare +demanded by the primeval appetite of the Plautine audience. But again we +find ourselves falling short of a satisfying answer to our question. +Again, some _solvent_ is needed. As the last resort, we turn to the +evidence of the plays themselves and the unbounded realm of subjective +criticism. + +From the earliest times gesture and business in Aristophanes and the Old +Comedy were marked by the riotous license of all the media of that notable +epoch[108] of comedy. From the broad spirit of its frank and vivid +burlesque not even the most stolidly Teutonic of humorless critics ever +thought of demanding a "picture of life." But with the abandonment of the +purpose of political propaganda, the consequent disappearance of the +chorus with its burlesque trappings (largely through motives of state +economy), and the establishment in the New Comedy of a type of dramatic +machinery that had a specious outer shell of reflection of characters and +events in daily life, the critics instantly seem to demand the standard of +dramatic technique of Aristotle and Freytag and condemn all departures +from this standard. In reality, we believe that the kinship of Plautus +with Aristophanes is much closer than has usually been realized. + +Is, then, the change from Old to New Comedy as great as has been +represented? Does not the change consist rather in the outer form and in +the ideas expounded than in the spirit of the histrionism and mimicry? And +must not the vigor, from what we have seen, have been intensified in +Plautus? LeGrand alone seems to have caught the essence of this:[109] "Que +dire de la mimique? D'après les indications contenues dans le texte même +des comédies, d'après les commentaires--notamment ceux de Donat, d'après +les monuments figurés--en particulier les images des manuscrits, elle +devait être en general très vive, souvent trop vive pour le goût des +modernes.... Et puis, ils s'addressaient a des spectateurs méridionaux, +coutumiers dans la vie quotidienne d'une gesticulation plus animée que la +nôtre." And this is said as a combined estimate of New Comedy and +_palliatae_. + +We are now prepared to advance a definite thesis, that shall gather up the +random threads of argument and suggestion scattered through the foregoing +pages and shall, we hope, provide a conclusive and final answer to both of +our original questions. If we can establish: that our author's sole aim +was to feed the popular hunger for amusement; that, while after leaving +much of his Greek originals practically untouched, he considered them in +effect but a medium for the provocation of laughter, but a vessel into +which to pour a highly seasoned brew of fun; that to this end his actors +went before the public, potentially speaking slap-stick in hand, equipped +by nature with liveliness of grimace and gesture and prepared to act with +verve, unction and an abandon of dash and vigor that would produce a riot +of merriment; that his dramatic machinery is hopelessly crippled and that +his evident intentions and effects are hopelessly lost unless interpreted +in this spirit: then we relegate Plautine drama to a low plane of broad +farce, where verisimilitude to life becomes wholly unnecessary because +undesirable; where the canons of dramatic art become inoperative; where, +contrary to what Körting says, we are not asked to believe that +"everything is happening in a perfectly natural manner"; where the poet +may stick at nothing provided the laugh be forthcoming; where all the +apparently absurd conventions of _palliatae_ cease to be absurd, vanish +into thin air and become unamenable to literary criticism, inasmuch as +they are all only part of the laugh-compelling scheme. This is the +_solvent_ that we propose. To establish this, let us proceed to an +examination of the internal mechanism of the plays. + + + + +Part II + +An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus + + + +The salient features that characterize the plays of Plautus include both +his consciously employed means of producing his comic effects, and the +peculiarities and abnormalities that evidence his attitude of mind in +writing them. We should make bold to catalogue them as follows: + +I. Machinery characteristic of the lower types of modern drama--farce, low + comedy, musical comedy, burlesque shows, vaudeville, and the like. + + A. Devices self-evident from the text. + 1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + 2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + 3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + a. True burlesque. + b. True farce. + c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + + B. Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad + farcical spirit. + 1. The running slave. + 2. Wilful blindness. + 3. Adventitious entrance. + +II. Evidences of loose composition which prove a disregard of + technique and hence indicate that entertainment was the sole aim. + + A. Solo speeches and passages. + 1. Asides and soliloquies. + 2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + 3. Direct address of the audience. + + B. Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition. + 1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + 2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + 3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + 4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + 5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + 6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +Let us illustrate these points by typical passages and endeavor to insert +such stage-directions as would indicate how the most telling effects could +be produced and hence aid the reader in visualizing the actual +performance. + + +I. Machinery Characteristic of the Lower Types of Modern Drama + +A. _Devices self-evident from the text._ + +1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + +It is a little difficult to sublimate this entirely from burlesque, but +its true nature is instanced by the opening lines of the _Miles_, where +the vainglorious Pyrgopolinices, with many a sweep and strut, addresses +his attendants, who are probably staggering under the weight of an +enormous shield: + +"Have a care that the effulgence of my shield be brighter than e'er the +sun's rays in a cloudless sky: when the time for action comes and the +battle's on, I intend it shall dazzle the eyesight o' m' foes. (_Patting +his sword_). Verily I would condole with this m' sword, lest he lament and +be cast down in spirit, forasmuch as now full long hath he hung idle by m' +side, thirsting, poor lad, to meet his fellow 'mongst the foe," and so on. + +In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device. So +we find Pseudolus addressing the audience in ringing blustering tones and +with grandiose gesture (_Ps._ 584 ff.): + +"It now becomes my aim today to lay siege to this town and capture it." +(Ballio the procurer is the town). "I shall hurl all my legions against +it. If I take it, ... good luck to you, my citizens, for part of the booty +shall be yours." + +This finds a close counterpart in the _Mil._ 219 ff., a passage which +West[110] thinks was deliberately inserted to rouse the populace into +demanding that Scipio be at once despatched to Africa. + +Periplecomenus is urging Palaestrio to find a stratagem. Actually he +probably addresses the pit: + +"Don't you see that the enemy are upon you and investing your rear? Call a +council of war, reach out for stores and reinforcements in this crisis: +haste, haste, no time to waste! Make a detour through some pass, forestall +your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops! Cut off the enemy's base of +supplies!" etc. + +Whether this passage had an ulterior purpose or not, the motif is +frequent.[111] So we find Chrysalus in _Bac._ 925 ff. holding the stage +for an entire scene with an elaborate comparison of himself to Ulysses, +the brains of the Greek host, overcoming his master Nicobulus who +represents Priam. + +In general the mocking assumption of an heroic attitude recurs with +sufficient frequency to stamp it as a staple of comic effect. Many +passages would become tiresome and meaningless instead of amusing unless +so interpreted. The soliloquy of Mnesilochus in _Bac._ 500 ff. could be +made interesting only by turgid ranting. Similarly in _Bac._ 530 ff. and +612 ff.[112] + + +2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + +By this we mean what can in nowise be so clearly defined as by +"rough-house." For instance, the turbulent Euclio in _Aul._ delivers +bastings impartially to various _dramatis personae_ and as a climax drives +the cooks and music-girl pell-mell out of the house, doubtless accompanied +by deafening howling and clatter (415 ff.). Similarly in the _Cas._ (875 +ff.) Chalinus routs Olympio and the lecherous Lysidamus. We may well +imagine that such scenes were preceded as well as accompanied by a fearful +racket within (a familiar device of our low comedy and extravaganza), the +effect probably heightened by tempestuous _melodrama_ on the _tibiae_, as +both the scenes cited are in _canticum_. + +In the _Men._ we are treated to a free fight, in which the valiant +Messenio routs the _lorarii_ by vigorous punches, while Menaechmus plants +his fist in one antagonist's eye (_Men._ 1011 ff.): + +(Menaechmus of Epidamnus is seized by _lorarii_; as he struggles, +Messenio, slave of Menaechmus Sosicles, rushes into the fray to his +rescue). "MES. I say! Gouge out that fellow's eye, the one that's got you +by the shoulder, master. Now as for these rotters, I'll plant a crop of +fists on their faces. (_Lays about._) By Heaven, you'll be everlastingly +sorry for the day you tried to carry my master off. Let go! + +MEN. (_Joining in with a will._) I've got this fellow by the eye! + +MES. Bore it out! A hole's good enough for his face! You villians, you +thieves, you robbers! (_General melée. Lorarii weaken._) + +LOR. We're done for! Oh Lord, please! + +MES. Let go then! + +MEN. What right had you to lay hands on me? Give them a good beating up! +(_Lorarii break and scatter wildly under the ferocious onslaught._) + +MES. Come, clear out! To the devil with you all! That for _you_! +(_Strikes._) You're the last; here's _your_ reward! (_Strikes again._)" + +The lines themselves are sufficiently graphic and need but little +annotation. Other pugilistic activities crop up at not infrequent +intervals in the text,[113] and in _Ps._ 135 ff. Ballio generously plies +the whip. In the lacuna of the _Amph._ after line 1034, Mercury probably +bestows a drenching on Amphitruo.[114] In _As._ III. 3, especially 697 +ff., Libanus makes his master Argyrippus "play horsey" with him, doubtless +with indelicate buffonery. With invariable energy, even so simple a matter +as knocking on doors is made the excuse for raising a violent disturbance, +as in _Amph._ 1019 f. and 1025: Paene effregisti, fatue, foribus +cardines.[115] And this idea is actually parodied in _As._ 384 ff. No, +Plautus did not allow his public to languish for want of noise. + + +3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + +Under this head we include such conscious strivings for comic as are +frankly and plainly exaggerated and hyper-natural. + + +a. True burlesque. + +This is in effect pure parody, cartooning. Patent burlesque of tragedy +appears in _Trin._ 820 ff. (_Charmides returns from abroad._) + +"CHAR. To Neptune, ruler of the deep, and puissant brother unto Jove and +Nereus, do I in joy and gladness cry my praises and gratefully proclaim my +gratitude; and to the briny waves, who held me in their power, yea, even +my chattels and my very life, and from their realms restored me to the +city of my birth," etc., etc. + +To tickle the ears of the groundlings, this must have been delivered in +grandiloquent mimicry with all the paraphernalia of the tragic style. +Horace notes a kindred manifestation of this tendency (to which he himself +is pleasingly addicted), in _Ep._ II. 3.93 f.: + + Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit + Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore. + +Tragic burlesque is again beautifully exemplified in _Ps._ 702 ff. The +versatile Pseudolus after a significant aside: "I'll address the fellow in +high-sounding words," says to his master Calidorus: + +"Hail! Hail! Thee, thee, O mighty ruler, thee do I beseech who art lord +over Pseudolus. Thee do I seek that thou mayst obtain thrice three times +triple delights in three various ways, joys earned by three tricks and +three tricksters, cunningly won by treachery, fraud and villainy, which in +this little sealed missive have I but erstwhile brought to thee.... + +CHAR. The rascal's spouting like a tragedian." + +When Sosia, in the first scene of _Amph._ (203 ff.), turgidly describes +the battle between the Thebans and Teleboans, he is parodying the +Messenger of tragedy. Another echo from tragedy is heard at the end of the +play, when Jupiter appears in the role of deus ex machina.[116] + +Burlesque of character and calling puts in an occasional appearance. The +recreant Sosia in _Amph._ 958 ff. mimics the dutiful slave. _As._ 259 ff. +contains an ironical treatment of augury, while in 751 ff. the poet has +his satirical fling at the legal profession. + + +b. True farce. + +This is of course the comedy of situation and finds its mainstay in +mistaken identity. The _Men._ and _Amph._ with their doubles are +farce-comedies proper, but the element of farce forms the motive power of +nearly all the plots; for example, the shuffling-up of Acropolistis, +Telestis and the _fidicina_ in _Ep._, the quarrel between Mnesilochus and +Pistoclerus in _Bac._ resulting from the former's belief that his friend +had stolen his sweetheart, the exchange of names between Tyndarus and +Philocrates in _Cap._, the entrapping of Demaenetus with the _meretrix_ at +the dénouement of _As._, etc., etc. It is understood, we presume, that the +modern farce occupies no exalted position in the comic scale, is +distinguished by the grotesquerie of its characters, incidents and +dialogue, and is indulgently permitted to stray far from the paths of +realism. Even in Shakespearian farce, note the exaggerated antics of the +two Dromios in "The Comedy of Errors." It is significant then that farce +is a staple of our plays. + +The farcical element is strikingly exemplified in _Amph._ 365-462, where +Mercury persuades Sosia that he is not himself. Impersonation and +assumption of a role is another noteworthy and frequent medium of plot +motivation. In _As._ 407 ff. Leonida tries to palm himself off as the +_atriensis_. Note the violent efforts of the two slaves to wheedle the +cunning ass-dealer (449 ff.). In _Cas._ 815 ff. Chalinus enters disguised +as the blushing bride. In _Men._ 828 ff. Menaechmus Sosicles pretends +madness in a clever scene of uproarious humor. In the _Mil._ (411 ff.) +Philocomasium needs only to change clothing to appear in the role of her +own hypothetical twin sister, and in 874 ff. and 1216 ff. the _meretrix_ +plays _matrona_. Sagaristio and the daughter of the _leno_ impersonate +Persians (_Per._ 549 ff.), Collabiscus becomes a Spartan (_Poen._ 578 +ff.), Simia as Harpax gets Ballio's money (_Ps._ 905 ff.), the sycophant +is garbed as messenger (_Trin._ 843 ff.), Phronesium elaborately pretends +to be a mother (_Truc._ 499 ff.). A swindle is almost invariably the +object in view. But we have said enough on this score: no one who knows +the plays at all can fail to recognize the predominance of farce. Compare +on the modern stage the sudden appearance of "the long-lost cousin from +Chicago." + + +c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + +This group of course often contains marked features of burlesque and +farce, and hence shows a close kinship with the foregoing. + +The extravagance of the love-sick swain is a fruitful source of this +species of caricature. The ridiculous Calidorus, always wearing his heart +on his sleeve, rolls his eyes, brushes away a tear and says (_Ps._ 38 +ff.): "But for a short space have I been e'en as a lily of the field. +Suddenly sprang I up, as suddenly I withered." The irreverent Pseudolus +replies: "Oh, shut up while I read the letter over." Calidorus finds his +counterpart in Phaedromus of the _Cur._, who, accompanied by his slave, +approaches milady's abode (_Cur._ 10 ff.): + +"PH. (_In languishing accents, with eyes cast upward_): Shall I not take +sweets to the sweet: what is culled by the toil of the busy bees to my own +little honey?... (_They advance to milady's doorway which he sprinkles +with wine_, 88 ff.): Come, drink, ye portals of pleasure, quaff and deign +to be propitious unto me. + +PALINURUS SER. (_Addressing the door with mimicry of Phaedromus' airs._) +Do you want some olives or sweetmeats or capers? + +PH. (_Continuing._) Arouse your portress; hither send her unto me. +(_Lavishes the wine._) + +PAL. (_In great alarm, grasping his arm._) You're spilling the wine! +What's got hold of you? + +PH. Unhand me! (_Gently shakes himself loose._) Lo! The temple of joys +untold is opening. Did not the hinge creak? 'Tis charming! + +PAL. (_Turning aside in disgust._) Why don't you give it a kiss?" + +In each case the impertinent slave provides the foil. When the lovers +succeed in meeting, they are interlocked in embrace from 172 to 192, +probably invested with no small amount of suggestive "business." This +would doubtless hardly be tolerated by the "censor" today. Another variety +of lover's extravagance is the lavishing of terms of endearment, as we +find in _Cas._ 134 ff.[117] + +When this feature of "extravagance" enters the situation instead of the +dialogue, we have episodes such as the final scene of the _Ps._, where the +name character is irrelevantly introduced (1246) in a state of +intoxication which, with copious belching in Simo's face, culminates in a +rebellion of the overloaded stomach (1294). We can scarcely doubt that +such business was carried out in ultra-graphic detail and rewarded by +copious guffaws from the populace. In sharp contrast to this, the +drunkenness of Callidamates in _Most._ 313 ff. is depicted with unusual +artistry, but still from the very nature of such a scene it may be labeled +"extravagant." + +Manifestation of violent anger is another source of exaggerated stage +business. _Ep._ 512 ff. should be interpreted somewhat as follows: + +"(_The deluded Periphanes has just discovered that the fidicina is an +impostor and not his daughter._) FID. (_Sweetly._) Do you want me for +anything else? + +PER. (_Stamping foot and shaking fists in a passion._) The foul fiend take +you to utter perdition! Clear out, and quickly too! + +FID. (_In alarm._) Won't you give me back my harp? + +PER. Nor harp nor pipes! So hurry up and get out of here, if you know +what's good for you! + +FID. (_Stamping her foot in tearful rage._) I'll go, but you'll have to +give them back later just the same and it will be all the worse for you. + +PER. (_Striding up and down in wildest anger._) What!... shall I let her +go unpunished? Nay, even if I have to lose as much again, I'll lose it +rather than let myself be mocked and despoiled with impunity!" and so +on.[118] + +Other random scenes that may be classed as "extravagant" are found in +Strobilus' cartoon of Euclio (_Aul._ 300 ff.), Demipho's discovery in the +distance of a mythical bidder for the girl (_Mer._ 434 ff.), Charinus' +playing "horsey" and taking a trip in his imaginary car (_Mer._ 930 ff.), +and the loud "boo-hoo" to which Philocomasium gives vent (_Mil._ 1321 +ff.). These all might be classed under either "farce" or "burlesque," but +they seem to come more exactly under the kindred head of "extravagance." + +A familiar figure in modern farce-comedy is the comic conspirator with +finger on lip, tiptoeing round in fear of listeners. He finds his +prototype in _Trin._ (146 ff.): + +"(_Callicles and Megaronides converse._) + +CAL. (_In a mysterious whisper._) Look around a bit and make sure there's +nobody spying on us--and please look around every few seconds. (_They +pause and peer in every direction, perhaps creeping round on tiptoe._) + +MEG. Now, I am all ears. + +CAL. When you're through, I'll talk. (_Pauses and nods._) Just before +Charmides went abroad, he showed me a treasure, (_stops and looks over his +shoulders_) in his house here, in one of the rooms. (_Starts, as if at a +noise._) Look around! (_They repeat the search and return again._) + +MEG. There's nobody."[119] + +Another old stage friend is the detected plotter trying to lie out of an +embarrassing situation. He is lineally descended from Tranio in the +_Most._ Tranio has just induced his master Theopropides to pay forty minae +to the money-lender on the pretext that Theopropides' son Philolaches has +bought a house (659 ff.): + +"TH. In what neighborhood did my son buy this house? + +TR. (_Aside to audience in comic despair, with appropriate gesture._) See +there now! I'm a goner! + +TH. (_Impatiently._) Will you answer my question? + +TR. Oh yes, but (_Stammering and displaying symptoms of acute +embarrassment_) I--I'm trying to think of the owner's name. (_Groans._) + +TH. Well, hurry up and remember it! + +TR. (_Rapidly, aside._) I can't see anything better to do than tell him +his son bought the house of our next-door neighbor here. (_With a shrug._) +Thunder, I've heard that a _steaming_ lie is the best kind. +(_Mock-heroically._) 'Tis the will of the gods, my mind's made up. + +TH. (_Who has been frowning and stamping in impatience._) Well, well, +well! Haven't you thought of it yet? + +TR. (_Aside._) Curses on him!... (_Finally turning and bursting out +suddenly._) It's our next-door neighbor here--your son bought the house +from him. (_He sees that the lie goes and sighs with relief._)"[120] + +Another variation on this theme is the futile effort of the plotter to get +rid of a character armed with incriminating evidence. Again we quote +_Most._ (573 ff.), where Tranio is conversing with Theopropides. The +money-lender from whom young Philolaches has borrowed appears on the other +side of the stage. Tranio espies him. He must keep him away from the old +man. With a hurried excuse he flies across to meet Misargyrides. + +"TR. (_Taking Misargyrides' arm and attempting to steer him off-stage._) I +was never so glad to see a man in my life. + +MIS. (_Suspiciously, holding back._) What's the matter? + +TR. (_Confidentially._) Just step this way. (_Looks back apprehensively at +Theopropides, who is regarding them suspiciously._) + +MIS. (_In a loud and offensive voice._) Won't my interest be paid? + +TR. I know you have a good voice; don't shout so loud. + +MIS. (_Louder._) Hang it, but I _will_ shout! + +TR. (_Groans and glances over shoulder again._) Run along home, there's a +good fellow. (_Urges him toward exit._)", etc. + +Tranio has a chance for very lively business: a sickly smile for the +usurer, lightning glances of apprehension towards Theopropides, with an +occasional intimate groan aside to the audience. Other farcical scenes of +the many that may be cited as calling for particularly vivacious business +and gesture are, e.g., _Cas._ 621 ff., where Pardalisca befools Lysidamus +by timely fainting, _Rud._ 414 ff., where Sceparnio flirts with Ampelisca, +and the quarrel scene, _Rud._ 485 ff.[121] + +The last four passages quoted in translation are by no means lacking in +artistic humor and a measure of reality, but they imply a pronounced +heightening of the actions and emotions of everyday life and lose their +humor unless presented in the broad spirit that stamps them as belonging +to the plane of farce. We now pass on to motives where the dialogue aims +at effects manifestly unnatural and where verisimilitude is sacrificed to +the joke, as we have seen it is in the employment of "bombast," "true +burlesque," etc. + +The first of these motives is a stream of copious abuse, as in _Per._ 406 +ff., where Toxilus _servos_ and Dordalus _leno_ exchange Rabelaisian +compliments. + +"TOX. (_Hopping about with rabid gestures._) You filthy pimp, you +mud-heap, you common dung-hill, you besmirched, corrupt, law-breaking +decoy, you public sewer, ... robber, mobber, jobber, ...! + +DOR. (_Who has been dancing around in fury, shaking his fist until +exhausted by his paroxysms._) Wait--till--(_Puffing_)--I--get--my +breath--I'll--answer you! You dregs of the rabble, you slave-brothel, you +'white-slave' freer, you sweat-of-the-lash, you chain gang, you king of +the treadmill, ... you eat-away, steal-away run-away....!" etc.[122] + +Perhaps we have here the forerunner of the shrewish wife in modern +vaudeville, who administers to her shrinking consort a rapid-fire +tongue-lashing. Another phase of this profuse riot of words appears in the +formidable Persian name that Sagaristio, disguised as a Persian, adopts in +the _Per._ (700 ff.): + +"DORDALUS. What's your name? + +SAG. Listen then, and you shall hear: False-speaker-us Girl-seller-son +Much-o'-nothing-talk-son Money-gouge-out-son Talk-up-to you-son +Coin-wheedle-out-son What-I-once-get-son Never-give-up-son: there you are! + +DOR. (_With staring eyes and gasping breath._) Ye Gods! That's a +variegated name of yours! + +SAG. (_With a superior wave of the hand._) It's the Persian fashion." + +The second point in this category is own cousin to the above. We should +label it persistent interruption and repetition. An excellent instance is +_Trin._ 582 ff., when Stasimus, Lesbonicus and Philto have just hatched a +plot. Philto departs. + +"LES. (_To Stasimus._) You attend to my instructions. I'll be there +presently. Tell Callicles to meet me. + +ST. Now you just clear out! (_Pushes him after Philto._) + +LES. (_Calls out as he is being shoved away._) Tell him to see what has to +be done about the dowry. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Raising his voice._) For I'm determined not to marry her off +without a dowry. + +ST. Won't you clear out? + +LES. (_Still louder._) And I won't let her suffer harm by reason.---- + +ST. Get out, I say! + +LES. (_Shouts._)--of my carelessness. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. It seems right that my own sins-- + +ST. Clear out! + +LES.--should affect me alone. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Mock heroically._) Oh father, shall I ever behold you again? + +ST. Out, out, out! (_With a final shove._) (_Exit Lesbonicus._) At last, I +'ve got him away! (_Breathes hard._)" + +The fun, if fun there be, lies in the hammer-like repetition of "I modo," +a sort of verbal buffoonery. A clever actor could din this with telling +effect. The device is employed several times. In _Most._ 974 ff. the word +is _aio_, in _Per._ 482 ff. _credo_, in _Poen._ 731 ff. _quippini_, in +_Ps._ 484 ff. ναι γάρ, in _Rud._ 1212 ff. _licet_ and 1269 ff. +_censeo_. The last two examples are the lengthiest.[123] + +The third of these motives is the introduction of clearly unnatural +dialogue, wholly incidental and foreign to the action, for the sake of +lugging in a joke. The _As._ (38 ff.) yields the following conversation +between Demaenetus _senex_ and his slave Libanus: + +"LI. By all that's holy, as a favor to me, spit out the words you have +uttered. + +DE. All right, I'll be glad to oblige you. (_Coughs._) + +LI. Now, now, get it right up! (_Pats him on the back._) + +DE. More? (_Coughs._) + +LI. Gad, yes, please! Right from the bottom of your throat: more still! +(_Pats._) + +DE. Well, how far down then? + +LI. (_Unguardedly._) Down to Hades is my wish! + +DE. I say, look out for trouble! + +LI. (_Diplomatically._) For your wife, I mean, not for you. + +DE. For that speech I bestow upon you freedom from punishment."[124] + +The childish bandying of words in _Truc._ 858 ff. is egregiously tiresome +in the reading, but in action could have been made to produce a modicum of +amusement if presented in the broad burlesque spirit that we believe was +almost invariably employed. This gives us a clue to the next topic. + + + +B. _Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad farcical +spirit._ + + +This includes peculiarities that have usually been commented on as +weaknesses or conventions, or else been given up as hopeless +incongruities, but which we hope to prove also yield their quota of +amusement if clownishly performed. The foremost of these is the famous + + +1. Running Slave or Parasite. + +We all know him: rushing madly cross stage at top-speed (if we take the +literal word of the text for it), with girded loins, in search of somebody +right under his nose, the while unburdening himself of exhaustive periods +that, however great the breadth of the Roman stage, would carry him +several times across and back: as Curculio in 279 ff.: + +"Make way for me, friends and strangers, while I carry out my duty here. +Run, all of you, scatter and clear the road! I'm in a hurry and I don't +want to butt into anybody with my head, or elbow, or chest, or knee.... +And there's none so rich as can stand in my way, ... none so famous but +down he goes off the sidewalk and stands on his head in the street," and +so on for ten lines or more. After he has found his patron Phaedromus, he +is apparently so exhausted that he cries: "Hold me up, please, hold me up! +(_Wobbles and falls panting into Phaedromus' arms._) + +PH.... Get him a chair ... quick!" + +When Leonida enters (_As._ 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out +of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in _Trin._ 1008 ff., though his mission is +also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals! + +Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the +dissertation of Weissman, _De servi currentis persona apud comicos +Romanes_ (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the _modus operandi_ +is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,[125] but +offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:[126] "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist +ein Rätsel fur uns." LeGrand[127] follows Weise's conclusion that it is an +imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use, +while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: _agoranomus_, +_demarchus_, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from +fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the +device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been +performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,[128] but +makes use of it himself.[129] + +Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the +usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the +slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He +fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very +man he is so violently seeking. He cites as the genuine occurrences of the +_servus_ or _parasitus currens_, besides the passages mentioned above, +_Cap._ 781 ff., _Ep._ 1 ff., 192 ff., _Mer._ 111 ff., _Per._ 272 ff., +_St._ 274 ff. Furthermore, he argues convincingly that this was an +independent Roman development without a prototype on the Greek stage and +neatly refutes Weise and LeGrand by proving that there are no extant Greek +fragments sufficient to furnish a ground for any but the most tenuous +argument. Above all, he correctly interprets the poet's aim with the +dictum: "Praeterquam quod hac persona optime utitur ad actionem bene +continuandam id maxime spectat ut per eam _spectatorum risum_ captet." And +this from a German youth of twenty-two! + +It is in his attempt to explain the mechanism that we believe Weissman +fails. He essays an exegesis of each passage, though the separate +explanations are naturally similar. It will suffice to quote one, that to +_As._ 267 ff.: "Hoc nullo modo aliter mihi declarari posse videtur nisi +sic: Oratio Leonidae currentis maior est quam ut arbitrari possimus +currentem semper eum habuisse eam. Ex versu 290 Leonidam de celeritate sua +remisisse plane apparet. Quod semel solum eum fecisse cum non satis mihi +esse videatur, saepius--bis vel ter--per breve tempus eum cursum suum +interrupisse, circumspexisse, Libanum autem non spectavisse (hoc consilium +poetae erat, licentia poetica est) et hoc modo per totam scaenam cursum +suum direxisse arbitror." + +It will be observed that for lack of any tangible evidence he very +properly makes use of subjective reasoning. Now it has long been the +opinion of the writer that the maximum of comic effect (and that this was +the purpose of the _servus currens_ there can surely be no doubt) could +best be obtained by the actor's making a violent and frenzied pretense of +running while scarcely moving from the spot. Consider the ludicrous +spectacle of the rapidly moving legs and the flailing arms, with the +actor's face turned toward the audience, as he declaims sonorously of his +haste to perform his vital errand, while making but a snail's progress. +Truly then his plea of exhaustion would not be without excuse! This is an +explanation at once simpler, more potentially comic, more in accord with +what we predicate as the spirit of Plautus, and furthermore we have seen +roars of laughter created by the similar device of a low comedian in a +modern extravaganza. Taking advantage of the same subjective license, we +see nothing in Weissman's theory to offset our opinion. But, what is more, +our subjective reconstruction is given color by a shred of tangible +evidence. Suetonius (_Tib._ 38) refers to a popular quip on the emperor +that compares him to an actor on the classic Greek stage: "Biennio +continuo post ademptum imperium pedem porta non extulit; ... ut vulgo iam +per iocum Callip(p)ides vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem +mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est." That this Callipides was +the ὑποϗριτής mentioned by Xenophon (_Sym._ III. 11), Plutarch +(_Ages._ 21 and _Apophth. Lacon._: s. v. _Ages._), Cicyero (_Ad. Att._ +XIII. 12) and possibly by Aristotle (_Poet._ 26.), seems highly plausible. +Compare the _saltus fullonius_ (Sen. _Ep._ 15.4). + +Most amusing of all is Plautus' introduction of a parody on the parody, +when Mercury rushes in post-haste crying (_Amph._ 984 ff.): + +"Make way, give way, everybody, clear the way! I tell you all: don't you +get so bold as to stand in my road. For, egad! I'd like to know why I, a +god, shouldn't have as much right to threaten the rabble as a mere slave +in the comedies!" + +And perhaps _St._ 307 is a joke on the running slave: Sed spatium hoc +occidit: brevest curriculo: quam me paenitet? That violent haste was +considered a slavish trait is evidenced by _Poen._ 523-3. + + +2. Wilful blindness. + +In the scene recently quoted (_Cur._ 279 ff.), Curculio, after his violent +exertions in search of his patron, is for a time apparently unable to +discover him, though he is on the stage all the time. This species of +blindness must be wilfully designed as a burlesque effect and again finds +its echo in low comedy types of today. The breadth and depth of the Roman +stage alone will not account for this either; indeed, its very size could +be utilized to heighten the humor, as the actor peers hither and yon in +every direction but the right one. So Curculio (front) may pass directly +by Phaedromus (rear) without seeing him, to the huge delight of the +audience, and turn back again, while saying (301 ff.): + +"Is there anybody who can point out Phaedromus, my guardian angel, to me? +The matter's very urgent: I must find this chap at once. + +PALINURUS. (_To Phaedromus._) It's you he's looking for. + +PH. What do you say we speak to him? Hello, Curculio, I want you! + +CUR. (_Stopping and again looking vainly round._) Who's calling? Who says +"Curculio"? + +PH. Somebody that wants to see you. + +CUR. (_At last recognizing him when almost on top of him._) Ah! You don't +want to see me any more than I want to see you." + +Acanthio in _Mer._ 130 ff. is still more blind to the presence of Charinus +and raises a deal more fuss, as he enters in the wildest haste looking for +Charinus, who is of course in plain sight. Acanthio, with labored +breathing and the remark that he would never make a piper, probably passes +by Charinus and goes to the house. + +"AC. What am I standing here for, anyway? I'll make splinters of these +doors without a single qualm. (_Hammers violently. Charinus approaches, +vainly trying to attract his attention._) Open up, somebody! Where's my +master Charinus, at home or out? (_Still hammering._) Isn't anybody +supposed to have the job of tending door? + +CH. (_Shouting._) Here I am, Acanthio! You're looking for me, aren't you? + +AC. (_Still punishing the door._) I never saw such slovenly management. + +CH. (_Finally grabbing and shaking him._) What the deuce has got hold of +you?"[130] And so in the case of practically all the _servi currentes_. + +The opening scene of the _Per._ (13 ff.) between two slaves apparently +unable to distinguish each other's features from opposite sides of the +stage affords an opportunity for a similar species of farcical by-play. +Toxilus and Sagaristio stroll slowly in from the different side-entrances, +alternately soliloquizing. Suddenly, when probably fairly close, both look +up and peer curiously at each other: + +"TOX. (_Shading his eyes with his hand._) Who's that standing over there? + +SAG. Who's this standing over here? + +TOX. Looks like Sagaristio. + +SAG. I bet it's my friend Toxilus. + +TOX. He's the fellow, all right. + +SAG. That's the chap, I'm sure. + +TOX. I'll go over to him. + +SAG. I'll go up and speak to him. (_They draw closer._) + +TOX. Sagaristio, I hope the gods are good to you. + +SAG. Toxilus, I hope the gods give you everything you want. How are you? + +TOX. So so."[131] + +Note that this is _canticum_ and the effect of the two "sing-songing" +slaves on the audience must have been much the same as, upon us, the +spectacle of a vaudeville "duo," entering from opposite wings and singing +perchance a burlesque of grand opera at each other. + + +3. Adventitious entrance. + +This is of a piece with the above, but is usually due to a weakness of +composition, to the goddess Τύχη, who is the presiding deity of +the plots of New Comedy.[132] However, there are times when appreciable +fun can be extracted from this, if the actor speak in a bland jocular +tone, taking the audience into his confidence, as _Trin._ 400 f.: + +"PHILTO. But the door of the house to which I was going is opening. Isn't +that nice? Lesbonicus, the very man I'm looking for, is coming out with +his slave." + +And _Aul._ 176 f.: + +"MEGADORUS. I'd like to see Euclio, if he's at home. Ah, here he comes! +He's on his way home from some place or other."[133] + +We believe that enough has been said to prove that the favorite devices of +the lower types of modern stage-production form the back-bone of Plautus' +methods of securing his comic effects. Let us pass on without more ado to +a discussion of points that establish equally well that he was careless of +every other consideration but the eliciting of laughter. + + + + +II. Evidences of Loose Composition Which Prove a Disregard of Technique +and Hence Indicate that Entertainment Was the Sole Aim + + +A. _Solo speeches and passages_. + + +1. Asides and soliloquies. + +As it is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of stage +characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic +composition have always been recognized as the only feasible conventional +mode of conveying them. According to the strictest canons of dramatic art, +the ideally constructed play should be entirely free from this weakness. +Mr. Gillette is credited with having written in "Secret Service" the first +aside-less play. But this is abnormal and rather an affectation of +technical skill. The aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of +Plautus we + +have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends the +conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition, pointing plainly +to a poverty of technique and hence further strengthening the conception +of entertainment as the author's sole purpose. And often too, as we shall +point out, this very form can be used for amusement. To attempt a complete +collection of these passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, +comprising a formidable percentage of all the verses. + +And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and spiritless as +merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual conversation with +himself that shows a noble regard for the value of his own society. This +is attested by many passages, such as _Amph._ 381: Etiam muttis?; _Aul._ +52: At ut scelesta sola secum murmurat; _Aul._ 190: Quid tu solus tecum +loquere?; _Bac._ 773: Quis loquitur prope?; _Cap._ 133: Quis hic +loquitur?[134] + +One character standing aside and commenting on the main action is a +familiar situation and often productive of good fun. An excellent example +is _Most._ 166 ff., where Philematium is performing her conventionally +out-door toilet with the aid of her duenna Scapha. Philolaches stands on +the other side of the stage and interjects remarks: + +"PHILEM. Look at me please, Scapha dear; is this gown becoming? I want to +please Philolaches, the apple of my eye.... + +SC. Why deck yourself out, when your charm lies in your charming manners? +It isn't gowns that lovers love, but what bellies out the gowns. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) God bless me, but Scapha's clever; the hussy has +horse-sense.... + +PHILEM. (_Pettishly._) Well, then? + +SC. What is it? + +PHILEM. Look me over anyhow and see how this becomes me. + +SC. The grace of your figure makes everything you wear becoming. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) Now for that speech, Scapha, I'll give you some present +before the day is out--and so on for a whole long scene. + +The quips are amusing in an evident burlesque spirit. Such a scene was +easily done on the broad Roman stage, whether it was a heritage from the +use of the orchestra in Greek comedy, as LeGrand thinks,[135] or not. In +similar vein, clever by-play on the part of the cunning Palaestrio would +make a capital scene out of _Mil. 1037 ff._[136] A perfectly unnatural but +utterly amusing scene of the same type is _Amph. 153-262_, where Mercury +apostrophizes his fists, and the quaking Sosia (cross-stage) is frightened +to a jelly at the prospect of his early demise. In Cap. 966, Ilegio, staid +gentleman that he is, introduces an exceeding "rough" remark in the middle +of a serious scene. The aside of Pseudolus in _Ps. 636 f._ could be +rendered as a good-natured burlesque as follows: + +"HARPAX. What's your name? + +PS. (_Hopping forward and addressing audience with hand over mouth._) The +pander has a slave named Surus. I'll say I'm he. (_Hopping back and +addressing Harpax._) I'm Surus." Many other scenes were doubtless rendered +by one character's thus stepping aside and confiding his ideas to the +spectators, as for example _Aul. 194 ff._ and _Trin. 895 ff._ Often our +characters blurt out their inmost thoughts to the public, as in _Cas. 937 +ff._, with eavesdroppers conveniently placed, else what would become of +the plot? + +The soliloquy is constantly used to keep the audience acquainted with the +advance of the plot[137], or to paint in narrative intervening events that +connect the loose joints of the action. This is of course wholly +inartistic, but may often find its true office in keeping a noisy, +turbulent and uneducated audience aware of "what is going on." In many +cases the soliloquy is in the nature of a reflection on the action and +seems to bear all the ear-marks of a heritage from the original function +of the tragic chorus[138]. It devolved upon the actor by sprightly mimicry +to relieve, in these scenes, the tedium that appeals to the reader. So in +_Cap._ 909 ff. the _canticum_ of the _puer_ becomes more than a mere +stopgap, if he acts out vividly the violence of Ergasilus; and in _Bac._ +1067 ff. the soliloquy would acquire humor, if confidentially directed at +the audience. In _As._ 127 ff., as Argyrippus berates the _lena_ within, +it must be delivered with an abundance of pantomime. + + +2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + +Frequently the soliloquy takes the form of a long solo passage directed at +the audience, while the action halts for a whole scene to allow the actor +to regale his public with the poet's views on the sins of society, +economic topics of the day, or topics of the by-gone days in Athens, and +the like. The resemblance to the interpolated song and dance of musical +comedy is most striking. The comparison is the more apt, as about +two-thirds of the illustrative scenes referred to in the next paragraph +are in _canticum_. It is a pity that the comic chorus had disappeared, or +the picture were complete. That it is often on the actor's initial +appearance that he sings his song or speaks his piece, strengthens the +resemblance. But this is a natural growth under the influence of two +publics, the Greek and the Roman, notably fond of declamation and oratory. +LeGrand believes this a characteristic directly derived from a narrative +form of Middle Comedy embodied in certain extant fragments.[139] + +The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues +of the loyal slave are extolled[140], or the knavery of the cunning +slave[141]. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the +decline of his profession[142], or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in +haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food[143]. Bankers, lawyers +and panders come in for their share of satire[144]. Our favorite topic +today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the +boards of ancient Athens and Rome[145]. In _Mil._ 637 ff, Periplecomenus +descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The +delights or pains of love[146], the ruminations of old age[147], marriage +reform[148] and divorce[149], the views of _meretrices_ and their victims +on the arts of their profession[150], the habits of cooks[151], the pride +of valor and heroic deeds[152] are fruitful subjects. In _Cur._ 462 ff. +the _choragus_ interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the +manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of +dreams[153], and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a +house[154]. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in _Rud._ 185 ff., +which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's +Chorus (_Rud._ 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to +intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at +all. In this category also belong the revels of the drunken Pseudolus with +his song and dance[155], and the final scene of the _St._[156], where, the +action of the slender plot over, the comedy slaves royster and dance with +the harlot. When Ballio drives his herd before him, as he berates them +merrily to the tune of a whip, we have an energetic and effective +scene[157]. + + +3. Direct address of the audience. + +It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of +the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of +dramatic production (v. Part I, § 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside +and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on +terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the +frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct +address of the audience, when they are called by name. In _Truc._ 482 +Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum +praedicem.... In _Poen Truc._ 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic, +spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the +action of the _Ps._ (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi +hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (_Amph._ 449-550 passim), probably +with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain +the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the +close of the _Men._ (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites +the spectators to attend. + +When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild +lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (_Aul._ 715 ff.): + +"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that +stole it. (_Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking +"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him._) What do _you_ say? I know +I can trust _you_. I can tell by your face you're honest. (_To the whole +audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue._) What's the matter? +What are you laughing at?" etc. + +Moilère has imitated this scene very closely in _L'Avare_ (IV. 7), with a +super-Plautine profusion of verbiage. + +In _Mil._ 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal +conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the +throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid, +pointed pantomime: + +"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (_To audience, pointing to +Palaestrio._) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in +anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would +summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his +left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha! +He whacks his right thigh!" etc. + +It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in _Amph._ 861 ff. strolls in and +speaks his little piece to the pit: + +"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the +fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and +become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."[158] + +Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (_de Com._ III. +6)[159]: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam +loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum. + +Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole +_grex_, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the +plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today[160], +unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was +over. + + + +B. _Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition_. + + +We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies, +contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in +his _Plautinische Studien_. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the +situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus' +style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is +often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that +Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with +more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at +intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently. + + +1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + +Strong evidence of loose construction and lack of a technical dramatic +ideal is contained in the large number of scenes padded out with pointless +badinage, often tiresome, often wholly episodical in nature, as the +monodies, and putting for a time a complete check on the plot. The most +striking of these is _Aul._ 631 ff., when Euclio, suspecting Strobilus of +the theft of his gold, pounces upon him and belabors him: + +"STR. (_Howling and dancing and making violent efforts to free himself._) +What the plague has got hold of you? What have you to do with me, you +dotard? Why pick on me? Why are you grabbing me? Don't beat me! (_Succeeds +in breaking loose._) + +EUC. (_Shaking stick at him._) You first-class jailbird, do you dare ask +me again? You're not a thief, but three thieves rolled into one! + +STR. (_Whining and nursing bruises_) What did I steal from you? + +EUC. (_Still threatening._) Give it back here, I say? + +STR. (_Trembling and edging off._) What is it you want me to give back? + +EUC. (_Watching him narrowly._) You ask? + +STR. I tell you, I didn't take a thing from you. + +EUC. (_Impatiently._) All right, but hand over what you did take! +(_Pause._) Well, well! + +STR. Well, what? + +EUC. You can't get away with it. + +STR. (_Bolder._) Look here, what do you want?... + +EUC. (_Angrier and angrier._) Hand it over, I say! Stop quibbling! I'm not +trifling now! + +STR. Now what shall I hand over? Speak out! Why don't you give the thing a +name? I swear I never touched or handled anything of yours. + +EUC. Put out your hands. + +STR. There you are! I've done so. See them? + +EUC. (_Scrutinizing his hands closely._) All right. Now put out the third +too. + +STR. (_Aside, growing angry._) The foul fiends of madness have possessed +this doddering idiot. (_Majestically._) Confess you wrong me? + +EUC. (_Dancing in frenzy._) To the utmost, since I don't have you strung +up! And that's what'll happen too, if you don't confess. + +STR. (_Shouting._) Confess what? + +EUC. What did you steal from here? (_Pointing to his house._) + +STR. Strike me if I stole anything of yours, (_Aside to audience_) and if +I don't wish I'd made off with it. + +EUC. Come now, shake out your cloak. + +STR. (_Doing so._) As you please. + +EUC. (_Stooping to see if anything falls out._) Haven't got it under your +shirt? (_Pounces upon him and ransacks clothing._) + +STR. (_Resignedly._) Search me, if you like;" and so on with "Give it +back," What is it? "Put out your right hand," etc., etc. + +Molière again imitated almost slavishly (_L'Avare_, V. 3). Longwinded as +the thing is, it is clear that the liveliness of the action not only +relieves it, but could make it immensely amusing. At least it is superior +to the average vaudeville skit of the present day. It must not be +forgotten too that, as Plautus was in close touch with his players, he +could have done much of the stage-directing himself and might even have +worked up some parts to fit the peculiar talents of certain actors, as is +regularly done in the modern "tailormade drama." + +There are numbers of scenes of the sort quoted above, where the apparent +monotony and verbal padding could be converted into coin for laughter by +the clever comedian. _Amph._ 551-632 could be worked up poco a poco +crescendo e animato; in _Poen._ 504 ff., Agorastocles and the _Advocati_ +bandy extensive rhetoric; in _Trin._ 276 ff., the action is suspended +while Philto proves himself Polonius' ancestor in his long-winded +sermonizing to Lysiteles and his insistent _laudatio temporis acti_; in +_St._ 326 ff., as Pinacium, the _servus currens_, finally succeeds in +"arriving" out of breath (he has been running since 274), bursting with +the vast importance of his news, he postpones the delivery of his tidings +till 371 while he indulges in irrelevant badinage. This is pure +buffoonery. And we can instance scene upon scene where the self-evident +padding can either furnish an excuse for agile histrionism, or become +merely tiresome in its iteration[161]. The danger of the latter was even +recognized by our poet, when, at the end of much word-fencing, Acanthio +asks Charinus if his desire to talk quietly is prompted by fear of waking +"the sleeping spectators" (_Mer._ 160). This was probably no exaggeration. + +When the padding takes the form of mutual "spoofing," the scene assumes an +uncanny likeness to the usual lines of a modern "high-class vaudeville +duo." Note Leonida and Libanus, the merry slaves of the _As._ in 297 ff., +Toxilus and Sagaristio in the _Per._, Milphio and Syncerastus in the +_Poen._ (esp. 851 ff.), Pseudolus and Simia in _Ps._ 905 ff., Trachalio +and Gripus in _Rud._ 938 ff., Stichus and Sagarinus in the final scene of +the _St._, and in _Ps._ 1167 ff. Harpax is unmercifully "chaffed" by Simo +and Ballio. Or, in view of the surrounding drama, we might better compare +these roysterers to the "team" of low comedians often grafted on a musical +comedy, where their antics effectually prevent the tenuous plot from +becoming vulgarly prominent. + + +2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + +The Plautine character is never a consistent human character. He is rather +a personified trait, a broad caricature on magnified foibles of some type +of mankind. There is never any character development, no chastening. We +leave our friends as we found them. They may exhibit the outward +manifestation of grief, joy, love, anger, but their marionette nature +cannot be affected thereby. That we should find inconsistencies in +character portrayal under these circumstances, is not only to be expected, +but is a mathematical certainty. The poet cares not; they must only dance, +dance, dance! + +Persistent moralizers, such as Megaronides in the _Trin._, who serve but +as a foil from whom the revelry "sticks fiery off," descend themselves at +moments to bandying the merriest quips (Scene I.). In _Ep._ 382 ff., the +moralizing of Periphanes is counterfeit coinage. Gilded youths such as +Calidorus of the _Ps._ begin by asking (290 f.): "Could I by any chance +trip up father, who is such a wide-awake old boy?", and end by rolling +their eyes upward with: "And besides, if I could, filial piety prevents." +The Menaechmi twins are eminently respectable, but they cheerfully purloin +mantles, bracelets and purses. Hanno of the _Poen._ should according to +specifications be a staid _pater familias_, but Plautus imputes to him a +layer of the _Punica fides_ that he knew his public would take delight in +"booing." And the old gentleman enters into a plot (1090) to chaff +elaborately his newly-found long-lost daughters, whom he has spent a +lifetime in seeking, before disclosing his identity to them (1211 ff.). +Saturio's daughter in the _Per._ is at one time the very model of maidenly +modesty and wisdom (336 ff.), at others an accomplished intriguante and +demi-mondaine (549 ff., esp. 607 ff.). When the plot of the _Ep._ is +getting hopelessly tangled, of a sudden it is magically resolved as by a +deus ex machina and everybody decides to "shake and make up." + +Slaves ever fearful of the mills or quarries are yet prone to the most +abominable "freshness" towards their masters. The irrepressible Pseudolus +in reading a letter from Calidorus' mistress says (27 ff.): + +"What letters! Humph! I'm afraid the Sibyl is the only person capable of +interpreting these. + +"CAL. Oh why do you speak so rudely of those lovely letters written on a +lovely tablet with a lovely hand? + +"PS. Well, would you mind telling me if hens have hands? For these look to +me very like hen-scratches. + +"CAL. You insulting beast! Read, or return the tablet! + +"PS. Oh, I'll read all right, all right. Just focus your mind on this. + +"CAL. _(Pointing vacantly to his head._) Mind? It's not here. + +"PS. What! Go get one quick then![162]." + +In order that the machinations of these cunning slaves may mature, it is +usually necessary to portray their victims as the veriest fools. Witness +the cock-and-bull story by which Stasimus, in _Trin._ 515 ff., convinces +Philto that his master's land is an undesirable real estate prospect. +Dordalus in _Per._ (esp. 493 ff.) exhibits a certain amount of caution in +face of Toxilus' "confidence game," but that he should be victimized at +all stamps him as a caricature. + +LeGrand is certainly right in pronouncing the cunning slave a pure +convention, adapted from the Greek and so unsuitable to Roman society that +even Plautus found it necessary to apologize for their unrestrained +gambols, on the ground that 'that was the way they did in Athens!'[163] + +Certain of the characters are caricatures _par excellence_, embodiments of +a single attribute. Leaena of the _Cur._ is the perpetually thirsty +_lena_: "Wine, wine, wine!"[164] Cleaerata of the _As._ is a plain +caricature, but is exceptionally cleverly drawn as the _lena_ with the +mordant tongue. Phronesium's thirst in the _Truc._, is gold, gold, gold! +The _danista_ of the _Most._ finds the whole expression of his nature in +the cry of "Faenus!"[165] Assuredly, he is the progenitor of the modern +low-comedy Jew: "I vant my inderesd!" Calidorus of the _Ps._ and +Phaedromus of the _Cur._ are but bleeding hearts dressed up in clothes. +The _milites gloriosi_ are all cartoons;[166] and the perpetually +moralizing pedagogue Lydus of the _Bac._ becomes funny, instead of +egregiously tedious, if acted as a broad burlesque. + +The panders[167] are all manifest caricatures, too, especially the famous +Ballio of the _Ps._, whom even Lorenz properly describes as "der +Einbegriff aller Schlechtigkeit," though he deprecates the part as "eine +etwas zu grell and zu breit angefuhrte Schilderung."[168] "Ego scelestus," +says Ballio himself.[169] He calmly and unctuously pleads guilty to every +charge of "liar, thief, perjurer," etc., and can never be induced to lend +an ear until the cabalistic charm "Lucrum!" is pronounced (264). + +The famous miser Euclio has given rise to an inordinate amount of +unnecessary comment. Lamarre[170] is at great pains to defend Plautus from +"le reproche d'avoir introduit dans la peinture de son principal +personnage <Euclio> des traits outres et hors de nature." Indeed, he +possesses few traits in accord with normal human nature. But curiously +enough, as we learn from the _argumenta_ (in view of the loss of the +genuine end of the _Aul._), Euclio at the _denouement_ professes himself +amply content to bid an everlasting farewell to his stolen hoard, and +bestows his health and blessing on "the happy pair." This apparent +conversion, with absolutely nothing dramatic to furnish an introduction or +pretext for it, has caused Langen to depart from his usual judicious +scholarship. After much hair-splitting he solemnly pronounces it +"psychologically possible."[171] LeGrand points out[172] that his change +of heart is not a conversion, but merely a professed reconciliation to the +loss. But there is no need for all this pother. The simple truth is that +Plautus was through with his humorous complication and was ready to top it +off with a happy ending. It is the forerunner of modern musical comedy, +where the grouchy millionaire papa is propitiated at the last moment +(perhaps by the pleadings of the handsome widow), and similarly consents +to his daughter's marriage with the handsome, if impecunious, ensign. + + +3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + +Lorenz with commendable insight has pointed out[173] that Τύχη, the +goddess of Chance, is the motive power of the Plautine plot, as +distinguished from the μοῖρα of tragedy. A student of Plautus readily +recognizes this point. The entire development of the _Rud._ and _Poen._ +exemplifies it in the highest degree. Hanno in the _Poen._, in particular, +meets first of all, in the strange city of Calydon, the very man he is +looking for! When Pseudolus is racking his wits for a stratagem, Harpax +obligingly drops in with all the requisites. The ass-dealer in the _As._ +is so ridiculously fortuitous that it savors of childlike naiveté. + +Characters are perpetually entering just when wanted. We hear "Optume +advenis" and "Eccum ipsum video" so frequently that they become as +meaningless as "How d'ye do!"[174]; though, as shown above[175], even this +very weakness could at moments be made the pretext for a mild laugh. + +For a complete catalogue of the formidable mass of inconsistencies and +contradictions that throng the plays, the reader is referred to the +_Plautinische Studien_ of Langen, as aforesaid. It will be of passing +interest to recall one or two. In _Cas._ 530 Lysidamus goes to the "forum" +and returns _32 verses later_ complaining that he has wasted the whole day +standing "advocate" for a kinsman. But this difficulty is resolved, if we +accept the theory of Prof. Kent (TAPA. XXXVII), that the change of acts +which occurs in between, is a conventional excuse for any lapse of time, +in Roman comedy as well as in Greek tragedy. But it is extremely doubtful +that Prof. Kent succeeds in establishing the truth of this view in the +case of Roman comedy. We see no convincing reason for departing from the +accepted theory, as expressed by Duff (_A Literary History of Rome_, pp. +196-7): "In Plautus' time a play proceeded continuously from the lowering +of the curtain at the beginning to its rise at the end, save for short +breaks filled generally by simple music from the _tibicen_ (_Ps._ 573). The +division into scenes is ancient and regularly indicated in manuscripts of +Plautus and Terence." + +Langen seems surprised[176] when Menaechmus Sosicles, on beholding his +twin for the first time (_Men._ 1062), though he was the object of a six +years' search, wades through some twenty lines of amazed argument before +Messenio (with marvelous cunning!) hits on the true explanation. It is of +course conceived in a burlesque spirit. What would become of the comic +action if Menaechmus II simply walked up to Menaechmus I and remarked: +"Hello, brother, don't you remember me?" + +That the seven months of _Most._ 470 miraculously change into six months +in 954 is the sort of mistake possible to any writer. In the _Amph._ 1053 +ff., Alcmena is in labor apparently a few minutes after consorting with +Jupiter; but the change of acts _may_ account for the lapse of time, here +as in _Cas._ 530 ff. + +But after the exhaustive work of Langen, we need linger no longer in this +well-ploughed field. We repeat, the evidence all points irresistibly to +the conclusion that Plautus is wholly careless of his dramatic machinery +so long as it moves. The laugh's the thing! + +The _St._ is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' +mind. The virtue of the Penelope-like Pamphila and Panegyris proves too +great a strain and unproductive of merriment. The topic gradually vanishes +as the drolleries of the parasite Gelasimus usurp the boards. He in turn +gives way to the hilarious buffoonery of the two slaves. The result is a +succession of loose-jointed scenes[177]. The _Aul._ too is fragmentary and +episodical. The _Trin._ is insufferably long-winded, with insufficient +comic accompaniment. The _Cis._ is a wretched piece of vacuous +inanity[178]. + + +4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + +Plautus' frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the +interjection of Roman references--what De Quincey calls "anatopism"--is +another item of careless composition too well known to need more than +passing mention. The repeated appearance of the _Velabrum,_[179] or +_Capitolium,_[180] or _circus,_[181] or _senatus_, or _dictator_,[182] or +_centuriata comitio,_[183] or _plebiscitum,_[184] and a host of others in +the Greek investiture, becomes after a while a matter of course to us. We +see however no need to quarrel with _forum_; it was Plautus' natural +translation for ἀγορά. But it all adds inevitably and relentlessly to +our argument--Plautus was heedless of the petty demands of technique and +realism. His attention was too much occupied in devising means of +amusement. + +The occasional topical allusions belong in the same category as above; for +example, the allusion to the Punic war (_Cis._ 202),[185] the _lex +Platoria_ (_Ps._ 303, _Rud._ 1381-2), Naevius' imprisonment (_Mil. _ +211-2), Attalus of Pergamum (_Per._ 339, _Poen._ 664), Antiochus the Great +(_Poen._ 693-4). Again we have a modern parallel: the topics of the day +are a favorite resort of the lower types of present-day stage production. + + +5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + +But the most extreme stage of intimate jocularity is reached when the last +sorry pretense of drama is discarded and the dramatic machinery itself +becomes the subject of jest. So in the _Cas._ 1006 the cast is warned: +Hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. In _Per._ 159-60 Saturio +wants to know where to get his daughter's projected disguise: + +"SAT. πόθεν ornamenta? + +TOX. Abs chorago sumito. Dare debet: praebenda aediles locaverunt." (Cf. +_Trin._ 858.) + +Even the _Ps._, heralded as dramatically one of the best of the plays, +yields the following: Horum caussa haec agitur spectatorum fabula (720); +hanc fabulam dum transigam (562) and following speech; verba quae in +comoediis solent lenoni dici (1081-2); quam in aliis comoediis fit (1240); +quin vocas spectatores simul? (1332). In _St._ 715 ff., the action of the +play is interrupted while the boisterous slaves give the musician a drink. +From the _Poen._ comes a gem that will bear quoting at length (550 ff.): + + Omnia istaec scimus iam nos, si hi spectatores sciant. + Horunc hic nunc causa haec agitur spectatorum fabula: + Hos te satius est docere ut, quando agas, quid agas sciant. + Nos tu ne curassis: scimus rem omnem, quippe omnes simul. + Didicimus tecum una, ut respondere possimus tibi.[186] + +This is the final degeneration into the realm of pure foolery. It is a +patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content." Once +more we venture to point a parallel on the modern stage, in the vaudeville +comedian who interlards his dancing with comments such as: "I hate to do +this, but it's the only way I can earn a living." + + +6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +We must touch finally, but very lightly, on the commonplaces of stock +plots and characters. The whole array of puppets is familiar to us all: +the cunning slave, the fond or licentious papa, the spendthrift son and +their inevitable confrères appear in play after play with relentless +regularity. The close correspondence of many plots is also too familiar to +need discussion.[187] The glimmering of originality in the plot of the +_Cap._ called for special advertisement.[188] In the light of the +foregoing evidence, the pertinence of these facts for us, we reiterate, is +that Plautus merely adopted the New Comedy form as his comic medium, and, +while leaving his originals in the main untouched, took what liberties he +desired with them, with the single-minded purpose of making his public +laugh.[189] + + + + +In Conclusion + + + +In contrast to these grotesqueries certain individual scenes and plays +stand out with startling distinctness as possessed of wit and humor of +high order. The description by Cleaereta of the relations of lover, +mistress and _lena_ is replete with biting satire (_As._ 177 ff., 215 +ff.). The finale of the same play is irresistibly comic. In _Aul. _ 731 +ff. real sparks issue from the verbal cross-purposes of Euclio and +Lyconides over the words "pot" and "daughter." The _Bac._ is an excellent +play, marred by padding. When the sisters chaff the old men as "sheep" +(1120 ff.), the humor is naturalistic and human. The _Cas._, uproarious +and lewd as it is, becomes excruciatingly amusing if the mind is open to +appreciating humor in the broadest spirit. The discourse of Periplecomenus +(_Mil._ 637 ff.) is marked by homely satirical wisdom. In the _Ps._ the +badinage of the name-character is appreciably superior to most of the +incidental quips. Pseudolus generously compliments Charinus on beating him +at his own game of repartee (743). When Weise (_Die Komodien des Plautus_, +p. 181) describes _Ps._ IV. 7 as "eine der ausgezeichnetsten Scenen, die +es irgend giebt," his superlative finds a better justification than usual. + +When Menaechmus Sosicles sees fit "to put an antic disposition on," we +have a scene which, while eminently farcical, is signally clever and +dramatically effective. Witness the imitation by Shakespeare in _The +Comedy of Errors_, IV. 4, and in spirit by modern farce; for instance, in +_A Night Off_, when the staid old Professor feels the recrudescence of his +youthful aspirations to attend a prize-fight, he simulates madness as a +prelude to dashing wildly away. + +The following from _Rud._ (160 ff.) is theatrical but tremendously +effective and worthy of the highest type of drama. Sceparnio, looking +off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat. He +addresses Daemones: + +"SC. But O Palaemon! Hallowed comrade of Neptune ... what scene meets my +eye? + +DAE. What do you see? + +SC. I see two poor lone women sitting in a bit of a boat. How the poor +creatures are being tossed about! Hoorah! Hoorah! Fine! The waves are +whirling their boat past the rocks into the shallows. A pilot couldn't +have steered straighter. I swear I never saw waves more high. They're safe +if they escape those breakers. Now, now, danger! One is overboard! Ah, the +water's not deep: she'll swim out in a minute. Hooray! See the other one, +how the wave tossed her out! She is up, she's on her way shoreward; she's +safe!" + +Sceparnio clasps his hands, jumps up and down, grasps the shaking Daemones +convulsively and communicates his excitement to the audience. It is a +piece of thrilling theatrical declamation and must have wrought the +spectators up to a high pitch. In general, the _Rud._ is a superior play. + +In _Cas._ 229 ff. there is developed a piece of faithful and entertaining +character-drawing, as the old roué Lysidamus fawns upon his militant +spouse Cleostrata, with the following as its climax: + +"CLE. (_Sniffling._) Ha! Whence that odor of perfumes, eh? + +LYS. The jig's up." + +In the whole panorama of Plautine personae the portrayal of Alcmena in the +_Amph._ is unique, for she is drawn with absolute sincerity and speaks +nothing out of character. Certainly no parody can be made out of the nobly +spoken lines 633-52, which lend a genuine air of tragedy to the professed +_tragi(co)comoedia_ (59, 63); unless we think of the lady's unwitting +compromising condition (surely too subtle a thought for the original +audience). Note also the exalted tone of 831-4, 839-42. But all through +this scene Sosia is prancing around, prating nonsense, and playing the +buffoon, so that perchance even here the nobility becomes but a foil for +the revelry. And in 882-955 his royal godship Jove clowns it to the lady's +truly minted sentiments. + +No, we are far from attempting to deny to Plautus all dramatic technique, +skill in character painting and cleverness of situation, but he was never +hide-bound by any technical considerations. He felt free to break through +the formal bonds of his selected medium at will. He had wit, esprit and +above all a knowledge of his audience; and of human nature generally, or +else he could not have had such a trenchant effect on the literature of +all time. + +At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive +estimate of the mise-en-scène. Enough has been said, we believe, in our +discussion of the criticism and acting and in our analysis of his dramatic +values, to show that the aberrations of Plautus' commentators have been +due to their failure to reach the crucial point: the absolute license with +which his plays were acted and intended to be acted is at once the +explanation of their absurdities and deficiencies. This was true in a far +less degree of Terence, who dealt in plots more _stataria_ and less +_motoria_.[190] Though using the same store of models, he endeavored to +produce an artistically constructed play, which should make some honest +effort to "hold the mirror up to nature." We are convinced that even his +extensive use of _contaminatio_ was designed to evolve a better plot. The +extravagance of Plautus is toned down in Terence to a reasonable +verisimilitude and a far more "gentlemanly" mode of fun-making that was +appropriate to one in the confidence of the aristocratic Scipionic circle. +But when all is said and done, Terence lacks the vivid primeval +"Volkswitz" of Plautus. We dare only skirt the edges of this extensive +subject.[191] + +Above all, our noble jester _succeeds_ in his mission of laugh-producing. +But his methods are not possessed in the main of dramatic respectability. +And it must be apparent that our analysis and citations have covered the +bulk of the plays. + +We conclude then that the prevalence of inherent defects of composition +and the lack of serious motive, coupled with the author's constant and +conscious employment of the implements of broad farce and extravagant +burlesque, impel us inevitably to the conclusion that we have before us a +species of composition which, while following a dramatic form, is not +inherently drama, but a variety of entertainment that may be described as +a compound of comedy, farce and burlesque; while the accompanying music, +which would lend dignity to tragedy or grand opera, merely heightens the +humorous effect and lends the color of musical comedy or opera +bouffe.[192] Körting is right in calling it mere entertainment, Mommsen is +right in calling it caricature, but we maintain that it is professedly +mere entertainment, that it is consciously caricature and if it fulfills +these functions we have no right to criticise it on other grounds. If we +attempt a serious critique of it as drama, we have at once on our hands a +capricious mass of dramatic unrealities and absurdities: bombast, +burlesque, extravagance, horse-play, soliloquies, asides, direct address +of the audience, pointless quips, and so on. The minute we accept it as a +consciously conceived medium for amusement only, we have a highly +effective theatrical mechanism for the unlimited production of laughter. +And, in fact, every shred of evidence, however scant, goes to show that +the histrionism must have been conceived in a spirit of extreme +liveliness, abandon and extravagance in gesture and declamation, that +would not confine the actor to faithful portrayal in character, but would +allow him scope and license to resort to any means whatsoever to bestir +laughter amongst a not over-stolid audience. + + + + + + + +Footnotes + + + +[1]: E.g., Casina in the _Cas._, Silenium in the _Cis._, +Planesium in the _Cur._, Adelphasium and Anterastylis in the +_Poen._, Palaestra in the _Rud._ + +[2]: V. infra, part II, sec. I. B. I. + +[3]: E.g., Lorcnz's Introd. to _Most._ and _Pseud._ V. infra, +part I, § i. + +[4]: We are not concerned in this question with technical discussion as to +the position of the banquet table on the stage, the nature of the dog of +the _Most._ and the like, but with the delivery and movements of the +actors themselves. + +[5]: De Off. I. 29.104. + +[6]: X. 1.99. Cf. Ritschl's citations of Varro: _Parerga_, p. 71 ff. +Cf. Epig. quoted by Varro and attributed to Plautus himself, ap. Gel. +N.A., I. 24.1-3. But that this was a patent literary forgery is proved by +Gudeman in TAPA. XXV, p. 160. + +[7]: N.A., VI. 17.4. + +[8]: I.7.17. + +[9]: XIX. 8.6. + +[10]: _A.P._, 270 ff. Cf. _Ep._ II. I.170 ff. and Fay, ed. +_Most._, Intro. § 2. + +[11]: _De Com._ III. 6, Donatus ed. Wessner. For full quotation, v. +infra, Part II, Sec. II. A. 3, Note 50. + +[12]: _Excerpta de Com._ V. 1. + +[13]: For a complete list, see _Testimonia_ prefixed to Goetz and +Schoell's ed. of Plautus. + +[14]: P. 217 M. + +[15]: 404, 412, 823. + +[16]: Ed. _Men._ (Leipzig, 1891), ad 410. + +[17]: Cf. opening lines of Eurip. _Iph. in Taur._ + +[18]: Pp. 13--19. V. Langen, _Plautinische Studien_, pp. 139-142. Cf. +also comments of Brix to _Menaechmi_ passim. + +[19]: Op. cit., p. 146. + +[20]: Cf. Gel. N. A., III. 3-14 ff. + +[21]: V. infra, Part II, under 'Careless Composition'. + +[22]: _Beschluss der Critik iiber die Gefangenen des Plaulus_. + +[23]: 23: Op. cit., fin. + +[24]: _La Litterature latine depuis la fondation de Rome_ (Paris, +1899), Bk. II. chap. 3. sec. 15, p. 362. + +[25]: Introd. to ed. _Mosl._, p. 37. + +[26]: Bk. II, Ch. 4. + +[27]: Lamarre, op. cit., Bk. II, Ch. 4, Sec. 12, p. 475. + +[28]: _Théâtre de Plaute_ (Paris, 1845), Introd. p. 18. + +[29]: _Opuscula Philologica_, Vol. II p. 743. + +[30]: _Opusc._ II. 733 ff. + +[31]: In _Opusc._ III. 455, Ritschl relates that Varro wrote six books +on drama, with Plautus as the especial object of his interest: _de +originibus scaenicis, de scaenicis actionibus, de actibus scaenicis, de +personis, de descriptionibus, quaestiones Plautinae_. + +[32]: Langen, op. cit., p. 127. + +[33]: _Opusc._ II. 746. + +[34]: Op. cit., p. 165. + +[35]: Op. cit., p. 167. + +[36]: _Mil._ 522 ff. (All citations from Plautus are based on the text +and numbering of the lines in the text of Goetz and Schoell). + +[37]: _History of Rome_, (Transl. Dickson, Scribner, N.Y., 1900), Vol. +III, p. 143. + +[38]: E.g., LeGrand, _Daos_, V. supra. Cf. also N. 80, Part II. + +[39]: P. 190, trans. John Black (London, 1846), Lecture XIV. + +[40]: _Theatre of the Greeks_, p. 443. + +[41]: P. 197. + +[42]: Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30. + +[43]: V. supra. + +[44]: P. 620. But cf. Note 37. + +[45]: Cf. further Plessis, _La poésie latine_ (Paris, 1909), p. 54 +ff.; Patin, _Études sur la poésie latine_ (Paris, 1869), Vol. II, p. +224 ff.; Ribbeck, _Geschichte der römischen Dichtung_ (Stuttgart, +1894), Vol. I, p. 57 ff.; Tyrrell, _Early Latin Poetry_, p. 44 ff. A +very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, _A Literary History of +Rome_ (N.Y., 1909), p. 183 ff. + +[46]: _History of Rome_, Vol. III, p. 139. Cf. note 37. + +[47]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 28-9. + +[48]: Prol. _Poen._, II ff. + +[49]: _Plaudere_, πάλιν, _sibilare_ or _exsibilare, explodere, +eicere_ were expressions used to indicate approval or disapproval. +Cf. the discussion of Oehmichen, article _Bühnenwesen_ in Von Müller's +_Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, 5ter Band, 3te +Abteilung, § 73. 2, p. 271. + +[50]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 36 ff. + +[51]: Cf. Tac. _Ann._ I. 77. V. Oehmichen, op. cit., § 39.3, p. 220. + +[52]: V. Prol. _Amph._ 52-3: + + Quid contraxistis frontem? + Quia tragoediam Dixi futuram hanc? + +[53]: _Parad._ III. 2.26. Cf. _Or._ 51.173, _de Or._ III. +50.196: _"theatra tota reclamant_"; Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.200 ff.; +Suet. _Nero_, 24.1. + +[54]: Cic. _de Or._ I.61.259, I.27.124. + +[55]: _Hist. Rome_, ed. cit., Vol. III, p. 140. + +[56]: _Cist._ 785: Qui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet. Cf. +_Trin._ 990. _Amph._ 83-4, (if this is not merely an imitation +of the Greek original). + +[57]: Tac. _Ann._ 1.77. + +[58]: _Amph._ 65 ff., _Poen._ 36 ff., Ter. _Phor._ 16 ff., +Cic. _ad Att._ IV. 15.6, Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.181. + +[59]: _Cas._ 17 ff., _Trin._ 706 ff. But others argue that these +passages are only translations from the Greek. V. Leo in _Hermes_, +1883, p. 561, F. Ostermayer, _De hist. fab. in com. Pl._ (Greifswald, +1884), p. 7. Ritschl (_Parerga_, p. 229) argues that the passages +refer to cases of extraordinary public approval, not to formal contests. +Cf. Var. _L.L._ V. 178. + +[60]: Cic. _pro. Ros. Com._ 10.28-9, Plin. _N. H._ 7.39.128, Dio +77.21. Cf. Sen. _Ep._ 80.7. + +[61]: Körting, op. cit., p. 244 ff. + +[62]: Cic. _de Or._ I.59.251, Suet. _Nero_ 20, Quint. XI. 3.19. + +[63]: I.ii.i-2, I.ii.12. + +[64]: Quint. XI.3.iii. + +[65]: Cic. _Or._ 31.109. + +[66]: Quint. XI.3.178, Juv. III. 98-9. + +[67]: Cic. _de Off._ I.31.114, _ad Att._ IV.15.6. + +[68]: Ap. Athen. XIV. 615 A. + +[69]: For a full discussion of the ancient actor v. Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, s. v. +_histrio_; Friedlander in Marquardt-Mommsen _Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer_, VI. p. 508 ff.; J. van Wageningen, _Scaenica Romana_; +Warnecke, _Die Vortragskunst der romischen Schauspieler_, in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1908, p. 704 ff. + +[70]: Cf. _de Or._ III.56.214, III.22.83, Quint. XI. 3.125, 181-2. + +[71]: Quint. XI.3.112. + +[72]: Cf. Quint. XI.3.89. + +[73]: Cic. _ad Att._ VI.1.8. + +[74]: Cf. _de Or._ III.26.102, Quint. XI.3.71, 89. + +[75]: For further treatment of the gestures of orators see Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie_, s. v. _histrio_; Warnecke in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1910, p. 593; Sittl, _Die Gebarden der Griechen und +Romer_, Chap. XI; Mart. Cap. 43. In the other rhetoricians of the later +Empire there is much copying of Cicero and Quintilian, but nothing of +significance for our purpose, unless it be the comparison of the rigid +training recommended to the embryo orator. For further citations, v. +Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit. + +[76]: 0p. cit., p. 203. + +[77]: _Wiener Studien_, Vol. XIV, p. 120. + +[78]: _Scaen. Rom._, p. 52. Cf. Karsten in _Mnem._ XXXII, (1904), +pp. 209-251, 287-322, who concludes that at least four hands aided in the +commentaries. + +[79]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 88, _Eun._ 187, 986, _Phor._ +315. + +[80]: A11 the passages in Donatus dealing with gesture have been collected +by Leo, _Rheinisches Museum_ XXXVIII, p. 331 ff. + +[81]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 180, 363, 380-1, _Eun._ 209, 559, +974, _Ad._ 84, 499, 661, 795, 951, _Hec._ 612, 689, _Phor._ +49, 315. Cf. _Ad._ 285: superbe ac magnifice. Cf. Schol. ad +_And._ 332: Vultuose hoc dicitur, hoc est cum gestu. Cf. also +Warnecke in _Neue Jahrbücher_, 1910, note 75. + +[82]: Cf. XI.3.103, _Auct. ad Her._ III.15.27. + +[83]: Their precise age and antiquity have been disputed with some +acrimony. With Sittl cf. Bethe, _Praef. Cod. Ambros._ p. 64; van +Wageningen, op. cit., p. 50 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII, p. 342 +ff. V. reproductions in Wieseler, _Theatergebäude und Denkmäler des +Bühnenwesens bei den Griechen und Römern,_ Tafel X; and Bethe, ed. of +Codex Ambrosianus. + +[84]: _Neue Jahr._, Sup. Band I (1832), p. 447 ff. + +[85]: Quint. VI.3.29, Mart. Cap., Chap. 43, p. 543 ed. Kopp. + +[86]: V. reproductions in Baumeister, _Denkmäler des klassischen +Altertums_, s. v. "Lustspiel" and Wieseler, op. cit., note 83. + +[87]: Donat. _de Com._ VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names +have been interchanged. + +[88]: _Ars Gram._ III, p. 489, 10 K; Festus, s.v. _personata_, +p. 217. Cf. Cic. _de Nat. Deo._ I. 28.79. Ribbock, _Romische +Tragodie_ p. 661, and Dziatzko in _Rhein. Mus._ XXI. 68, have made a +violent effort to reconcile the conflicting statements by arguing +that Roscius belonged to the troupe of Minucius. This is denied by +Weinberger, _Wien. Stud._ XIV. 126. For further discussion v. van +Wageningen, _Scaen. Rom._ p. 34 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII. +342; Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, _Ueber Antike +Theatermasken_; Teuffel, _Romische Litteraturgeschichte_ §16. +Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s.v. _histrio_, pp. 2120-21. A +recent article by Saunders (A.J.P., XXXII, p. 58) gives an admirable +summing-up of the whole controversy, with substantial proof that at +any rate the performers of Plautus' day were unmasked. + +[89]: Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, _Costume in Roman +Comedy_; Marquardt-Mommsen, _Handbuch der romischen Altertumer_, +VI. p. 525; Pauly-Wissowa, l.c. Cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ VII. 6. + +[90]: Cf. _Mil._ 629 ff., 923, _Ps._ 967, _Rud._ 125 f., 313 +f., 1303, _Trin._ 861 f., _Truc._ 286 ff.; Ter., _Phor._ +51. + +[91]: V. van Wageningen, op. cit. pp. 40 f. + +[92]: _De Or._ III. 22.83. + +[93]: II. 10.13. Cf. XI. 3.91. + +[94]: I. II. 1-2 + +[95]: Donat. ad _And._ 505, _Eun._ 224, 288, 403, _Ad._ 187, +395. + +[96]: Ad _And._ 194, 301, _Eun._ 467, 986, _Hec._ 98, 439, +640, _Ad._ 101. Cf. _Ad._ 96.; cum admiratone indignantis; 97; +intento digito et infestis in Micionem oculis. + +[97]: Ad _Eun._ 1055. + +[98]: Ad _And._ 633, _Eun._ 233, 451, _Hec._ 63, _Ad._ +259. + +[99]: Ad _Phor._ 145. + +[100]: Ad _Ad._ 200. + +[101]: Ad _Eun._ 187. + +[102]: VII. 2.8-10. + +[103]: Cf. Diom. 291, 23 ff., K; Ribbeck, _Rom. Trag._ p. 634, +believes that this was the rule, but he is apparently alone in the +opinion. Cf. Budensteiner in Bursian's _Jahresbericht_ CVI, p. 162 +ff., who agrees with the proof of van Eck, _Quaest. Sten. Rom._ +(Amsterdam 1892), that it was an isolated intance. + +[104]: We are not even remotely concerned with metrical analysis. For that +phase, with a discussion as to the effect of the various metrical systems, +see Klotz, _Grundzuge der altromischen Metrik_, esp. p. 370 ff. Cf. +Duff, _A Lit. Hist. of Rome_, p. 196. Note Donat, _de Com._ +VIII. 9 and Diom. 491, 23K. + +[105]: For arguments as to the divisions of the three classes, v., besides +Klotz, Ritschl, _Parerga_, p. 40; Conradt, _Die metrische +Komposition der Komodien des Terenz_ (Berlin 1876); Bucheler in _Neue +Jahr. fur Phil._ CXLI (1871), p. 273 ff.; Dziatzko in _Rhein. +Mus._ XXVI (1871), pp. 97-100: G. Hermann, _de Canticis in Romanorum +Fabulis, Opusc._ I. 290; which have all been landmarks in the +discussion. Cf. also Teuffel, _Rom. Lit._, § 16. Sec. 5, etc. + +[106]: Cf. Cic. _de Or._ II.46.193. + +[107]: Cf. _As._ 265, 587, 640, 403, _Bac._ 611, _Cap._ 637, +_Cas._ 845 ff., _Cis._ 53 ff., _Cur._ 278, 309, 311, +_Ep._ 623 ff., _Men._ 828 f., 910, _Mer._ 599 f., +_Mil._ 200 ff. (quoted infra, Part II), 798-9 (Palaestrio must shout +at Periplecomenus to provoke such a reply), _Most._ 265 ff., 594, +_Per._ 307 f., _Ps._ 911, 1287, _St._ 271, 288 f., +_Trin._ 1099, _Truc._ 276, 476 ff., 549, 593 f., 599 ff., 822. +Cf. also Ter. _Phor._ 210-11 and Moliere's imitation in _Les +Fourberies de Scapin_, l. 4. + +[108]: Cf. Sittl, _Gebarden_, p. 201 and Warnecke's citations from the +Scholiast to Aristophanes in _Neue Jahr._ 1910, p. 592. + +[109]: _Daos_, p. 617. + +[110]: A.J.P. VIII. 15 ff. + +[111]: Cf. _As._ 554 ff., _Bac._ 710 ff., _Cap._ 159 ff. +_Cur._ 572 ff., _Ep._ 437 ff., _Men._ 1342., _Per._ +753 ff., _Ps._ 761 ff., _Trin._ 718 ff., etc. + +[112]: For further examples of bombast and mock-heroics v. _As._ +405-6, _Bac._ 792 f., 842 ff., _Cis._ 640 ff., _Cur._ 96 +ff. 439 ff., _Ep._ 181 ff. (in similar vein most of the soliloquies +of the name part), _Her._ 469 ff., 601 ff., 830 ff., _Mil._ 459 +ff., 486 ff., 947 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Poen._ 470 ff., 1294 +ff., _Ps._ 1063 f., _Truce._ 482 ff., 602 ff. + +[113]: V. _Amph._ 370 ff., _As._ 431, _Cas._ 404 ff., +_Cur._ 192 ff., 624 ff., _Mil._ 1394 ff., _Mos._ i ff., +_Per._ 809 ff., _Poen._ 382 ff., _Rud._ 706 ff. + +[114]: V. Frag. IV, G. & S., ap. Non. p. 543. + +[115]: Cf. _Bac._ 581 ff., 1119, _Cap._ 830 ff., _Most._ 898 +ff., _Rud._ 414, _St._ 308 ff., _Truc._ 254 ff. + +[116]: Cf. also _Bac._ 925 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Men._ 409 +ff. (v. supra, Part I, § I, s.v. _Festus, Brix_). On _Bac._ 933, +v. Ribbeck, _Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta_, on Enn., frag. +_Androm._ 81; Kiessling, _Analecta Plautina_, I. 14 f.; +Ostermayer, _De historia fabulari in comoediis Plautinis_, p. 9. On +_Men._ 808 ff., v. Kiessling, II. 9. + +[117]: Cf. further _As._ 606 ff., _Cur._ 147 ff., _Most._ +233 ff., _Poen._ 275 ff. and passim, _Truc._ 434 ff. + +[118]: Cf. _Ep._ 580 ff. Cf. also "bombast," supra A. 1, and "copious +abuse" infra, A. 3. c. Cf. also wall-painting labeled "Der erzurnte +Hausherr," in Baumeister, _Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums_, s. +v. _Lustspiel_. + +[119]: Cf. _Mil._ 596 ff., _Most._ 454 ff., _Trin._ 517 ff. + +[120]: Cf. _Mer._ 748 ff., _Men._ 607 ff. + +[121]: Cf. further _Most._ 265 ff., 456 ff. and note Donat. ad +_Phor._ 210-11: hic locus magis actoris quam lectoris est. + +[122]: Cf. _Most._ 38 ff., _Poen._ 1309 ff. Cf. also "Lavishing +of terms of endearment," supra, A. 3. c. + +[123]: Cf. also _Poen._ 426 ff., _Rud._ 938 ff. + +[124]: Cf. similarly _Cap._ 121 ff., 177 ff., _Cas._ 725 ff., +_Most._ 909, 999 f. Cf. infra II. B.5. + +[125]: _Plaut. Stud._ pp. 121 f. Cf. pp. 101, 137 f., 158 f., 217, 229 +f. + +[126]: _Die Kom. des Pl._, pp. 70-71. + +[127]: _Daos_, p. 430-1. + +[128]: Prol. _Haut._ 32-40, Prol. _Eun._ 35-40. Cf. Eugraphius ad +_Haut._ 31: quid tale hic est, cum servus currit, cum populus +discedit, quod domino insano oboediat servus? Cf. also ad _Haut._ 37; +Donatus ad _Phor._ 1.4. + +[129]: _And._ 338 ff., _Phor._ 179 ff., 841 ff., _Ad._ 299 +ff. Weissman agrees with Donat. that in the last passage humor is not the +object. Cf. _ancilla currens_ in _Eun._ 643 ff. + +[130]: Cf. _servi currentes_ supra. Cf. also _Aul._ 811 ff., +_Ep._ 195 ff., _Mer._ 865 ff., _Ps._ 243 ff., _St._ +330 ff., _Trin._ 1068 ff., _Truc._ 115 ff. + +[131]: For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. +_Bac._ 534, _Ep._ 526 ff., _Rud._ 331 ff., et al. Cf. +Weise, op. cit., p. 72 f. + +[132]: Further comments infra II. B. 3. + +[133]: Cf. _As._ 403, and passim. + +[134]: Cf. _As._ 447, _Cur._ 111, _Men._ 125, 478 f., 909, +_Mer._ 364, 379, _Mil._ 275, _Most._ 548, _Per._ 99, +_Poen._ 840, _Ps._ 445, 615, 908, _Rud._ 97, _St._ 88, +_Trin._ 45, 567, _Truc._ 499, etc. + +[135]: _Daos, p. 431 ff._ See Dieterich, _Pulcinella, PI. II_. +Note esp. _As. 851 ff._ + +[136]: Cf. _Per. 81 ff., 599 ff., Poen. 210 ff., et al._ + +[137]: V. _Amph._ 952-3, _As._ 118 ff., 243 ff., _Aul._ 67 +ff., 667 ff., 701 ff., _Bac._ 170 ff., 349 ff., 573 ff., 761 ff., +_Cas._ 504 ff., _Cis._ 120 ff., _Cur._ 216 ff., 591 ff., +_Mer._ 544 ff., 588 ff., _Mil._ 464 ff., _Most._ 931 ff., +1041 ff., _Rud._ 1191 ff., _St._ 674 ff., et al. + +[138]: V. Cas. 424 ff., 759 ff., _Ep._ 81 ff., _Men._ 1039 ff., +_Ps._ 1017 ff., 1052 ff., 1102 ff., _Rud._ 892 ff., 1281 ff., +_St._ 641 ff., _Trin._ 199 ff., 1115 ff., _Truc._ 322 ff., +335 ff., 645 ff., 699 ff. + +Cf. the treatment of Le Grand, _Daos_, p. 412 ff., where he has an +analysis from a different point of view. The soliloquy and aside are +evidently not so frequent in New Comedy. + +[139]: _Daos_ p. 379. Cf. p. 550. + +[140]: _Aul._ 587 ff., _Men._ 966 ff. Cf. _Most._ 858 ff. +and _As._ 545 ff., a duologue in _canticum_. + +[141]: _Bac._ 640 ff. Cf. _Ps._ 767 ff. + +[142]: _Cap._ 461 ff., Cf. _Per._ 53 ff. + +[143]: _Men._ 77 ff., 446 ff., _St._ 155 ff. + +[144]: _Cur._ 371 ff., (Cf. 494 ff.), _Men._ 571 ff., +_Poen._ 823 ff. + +[145]: _Ep._ 225 ff. + +[146]: _Cas._ 217 ff., _Trin._ 223 ff. (Cf. 660 ff.) + +[147]: _Men._ 753 ff. + +[148]: _Aul._ 475 ff. (496-536 branded as spurious by Weise, op. cit., +pp. 42-44). + +[149]: _Mer._ 817 ff. + +[150]: _Poen._ 210 ff. (though not a solo), _Truc._ 22 ff., 210 +ff., 551 ff. + +[151]: _Ps._ 790 ff. + +[152]: _Truc._ 482 ff. + +[153]: _Mer._ 825 ff., _Rud._ 593 ff. + +[154]: _Mosl._ 85 ff. + +[155]: _Ps._ 1246 ff. + +[156]: _St._ 683 to end. + +[157]: _Ps._ 133 ff. For further passages of the episodical type, cf. +_Bac._ 925 ff. (v. supra under "bombast," I. A. 1), _Poen._ 449 +ff., _Rud._ 906 ff., _Trin._ 820 ff. (v. supra under +"burlesque," I. A. 3). + +[158]: Cf. further _Amph._ 463, 998, _Bac._ 1072, _Cap._ 69 +ff., _Cas._ 879, _Cis._ 146, 678, _Men._ 880, _Mer._ +313, _Mil._ 862, _Most._ 280, 354, 708 ff., _Poen._ 921 f., +_Ps._ 124, _St._ 224,446, 674 ff., _Truc._ 109 ff., 463 +ff., 965 ff. Cf. infra II. B. 5. + +[159]: In Donat. ed. Wessner. + +[160]: V. _As., Bac., Cap., Cis., Cur., Ep., Men., Mer., Most., Per., +Rod., St._ Cf. _Cas._ 1013 ff., _Poen._ 1370 f. + +[161]: V. _Bac._ 235-367, _Cap._ 835-99, _Cis._ 203 ff., +540-630, 705 ff., _Cur._ 251-73 and passim (this play is full of +bandying of quips), _Ep._ 1 ff., _Men._ 137-81, 602-67, +_Mer._ 474 ff., 708 ff., 866 ff., _Most._ 633 ff., 717 ff., 885 +ff., _Per._ 1 ff., 201 ff., _Poen._ 210 ff., _Ps._ 653 ff. +and passim, _Rud._ 485 ff. (the jokes here are unusually good), 780 +ff., _St._ 579 ff., _Trin._ 39 ff., 843 ff., _Truc._ 95 ff. + +[162]: Cf. Sosia im _Amph._ (esp. 659 ff.), Libanus in _As._ 1 +ff., Palinurus in _Cur._, Acanthio in _Mer._ (esp. 137 ff.), +Milphio in _Poen._, Sceparnio in _Rud._ (esp. 104 ff.) and +Trachalio, Pinacium in _St._ (esp. 331 ff.), Stasimus in _Trin._ + +[163]: _St._ 446 ff., Prol. _Cas._ 67 ff. For an exhaustive +discussion of the 'truth to life' of the characters, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, Part I, Chap. V. + +[164]: V. esp. 96 ff. + +[165]: 603 ff. + +[166]: Pyrgopolinices in _Mil._, Therapontigonus in _Cur._, the +_miles_ in _Ep._, Anthemonides in _Poen._ Stratophanes in +_Truc_, is not so violent. + +[167]: Cappadox in _Cur._, Dordalus in _Per._, Lycus in +_Poen._, Labrax in _Rud._ Similarly the _lenae_. + +[168]: Introd. to ed. of _Ps._ + +[169]: 355. Cf. 360 ff., 974 ff. + +[170]: _Hist. de la lit. lat._ Bk. II, Ch. III., Sec. 4. p. 307. + +[171]: _Plaut. Stud._, p. 105. + +[172]: _Daos_, pp. 557 f. Cf. 218 f. + +[173]: Introd. to _Ps._ Cf. _Daos_, p. 452 ff. + +[174]: E.g., _Amph._ 957, _Bac._ 844, _Cas._ 308, +_Men._ 898, _Mil._ 1137, 1188, _Per._ 301, 543, +_Poen._ 576, _Rud._ 1209, _St._ 400-1, _Trin._ 482. + +[175]: Part II, Sec. I. B. 2. + +[176]: P. 157. + +[177]: Cf. _Daos_, p. 60. + +[178]: Cf. in general the conclusions of LeGrand, _Daos_, p. 550, and +his admirable analysis (Part II) of "La structure des comedies." He has +recognized the existence of a number of the characteristics treated above, +but his discussion is in different vein and with a different object in +view. + +[179]: _Cap._ 489, _Cur._ 483. + +[180]: _Cur._ 269, et al. + +[181]: _Mil._ 991. + +[182]: _Ps._ 416, et al. + +[183]: _Ps._ 1232. + +[184]: _Ps._ 748. For a fairly complete collection, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, p. 44 ff. Cf. Middleton and Mills, _Students' Companion to +Latin Authors_, p. 20 ff. + +[185]: Cf. West in A.J.P. VIII. 15. Cf. note 1, Part II, supra. + +[186]: Cf. _Amph._ 861 ff., _As._ 174 f., _Cap._ 778, +_Cur._ 464, _Her._ 160, _Poen._ 1224. + +[187]: Cf. _Daos_, Part I, Chap. III: Les personnages, and p. 303 ff.; +Mommsen, _Hist._ pp. 141 ff. + +[188]: Prol, 53 ff. + +[189]: For a discussion of the relation of Plautus to his originals, v. +Schuster, _Quomodo Plautus Attica exemplaria transtulerit_; LeGrand, +_Daos_, passim; Ostermayer, _de hist. fab. in com. Pl._; +Ritschl, _Par._ 271, etc. The efforts to distinguish Plautus from his +models have so far been fragmentary and abortive and will not advance +appreciably until a complete play that he adapted has been found. At any +rate, the discussion has no real bearing on our subject, since we can +consider only the plays as actually transmitted; their sources cannot +affect our argument. The comparisons in _Daos_ seem to indicate that +Plautus did not debase his originals so much as Mommsen, Körting, Schlegel +and others had thought. Even in 1881, Kiessling (_Anal. Plaut._ II. +9) boldly expresses the opinion: "Atque omnino Plautus multo pressius +Atticorum exemplarium vestigia secutus est quam hodie vulgo arbitrantur". +Cf. Kellogg in PAPA. XLIV (1913). + +[190]: Euanthius, _de Com._ IV. 4. + +[191]: For an interesting comparison of Plautus and Terence, v. Spengel, +_Über die lateinische Komödie_, (Munich 1878). + +[192]: The importance of the music is indicated by the transmission of the +composer's name in all extant _didascaliae_, esp. those of Terence. +V. Klotz, _Altröm. Met._ p. 384 ff. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by +Wilton Wallace Blancke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + +***** This file should be named 9970-0.txt or 9970-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/7/9970/ + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9970-0.zip b/9970-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e49f5bb --- /dev/null +++ b/9970-0.zip diff --git a/9970-8.txt b/9970-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d627a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/9970-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3511 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by Wilton Wallace Blancke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +Author: Wilton Wallace Blancke + +Release Date: August 12, 2006 [EBook #9970] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +University of Pennsylvania + +The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +By + +Wilton Wallace Blanck, A.M., Ph.D. +Professor of Latin in the Central High School of Philadelphia + +A Thesis + +Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial fulfillment +of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy + +1918 + + + + +Foreword + + + +This dissertation was written in 1916, before the entrance of the United +States into The War, and was presented to the Faculty of the University of +Pennsylvania as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its +publication at this time needs no apology, for it will find its only +public in the circumscribed circle of professional scholars. They at least +will understand that scholarship knows no nationality. But in the fear +that this may fall under the eye of that larger public, whose interests +are, properly enough, not scholastic, a word of explanation may prove a +safeguard. + +The Germans have long been recognized as the hewers of wood and drawers of +water of the intellectual world. For the results of the drudgery of minute +research and laborious compilation, the scholar must perforce seek German +sources. The copious citation of German authorities in this work is, then, +the outcome of that necessity. I have, however, given due credit to German +criticism, when it is sound. The French are, generically, vastly superior +in the art of finely balanced critical estimation. + +My sincere thanks are due in particular to the Harrison Foundation of the +University for the many advantages I have received therefrom, to +Professors John C. Rolfe and Walton B. McDaniel, who have been both +teachers and friends to me, and to my good comrades and colleagues, +Francis H. Lee and Horace T. Boileau, for their aid in editing this essay. + +Wilton Wallace Blanck. +1918. + + + + +Part 1 + +A Rsum of the Criticism and of the Evidence Relating to the Acting +of Plautus + + + + +Introduction + + + +This investigation was prompted by the abiding conviction that Plautus as +a dramatic artist has been from time immemorial misunderstood. In his +progress through the ages he has been like a merry clown rollicking +amongst people with a hearty invitation to laughter, and has been rewarded +by commendation for his services to morality and condemnation for his +buffoonery. The majority of Plautine critics have evinced too serious an +attitude of mind in dealing with a comic poet. However portentous and +profound his scholarship, no one deficient in a sense of humor should +venture to approach a comic poet in a spirit of criticism. For criticism +means appreciation. + +Furthermore, the various estimates of our poet's worth have been as +diversified as they have been in the main unfair. Alternately lauded as a +master dramatic craftsman and vilified as a scurrilous purveyor of +unsavory humor, he has been buffeted from the top to the bottom of the +dramatic scale. More recent writers have been approaching a saner +evaluation of his true worth, but never, we believe, has his real position +in that dramatic scale been definitely and finally fixed; because +heretofore no attempt has been made at a complete analysis of his +dramatic, particularly his comic, methods. It is the aim of the present +dissertation to accomplish this. + +I doubt not that from the inception of our acquaintance with the pages of +Plautus we have all passed through a similar experience. In the beginning +we have been vastly diverted by the quips and cranks and merry wiles of +the knavish slave, the plaints of love-lorn youth, the impotent rage of +the baffled pander, the fruitless growlings of the hungry parasite's +belly. We have been amused, perhaps astonished, on further reading, at +meeting our new-found friends in other plays, clothed in different names +to be sure and supplied in part with a fresh stock of jests, but still +engaged in the frustration of villainous panders, the cheating of harsh +fathers, until all ends with virtue triumphant in the establishment of the +undoubted respectability of a hitherto somewhat dubious female +character.[1] + +Our astonishment waxes as we observe further the close correspondence of +dialogue, situation and dramatic machinery. We are bewildered by the +innumerable asides of hidden eavesdroppers, the inevitable recurrence of +soliloquy and speech familiarly directed at the audience, while every once +in so often a slave, desperately bent on finding someone actually under +his nose, careens wildly cross the stage or rouses the echoes by +unmerciful battering of doors, meanwhile unburdening himself of lengthy +solo tirades with great gusto;[2] and all this dished up with a sauce of +humor often too racy and piquant for our delicate twentieth-century +palate, which has acquired a refined taste for suggestive innuendo, but +never relishes calling a spade by its own name. + +If we have sought an explanation of our poet's gentle foibles in the +commentaries to our college texts, we have assuredly been disappointed. +Even to the seminarian in Plautus little satisfaction has been vouchsafed. +We are often greeted by the enthusiastic comments of German critics, which +run riot in elaborate analyses of plot and character and inform us that we +are reading _Meisterwerke_ of comic drama.[3] Our perplexity has perhaps +become focused upon two leading questions; first: "What manner of drama is +this after all? Is it comedy, farce, opera bouffe or mere extravaganza?" +Second: "How was it done? What was the technique of acting employed to +represent in particular the peculiarly extravagant scenes?"[4] + +There is an interesting contrast between the published editions of Plautus +and Bernard Shaw. Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate +network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of +the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find +nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such +editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken +lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at +least does not lie on the surface of the text. + +For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are +necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a rsum of the +evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a +consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and +stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the +plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We +hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading +questions. + + + +1. Critics of Plautus + + +Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things, +time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from +a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the +rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of +denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation. + +Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously. +Stylistically he was translated to the skies. [Sidenote: Cicero] Cicero[5] +imputes to him "iocandi genus, ... elegans, urbanum, ingeniosum, facetum." +[Sidenote: Aelius Stilo] Quintilian[6] quotes: "Licet Varro Musas Aelii +Stilonis sententia Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si latine +loqui vellent." [Sidenote: Gellius] The paean is further swelled by +Gellius, who variously refers to our hero as "homo linguae atque +elegantiae in verbis Latinae princeps,"[7] and "verborum Latinorum +elegantissimus,"[8] and "linguae Latinae decus."[9] [Sidenote: Horace] If +our poet is scored by Horace[10] it is probably due rather to Horace's +affectation of contempt for the early poets than to his true convictions; +or we may ascribe it to the sophisticated metricist's failure to realize +the existence of a "Metrica Musa Pedestris." As Duff says (_A Literary +History of Rome_, p. 197), "The scansion of Plautus was less understood in +Cicero's day than that of Chaucer was in Johnson's." (Cf. Cic. _Or._ 55. +184.) + +[Sidenote: Euanthius] We have somewhat of a reaction, too, against the +earlier chorus of praise in the commentary of Euanthius,[11] who condemns +Plautus' persistent use of direct address of the audience. If it is true, +as Donatus[12] says later: "Comoediam esse Cicero ait imitationem vitae, +speculum consuetudinis, imaginem veritatis," we find it hard to understand +Cicero's enthusiatic praise of Plautus, as we hope to show that he is very +far from measuring up to any such comic ideal as that laid down by Cicero +himself. + +But of course these ancient critiques have no appreciable bearing on our +argument and we cite them rather for historical interest and +retrospect.[13] [Sidenote: Festus] [Sidenote: Brix] While Festus[14] makes +a painful effort to explain the location of the mythical "Portus Persicus" +mentioned in the _Amph._,[15] Brix[16] in modern times shows that there is +no historical ground for the elaborate mythical genealogy in _Men._ 409 +ff. We contend that "Portus Persicus" is pure fiction, as our novelists +refer fondly to "Zenda" or "Graustark," while the _Men._ passage is a +patent burlesque of the tragic style.[17] + +[Sidenote: Becker] On the threshold of what we may term modern criticism +of Plautus we find W.A. Becker, in 1837, writing a book: "De Comicis +Romanorum Fabulis Maxime Plautinis Quaestiones." Herein, after deploring +the neglect of Plautine criticism among his immediate predecessors and +contemporaries, he attempts to prove that Plautus was a great "original" +poet and dramatic artist. Surely no one today can be in sympathy with such +a sentiment as the following (Becker, p. 95): "Et Trinummum, quae ita +amabilibus lepidisque personis optimisque exemplis abundat, ut quoties eam +lego, non comici me poetae, sed philosophi Socratici opus legere mihi +videar." I believe we may safely call the _Trinummus_ the least Plautine +of Plautine plays, except the _Captivi_, and it is by no means so good a +work. The _Trinummus_ is crowded with interminable padded dialogue, +tiresome moral preachments, and possesses a weakly motivated plot; a +veritable "Sunday-school play." + +But Becker continues: "Sive enim <Plautus> seria agit et praecepta pleno +effundit penu, ad quae componere vitarn oporteat; in sententiis quanta +gravitas, orationis quanta vis, quam probe et meditate cum hominum ingenia +moresque novisse omnia testantur." We feel sure that our Umbrian fun-maker +would strut in public and laugh in private, could he hear such an encomium +of his lofty moral aims. For it is our ultimate purpose to prove that +fun-maker Plautus was primarily and well-nigh exclusively a fun-maker. + +[Sidenote: Weise] K. H. Weise, in "Die Komodien des Plautus, kritisch nach +Inhalt und Form beleuchtet, zur Bestimmung des Echten und Unechten in den +einzelnen Dichtungen" (Quedlinburg, 1866), follows hard on Becker's heels +and places Plautus on a pinnacle of poetic achievement in which we +scarcely recognize our apotheosized laugh-maker. Every passage in the +plays that is not artistically immaculate, that does not conform to the +uttermost canons of dramatic art, is unequivocally damned as "unecht." In +his Introduction (p. 4) Weise is truly eloquent in painting the times and +significance of our poet. With momentary insight he says: "Man hat an ihm +eine immer frische und nie versiegende Fundgrabe des chten Volkswitzes." +But this is soon marred by utterances such as (p. 14): "Fnde sich also in +der Zahl der Plautinischen Komodien eine Partie, die mit einer andern in +diesen Hinsichten in bedeutendem Grade contrastirte, so konnte man sicher +schliessen, dass beide nicht von demselben Verfasser sein knnten." He +demands from Plautus, as _ein wahrer Poet_, "Congruenz, und richtige +innere Logik <und> harmonische Construction" (p. 12), and finally declares +(p. 22): "Interesse, Character, logischer Bau in der Zusammensetzung, +Naturlichkeit der Sprache und des Witzes, Rythmus und antikes Idiom des +Ausdrucks werden die Kriterien sein mussen, nach dem wir uber die +Vortrefflichkeit und Plautinitt plautinischer Stcke zu entscheiden +haben." + +On this basis he ruthlessly carves out and discards as "unecht" every +passage that fails to conform to his amazing and extravagant ideals, in +the belief that "der chte Meister Plautus konnte nur Harmonisches, nur +Vernunftiges, nur Logisches, nur relativ Richtiges dichten" (p. 79), +though even Homer nods. The _Mercator_ is banned _in toto_. To be sure, +Weise somewhat redeems himself by the statement (p. 29 f.): "Plautus +bezweckte ... lediglich nur die eigentliche und wirksamste Belustigung des +Publicums." But how he reconciles this with his previously quoted +convictions and with the declaration (p. 16): "Plautus ist ein sehr +religioser, sehr moralischer Schriftsteller," it is impossible to grasp, +until we recall that the author is a German. + +[Sidenote: Langen] Such criticism stultifies itself and needs no +refutation; certainly not here, as P. Langen in his _Plautinische Studien_ +(_Berliner Studien_, 1886; pp. 90-91) has conclusively proved that the +inconsistent is a feature absolutely germane to Plautine style, and has +collected an overwhelming mass of "Widerspruche, Inkonsequenzen und +psychologische Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" that would question the +"Plautinity" of every other line, were we to follow Weise's precepts. +Langen too uses the knife, but with a certain judicious restraint. + +We insist that the attempt to explain away every inconsistency as spurious +is a sorry refuge. + +[Sidenote: Langrehr] Langrehr in _Miscellanea Philologica_ (Gottingen, +1876), under the caption _Plautina_[18] gives vent to further solemn +Teutonic carpings at the plot of the _Epidicus_ and argues the play a +_contaminatio_ on the basis of the double intrigue. He is much exercised +too over the mysterious episode of 'the disappearing flute-girl.' + +Langen, who is in the main remarkably sane, refutes these conclusions +neatly.[19] How Weise and his confrres argue Plautus such a super-poet, +in view of the life and education of the public to whom he catered, let +alone the evidence of the plays themselves, and their author's status as +mere translator and adapter, must remain an insoluble mystery. The simple +truth is that a playwright such as Plautus, having undertaken to feed a +populace hungry for amusement, ground out plays (doubtless for a +living),[20] with a wholesome disregard for niceties of composition, +provided only he obtained his _sine qua non_--the laugh.[21] + +[Sidenote: Lessing] In our citation of opinions we must not overlook that +impressive mile-stone in the history of criticism, the discredited but +still great Lessing. In his "Abhandlung von dem Leben und den Werken des +M. Accius Plautus" Lessing deprecates the harsh judgment of Horace and +later detractors of our poet in modern times. Lessing idealizes him as the +matchless comic poet. That the _Captivi_ is "das vortrefflichste Stck, +welches jemals auf den Schauplatz gekommen ist," as Lessing declares in +the Preface to his translation of the play, is an utterance that leaves us +gasping. + +[Sidenote: Dacier] But Lessing's idea of the purpose of comedy is a +combination of Aristotelian and mid-Victorian ideals: "die Sitten der +Zuschauer zu bilden und zu bessern, ... wenn sie nmlich das Laster +allezeit unglcklich und die Tugend am Ende glcklich sein lsst."[22] It +is on the basis of this premise that he awards the comic crown to the +_Cap._[23] His extravagant encomium called forth from a contemporary a +long controversial letter which Lessing published in the second edition +with a reply so feeble that he distinctly leaves his adversary the honors +of the field. How much better the diagnosis of Madame Dacier, who is +quoted by Lessing! In the introduction to her translations of the +_Amphitruo_, _Rudens_ and _Epidicus_ (issued in 1683), she apologizes for +Plautus on the ground that he had to win approval for his comedies from an +audience used to the ribaldry of the _Saturae_. + +[Sidenote: Lorenz] Lorenz in his introductions to editions of the _Most._ +and _Pseud._ is another who seems to be carried away by the unrestrained +enthusiasm that often affects scholars oversteeped in the lore of their +author. Faults are dismissed as merely "Kleine Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" +(Introd. _Ps._, p. 26, N. 25.) "Jeder Leser," says he, "<wird gewiss> +darin beistimmen, dass ... der erste Act <des _Pseudolus_> eine so +gelungene Exposition darbietet, wie sie die dramatische Poesie nur +aufweisen kann." Such a statement must fall, by weight of exaggeration. In +appreciation of the portrayal of the name-part he continues: "Mit welch' +berwltigender Herrschaft tritt hier gleich die meisterhaft geschilderte +Hauptperson hervor! Welche packende Kraft, welche hinreissende _verve_ +liegt in dem reichen Dialoge, der wie beseelt von der feurigen Energie des +begabten Menschen, der ihn lenkt, frhlich rauschend dahin eilt, +bersprudelnd von einer Fulle erheiternder Scherze und schillernder +Spielereien!" + +In curious contrast to this fulsome outpouring stands the expressed belief +of Lamarre[24] that the character of Ballio overshadows that of Pseudolus. +In support of this view he cites Cicero (_Pro Ros. Com._ 7.20), who +mentions that Roscius chose to play Ballio. + +Lorenz in his enthusiasm exalts the _Epid._ to an ideal of comic +excellence (Introd. _Ps._ p. 27). He even goes so far as to contend that +Plautus lives up to the following characterization:[25] "Nicht blos durch +naturgetreue and lebhafte Charakterschilderungen und durch eine komisch +gehaltene, aber die Grenzen des Wahrscheinlichen und des Grazisen nicht +berschreitende Zeichnung des tglichen Lebens soll der Dichter des +Lustspiels seine Zuschauer interessiren und ihr heiteres Gelchter +hervorrufen, sondern auch so reiche Anwendung zu geben, durch die es in +den Dienst einer sittlichen Idee tritt, und so gleichsam die moralische +Atmosphre ... zu reinigen." + +Such emotional superlatives merely create in the reader a cachinnatory +revulsion. Yes, Plautus was great, but he was great in a far different +way. He approached the Rabelaisian. It is doubtful if "die Grenzen des +Grazisen" lay within his purview at all. + +[Sidenote: Lamarre] The treatment of Lamarre cited above contains[26] a +highly meritorious analysis of the Plautine characters, discussed largely +as a reflection of the times and people, both of New Comedy and of +Plautus, without imputing to our poet too serious motives of subtle +portrayal. But he too ascribes to Plautus a latent moral purpose: "En +faisant rire, il veut corriger"![27] + +[Sidenote: Naudet] This sounds ominously like an echo from Naudet[28] who, +in the course of lauding Plautus' infinite invention and variety of +embroidery, would translate him into a zealous social reformer by saying: +"L'auteur se proposait de faire beaucoup rire les spectateurs, mais il +voulait aussi qu'ils se corrigeassent en riant." All this is +disappointing. We should have expected Gallic esprit to rise superior to +such banality. + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed +by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled _Daos Tableau de la comedie +grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle_ (Annales de l'Universit de +Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques +et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au +point de vue moral, la {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} dut tre inoffensive (en son temps)." This is +the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis of the +extant remains of New Comedy and _Palliatae_. + +Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status +of a petty moralizer[29]. In particular, he lauds the _Aul_ unreservedly +as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of character delineation and pronounces it +immeasurably superior to Molire's imitation, "L'Avare."[30] This whole +critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing +to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.[31] + +[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very +point in remarking[32] that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in +the _Cas_[33] implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic +worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and +remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen +still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the _Miles_[34]: +"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der +Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf +man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen. +Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack +_eines_ Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat." + +But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of +the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns[35], the +scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that +the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is +supposed to be conveying secret information.[36] If carried out in a +broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing. + +[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his _History_[37], in the course of an +interesting discussion on _palliatae_ and their Greek originals, has a far +saner point of view. He says of the authors of New Comedy, "They wrote not +like Eupolis and Aristophanes for a great nation; but rather for a +cultivated society which spent its time ... in guessing riddles and +playing at charades.... Even in the dim Latin copy, through which we +chiefly know it, the grace of the original is not wholly obliterated. <In +_palliatae_> persons and incidents seem capriciously or carelessly +shuffled as in a game of cards; in the original a picture from life, it +became in the reproduction a caricature." + +Naturally we are not concerned with any consideration of the value of his +estimate of New Comedy. Assuredly he rates it too highly, as later +investigations have indicated.[38] But here for the first time we are able +to quote a well-balanced appreciation of some essential features of +Plautine drama: a "capricious shuffling of incidents" and "caricature." In +fact it will be our endeavor to show that the _palliata_ was not a true +art form, but merely an outer shell or mold into which Plautus poured his +stock of witticisms. + +[Sidenote: Korting] Still more trenchant is the conclusion of Korting in +his _Geschichte des griechischen und rmischen Theaters_ (P. 218 ff.): +"Die neue attische Komdie und folglich auch ihr Abklatsch, die romische +Palliata, war nicht ein Lustspiel im hchsten, im sittlichen Sinne des +Wortes, sondern ein blosses Unterhaltungsdrama. Amsieren wollten die +Komdiendichter, nichts weiter. Jedes hhere Streben lag ihnen fern. Wohl +spickten sie ihre Lustspiele mit moralischen Sentenzen.... Aber die +schnen Sentenzen sind eben nur Zierat, sind nur Verbramung einer in ihrem +Kerne und Wesen durch und durch unsittlichen Dichtung ... Mit der +Wahrscheinlichkeit der Handlung wird es sehr leicht genommen: die +seltsamsten Zuflle werden als so ziemlich selbstverstndliche +Mglichkeiten hingestellt ... Es ginge das noch an, wenn wir in eine +phantastische Mrchenwelt gefhrt werden, in welcher am Ende auch das +Wunderbarste mglich ist, aber nein! es wird uns zugemutet, berzeugt zu +sein, dass alles mit natrlichen Dingen zugehe. + +"Alles in allem genommen, ist an dieser Komdie, abgesehen von ihrer +formal musterhaften Technik, herzlich wenig zu bewundern.... An +Zweideutigkeiten, Obscnitten, Schimpfscenen ist berfluss vorhanden." + +With admirable clarity of vision, Korting has spied the vital spot and +illuminated it with the word "Unterhaltungsdrama." That amusement was the +sole aim of the comic poets we firmly believe. But if this was so, why +arraign them on the charge of trying to convince us that everything is +happening in a perfectly natural manner? The outer form to be sure is that +of everyday life, but this is no proof that the poets demanded of their +audiences a belief in the verisimilitude of the events depicted. Can we +have no fantastic fairyland without some outlandish accompaniment such as +a chorus garbed as birds or frogs? But we reserve fuller discussion of +this point until later. We might suggest an interesting comparison to the +nonsense verse of W. S. Gilbert, which represents the most shocking ideas +in a style even nonchalantly matter-of-fact. Does Gilbert by any chance +actually wish us to believe that "Gentle Alice Brown," in the poem of the +same name, really assisted in "cutting up a little lad"? + +Korting regains his usual clear-headedness in pronouncing 'that there is +little in the technique of _palliatae_ to excite our admiration.' Again we +insist (to borrow the jargon of the modern dramatic critic) it was but a +"vehicle" for popular amusement. + +[Sidenote: Schlegel] Wilhelm Schlegel, in his _History of the Drama_[39] +has the point of view of the dramatic critic, rather than the professional +scholar; while expressing a measure of admiration for the significance of +Plautus in literature, he is impelled to say: "The bold, coarse style of +Plautus and his famous jokes, savour of his familiarity with the vulgar +... <He> mostly inclines to the farcical, to overwrought and often +disgusting drollery." This is doubtless true, but, by making the +incidental a criterion for the whole, it gives a gross misconception to +one that has not read Plautus. + +[Sidenote: Donaldson] J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek +theatre[40], has plagiarized Schlegel practically _verbatim_, while giving +the scantest credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as being a +mere echo, or compilation of second-hand material. + +We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient comedy that +he enthusiastically superintended the translation and production of plays +of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel[41]: "I once witnessed at Weimar a +representation of the _Adelphi_ of Terence, entirely in ancient costume, +which, under the direction of Goethe, furnished us a truly Attic evening." + +[Sidenote: Scott] In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may +be interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar _par excellence_, +may be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's +_Amphitryon_ he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of +Amphitryon which has _had the honour_ to be deemed worthy of imitation by +Molire and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and +inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that +of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to +which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious +literary technician![42] + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all +is certainly attained by LeGrand in _Daos_.[43] He appreciates clearly +that "la nouvelle comdie n'a pas t, en toute circonstance stance, une +comdie distingue. Elle n'a pas ddaign constamment la farce et le gros +rire."[44] How much more then would this apply to _palliatae_! + +We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of +criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which +Plautus has been subjected.[45] The ancients overrated him stylistically, +but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz +and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of +Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and +therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that +offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the +_Captivi_. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our +poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit +without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness. +Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his +inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but +Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while +aiming solely at provoking laughter. + +From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the +prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his +conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy +situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's +original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a +grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him +for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any +illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent and consummate +technique? Did he for a single instant imagine himself the inspired +reformer of public morality? Did he believe that his style was elegant and +polished? Indeed, he must have effected an appreciable refinement of the +vernacular of his age to produce his lively verse, but without losing the +robust vitality of "Volkswitz." Or is it true that nothing further than +amusement lay within his scope? + +If so, we may at least posit that almost unbounded license must be allowed +the pen which aims simply to raise a laugh. We do not fulminate against a +treatise on Quaternions because it lacks humor. If the drawings of +cartoonists are anatomically incorrect, we are smilingly indulgent. Do we +condemn a vaudeville skit for not conforming to the Aristotelian code of +dramatic technique? Assuredly we do not rise in disgust from a musical +comedy because "in real life" a bevy of shapely maidens in scant attire +never goes tripping and singing blithely though the streets. If then we +can establish that Plautus regarded his adapted dramas merely as a rack on +which to hang witticisms, merely as a medium for laugh-provoking sallies +and situations, we have at once Plautus as he pretended to be, and in +large measure the answer to the original question: "What manner of drama +is this?" + +We say only "in large measure," because it is part of our endeavor to +settle accurately the position of our author in the dramatic scale, +considered of necessity from the modern viewpoint. We cannot believe that +he had any pretensions to refined art in play building, or rather +rebuilding, or to any superficial elegance of style, or to any moralizing +pose. We believe him an entertainer pure and simple, who never restricted +himself in his means except by the outer conventions and form of the Greek +New Comedy and the Roman stage, provided his single aim, that of affording +amusement, was attained. To establish this belief, and at the same time to +interpret accurately the nature of his plays and the means and effect of +their production, is our thesis. + +If then we run the gamut of the dramatic scale, we observe that as we +descend from the higher forms, such as tragedy, psychological drama and +"straight comedy," to the lower, such as musical comedy and burlesque, the +license allowed playwright and actor increases so radically that we have a +difference of kind rather than of degree. Certain conventions of course +are common to all types. The "missing fourth side" of the room is a +commonplace recognized by all. If we ourselves are never in the habit of +communicating the contents of our letters, as we write, to a doubtless +appreciative atmosphere, we never cavil at such an act on the stage. The +stage whisper and aside, too, we accept with benevolent indulgence; but it +is worth noting that in the attempted verisimilitude of the modern +"legitimate" drama, the aside has well nigh vanished. As we go down the +scale through light comedy and broad farce these conventions multiply +rapidly. + +With the introduction of music come further absurdities. Melodious voicing +of our thoughts is in itself essentially unnatural, to say the least. +Grand opera, great art form as it may be, is hopelessly artificial. +Indeed, so far is it removed from the plane of every day existence that we +are rudely jolted by the introduction of too commonplace a thought, as +when Sharpless in the English version of "Madame Butterfly" warbles +mellifluously: "Highball or straight?" And when we reach musical comedy +and vaudeville, all thought of drama, technically speaking, is abandoned +in watching the capers of the "merry-merry" or the outrageous "Dutch" +comedian wielding his deadly newspaper. + +It is important for our immediate purposes to note: first, (as aforesaid), +that the amount of license allowed author and actor increases immeasurably +as we go down the scale; second, that the degree of familiarity with the +audience and cognizance of the spectator's existence varies inversely as +the degree of dramatic value. Thus, at one end of the scale we have, for +instance, Mrs. Fiske, whose fondness for playing to the centre of the +stage and ignoring the audience is commented upon as a mannerism; at the +other, the low comedian who says his say or sings his song directly at the +audience and converses gaily with them as his boon companions. Now it will +be shown that familiar address of the audience and the singing of monodies +to musical accompaniment are essential features of Plautus' style, and +many other implements of the lower types of modern drama are among his +favorite devices. If then we can place Plautus toward the bottom of the +scale, we relieve him vastly of responsibility as a dramatist and of the +necessity of adherence to verisimilitude. Where does he actually belong? +The answer must be sought in a detailed consideration of his methods of +producing his effects and in an endeavor to ascertain how far the audience +and the acting contributed to them. + + + +2. The Performance + + +[Sidenote: The Audience] As it is perfectly patent that every practical +playwright must cater to his public, the audience is an essential feature +in our discussion. The audience of Plautus was not of a high class. +Terence, even in later times, when education had materially progressed, +often failed to reach them by over-finesse. Plautus with his bold brush +pleased them. Surely a turbulent and motley throng they were, with the +native violence of the sun-warmed Italic temperament and the abundant +animal spirits of a crude civilization, tumbling into the theatre in the +full enjoyment of holiday, scrambling for vantage points on the sloping +ground, if such were handy, or a good spot for their camp-stools. In view +of the uncertainty as to the actual site of the original performances, +this portraiture is "atmospheric" rather than "photographic." (See +Saunders in TAPA. XLIV, 1913). At any rate, we have ample evidence of the +turbulence of the early Roman audience. (Ter. Prol. _Hec._ 39-42, and +citations immediately following). Note the description of Mommsen:[46] +"The audience was anything but genteel.... The body of spectators cannot +have differed much from what one sees in the present day at public +fireworks and gratis exhibitions. Naturally, therefore, the proceedings +were not too orderly; children cried,[47] women talked and shrieked, now +and then a wench prepared to push her way to the stage; the ushers had on +these festivals anything but a holiday, and found frequent occasion to +confiscate a mantle or to ply the rod."[48] + +Impatient if the play be delayed, and voicing their disapproval by lusty +clapping, stamping, whistling and cat-calls, they are equally ready with +noisy approval if the dramatic fare tickle their palate.[49] The +_tibicen_, as he steps forth to render the overture, is greeted +uproariously as an old favorite. The manager perhaps appears and announces +the names of those taking part, each one of whom is doubtless applauded or +hissed in proportion to his measure of popularity. Differences of opinion +as to the merits of an individual actor may culminate in the partisans' +coming to blows.[50] Horace (_Ep._ II. I. 200 ff.) comments on the +turbulence of the audiences of his day too; while under the Empire +factions for and against particular actors grew up, as in the circus.[51] +Late-comers of course often disturbed the Prologus in his lines. The +continual reiteration that we find in such prologues as the _Amph._, +_Cap._ and _Poen._ was naturally designed as a safeguard against such +disturbance. Yet these prologues were undoubtedly composed, as Ritschl has +shown (_Par._ 232 ff.), shortly after 146 B.C., and the turbulence of the +original audience must have been far greater. + +To win the favor of such a crowd, which would groan if instead of the +expected comedy a tragedy should be announced,[52] what methods were +necessary? Slap-sticks, horse-play, broad slashing swashbuckling humor, +thick colors daubed on with lavish brush! + +By Cicero's time the public had attained to such a degree of +sophistication that the slightest slip on the part of the wretched actor +was greeted by a storm of popular disapproval. "Histrio si paulum se movit +extra numerum, aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut +longior, exsibilatur, exploditur," says Cicero.[53] The actor dare not +even have a cold, for on the slightest manifestation of hoarseness, he was +hooted off, though favorites such as Roscius might be excused on the plea +of indisposition.[54] The Scholiast Cruquius to Hor. _Ser._ I. 10.37 ff. +notes: "Poemata ... in theatris exhibita imperitae multitudinis applausum +captare." + +It is evident from all this that, while the Roman public had made +considerable advances in education, their demonstrative temperament had +not cooled. It seems eminently fair to deduce that the far ruder and less +cultivated audiences of Plautus' day were even more violent in their +manifestations of pleasure and displeasure, but that their criterion of +taste was solely the amount of amusement derived from the performance and +that they bothered themselves little about niceties of rhythm. To the +Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production. +Again we reiterate, only the bold brush could have pleased them. + +That the plays of Plautus attained a permanent position in ihe theatrical +repertoire of Rome is of course well known; but he wrote primarily for his +own age, and in a difficult environment. Not only did he have to please a +highly volatile and inflammable public, but he must have been forced to +exercise tact to avoid offending the patrician powers, as the imprisonment +of Naevius indicates. Mommsen has an apt summary:[55] "Under such +circumstances, where art worked for daily wages and the artist instead of +receiving due honour was subjected to disgrace, the new national theatre +of the Romans could not present any development either original or even at +all artistic." + +[Sidenote: The Actor] This brief discussion of the relation between public +and playwright will suffice for our purposes. In the course of it we have +insensibly encroached upon the next topic: the relation of public and +actor. Who after all is the chief factor in the success or failure of a +drama, in spite of the oft misquoted adage, "The play's the thing?" The +actor! The actor, who can mouth and tear a passion to tatters, or swing a +piece of trumpery into popular favor by the brute force of his dash and +personality. That this was true in Plautus' day, no less than in our own, +is plainly indicated by the personal allusion inserted in the _Bac._ +(214-5): + + Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo, + Nullam aeque invitus specto, _si agit Pellio_. + +The servile status of the ancient actor is an index to the energy of his +performance, if to nothing else. Failure meant a beating, success a drink +at least.[56] Augustus humanely abrogated the whipping of actors, but an +attempt was made in Tiberius' time to renew the practice.[57] On the other +hand, there seem to have been prizes awarded to successful actors,[58] as +well as to the poet;[59] but this practice surely arose after Plautus' +lifetime. At any rate, whatever was the nature of the reward, in his day +the large emoluments won by Roscius and other popular favorites were +impossible.[60] The effort demanded by the elaborate education of the +actor,[61] in which naturally gesticulation was the most vital element, +was out of all proportion to the precarious reward. A rigid course of +training was prescribed and strenuous exercises were required, for both +actor and orator to keep the voice in proper form.[62] Indeed, Quintilian +advises the budding orator to take instruction in voice production and +gesticulation from the comic actor.[63] For the comic actor was at all +times recognized as livelier and more vivid in his performance than the +tragedian.[64] The two were usually sharply differentiated.[65] +Specialization arose, too, and we hear of actors who confined their +efforts to feminine roles,[66] though naturally every performer was cast +for parts to which his physique was best suited.[67] + +It is doubtful whether such an elaborate system had been developed in +Plautus' time, but this much is certain: the comedian was on the stage +lively, energetic and constantly spurred on by the fear of punishment from +the _dominus gregis_ and the violent disapproval of a fickle, tempestuous +and withal exacting public. Polybius[68] relates that the visit of a +troupe of Greek actors to Rome was a failure because of their over-staid +deportment, until, learning the desires of the volatile Italians, they +improvised a vastly more vivid pantomime depicting a mock battle, with +huge success. Assuredly the early Roman comedian must have acted with +greater abandon and clownish drollery, if not with the elaborate +histrionic technique of the later actor.[69] We have heard Dr. Charles +Knapp relate that the performance of the _Ajax_ of Sophocles by a troupe +of modern Greek players went with amazing and incredible rapidity and +vivacity. It is all of a piece. We must inevitably associate vivid +temperament with the sons of the Mediterranean in all ages. Yet we have +just seen that the Greeks of old were too self-contained for their Italian +brethren. + +[Sidenote: The Histrionism] With this brief discussion of the condition, +incentive and motive of the Plautine actor, let us pass on to a more +detailed consideration of his methods and technique. Naturally by far the +most important part of this was gesture. Here again, while some of our +evidence is somewhat unreliable, practically every shred of extant +testimony indicates an extreme liveliness and vivacity. In the +rhetoricians frequent warning is issued to the forensic neophyte to avoid +the unrestraint of theatrical gesticulation. Cicero says (_De Or._ I. 59. +251): "Nemo suaserit studiosis dicendi adulescentibus in gestu discendo +histrionum more elaborare." Quintilian echoes (I. 11. 3): "Ne gestus quidem +omnis ac motus a comediis petendus est.... Orator plurimum ... aberit a +scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius." And in the _Auctor +ad Herennium_ we find (III. 15. 26): "Convenit igitur in vultu et pudorem +nec acrimoniam esse, in gestu et venustatem nec turpitudinem, ne aut +histriones aut operarii videamur esse."[70] That the nature and liveliness +of gesture on the stage was determined by the character portrayed, it is +almost needless to say.[71] + +Cicero's analysis (_de Or._ III. 59. 220) of the difference between +theatrical and forensic gesture implies that the former illustrates +individual words and ideas, while the latter comprehends more broadly the +general thought and sentiment.[72] It is most unfortunate that we have +lost Cicero's treatise _De Gestu Histrionis_.[73] + +By Cicero's time a more restrained mode of acting was evidently considered +good taste; witness _de Off._ (I. 36. 130): "Histrionum non nulli gestus +ineptus non vacant, et quae sunt recta et simplicia laudantur."[74] But +the passages cited above bear ample testimony to the vigor of histrionic +gesticulation even at this later and far more cultivated epoch. Again we +repeat, what must have been the energy and abandon of the original +Plautine actor?[75] + +Apart from the rhetoricians, the most fruitful literary source of our +information on gesture is Donatus' commentary on Terence. The +trustworthiness of this has been the subject of much argument. Sittl[76] +accuses him of speaking merely from the standpoint of a professor of +rhetoric, as comedies of Terence were no longer given in the time of +Donatus. Weinberger in his "Beitrage zu den Buhnenaltherthumern aus Donats +Terenz-commentar,"[77] admonishes us to be very careful not to put too +high a value on the commentary. Van Wageningen[78] is of the opinion that +much of the work was inspired by Donatus' having seen in his own time +unmasked actors play. To this view color is lent by Donatus' note to +_And._ 716: "Sive haec <Mysis> personatis viris agitur, ut apud veteres, +sive per mulierem, ut nunc videmus." + +If this is true, it makes Donatus' work of more significance to us, as it +would imply a harking back to the play of feature of the unmasked +performances of Plautus' day. But while it is certain that Donatus had +other sources than the Terentian text for his annotations,[79] it is +equally certain that practically everything he has to say relative to +gesture and stage business is readily to be deduced from the text and is +in the main interesting only as a compilation.[80] However, everything he +says continues to point persistently to lively gesture and action; and +this too in Terentian comedy, where the text makes far less rigorous +demands on the actor's muscles than in Plautus' works. + +Donatus remarks occasionally that certain words must have been accompanied +by especially expressive gesture and byplay, evidently of feature, as +_vultuose, cum gestu_ and similar phrases are used to indicate this.[81] +His note to _And._ 722 is: "Haec scaena actuosa est: magis enim in gestu +quam in oratione est constituta." Of gestures emphatic and yet not foreign +to everyday life Quintilian notes (XI. 3. 123): "Femur ferire--et usitatum +et indignantis decet"; a movement plainly employed in _Mil._ 204 and +_Truc._ 601. But, says Quintilian further (ib.): "Complodere manus +scaenicum est et pectus caedere."[82] + +One of the notable "hits" of the ancient stage is recorded by Donatus ad +_Phor._ 315: Ambivius (as Phormio) entered "oscitans temulenter atque +aurem minimo scalpens digitulo ... et labia lingens ut ebrius et ructans." +But Ambivius' potations resulted in an extremely spirited and lifelike +imitation of the parasite character and he was forthwith forgiven his +drunkenness. + +Passing mention must be made of the Terentian Mss. illustrations, though +they add but little weight to the foregoing. For a complete list of their +sources and editions see Sittl, "Gebrden der Griechen und Rmer," Chap. +XI, p. 203 ff.[83] But whatever be the exact date of the original, in our +extant copies the old traditional gestures are lost and the gesture of +everyday life supplied. In fact, in the analyses appended by Leo, van +Wageningen and Warnecke, in the works cited above, we arrive at little but +that the gestures natural to any Italian-born person in a like situation +are reproduced, such as "gestus abeuntis, cogitantis, parasiti," etc. It +is almost too much to make any of this a basis for argument as to +classical and pre-classical stage-craft. It is at least significant that +every character with hands free is gesticulating and the scene from _Eun._ +IV. 6-7 is evidently full of vigorous action. + +An old and discursive article[84] by T. Baden, containing a description +and analysis of the gestures and posture of a number of familiar figures +from comedy exemplified in some collections of statuettes (chiefly those +in Borgia's Museum of Baden's time), is open to the same objection as the +above. The gestures of slave, pander, parasite, etc., described in the +article are lively and expressive to be sure, but contain little to +differentiate them from those of daily life. + +While much of our evidence is still to come, we believe that we are +already justified in the deduction that the actor contemporary with +Plautus must have indulged in the extravagances of the players in the +Atellan farces and the mimes. The _mimus_ of the Empire, we know, +specialized in ridiculous facial contortions.[85] + +We must not forget too the vivacity indicated by the comic scenes among +the Pompeian and Herculanean wall-paintings,[86] which have a close +kinship with the Terentian MSS. pictures. Nor must we lose sight of the +fact that all our pictorial _reliquiae_ portray the later masked +characters, and hence play of feature, which must have been a notable +concomitant of the original Plautine performance, is entirely obscured. + +As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent of our +poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order. Whether we +agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first introduced for comedy +and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius Prothymus respectively,[87] +or with Diomedes' explanation[88] that Roscius adopted them to disguise +his pronounced squint, it is certain that they were not worn in Plautus' +time, when wigs and make-up were employed for characterization.[89] In +fact, the early performances of Plautus, unless we except the original +Terentian productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman +comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the practice of +lively grimace and facial play. + +The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward +appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries of make-up +that rival those of the Old Comedy. From _As._ 400-1 we learn that Saurea +was: + + Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ventriosus, + Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte. + +In the _Mer._ Lysimachus is described as a veritable _thensaurus +mali_ (639-40): + + Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum, + Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum. + +Curculio was one-eyed: "Unocule, salve" (Cur. 392). Pseudolus must have +been a joy to the groundlings _(Ps._ 1218 ff.): + + Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger, + Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum + Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes. + Pseudolus fuit ipsus. + +His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization. +(Cf. Ter. _Phor._ 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer, +he inquires (_Rud._ 316 ff.): + + Ecquem + Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum, + Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?[90] + +The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in +vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this +respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One +must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as +on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too +slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore, +deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and +developed their Greek and Etruscan models.[91] When Livius Andronicus +first fathered _palliatae_, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as +the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his +audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him, +and he doubtless seized upon the _palliata_ form as the natural medium for +the exploitation of his talents. By Cicero's time considerable technical +equipment was required; the actor must be an adept in gesticulation, +gymnastic and dancing.[92] Appreciable refinement had been reached in +Quintilian's age, for he scores the comic actor who departs too far from +reality and pronounces the ideal player him who declaims with a measured +artistic heightening of everyday discourse.[93] It is noteworthy that this +practically coincides with the accepted standard of modern realistic +acting. But the Plautine actor could never have felt himself trammeled by +any such narrow and sophisticated restrictions, as we believe the evidence +accumulated above amply proves. At any rate, the delineation of different +roles must have been at all times strictly in character. The need of +feminine vocal tones, unless another jest is intended is indicated by +_Rud._ 233: + + Certe vox muliebris auris tetigit meas. + +And Quintilian admonishes the youth who is taking lessons from a comic +actor in voice-production not to carry his precepts so far as to imitate +the female falsetto, the senile tremolo, the obsequiousness of the slave, +the stuttering accents of intoxication or the intonations of love, greed, +fear.[94] + +Where Donatus gives instructions as to the vocal expression with which +certain lines are to be delivered, as in the case of his comments on +gesture, they are almost painfully evident from the context. He cites for +instance irony[95], anger[96], exhaustion [97], amazement [98], +sympathy[99], pity[100]. He appears as the lineal ancestor of the modern +"coach" of amateur theatricals in somewhat naively remarking[101] that +upon leaving Thais for two days, Phaedria must pronounce "two days" as if +"two years" were written. + +Another phase of the delivery of the dialogue that deserves passing +mention is song and musical accompaniment. Livy's anecdote[102] of the +employment by Livius Andronicus of a boy to sing for him while he +gesticulated is almost universally accepted as an exceptional instance, +prompted by the failing of Livius' voice through age[103]. We are now +fairly well informed of the tripartite diversion of the dialogue into +_canticum_ or song proper, recitative, and _diverbium_ or spoken +utterance[104], with the incidental accompaniment of the _tibia_. Though +there may be some dispute as to the apportionment of the various classes, +the general truth is established.[105] The important feature of this for +our purpose is that, if the ancient tragedy with its music and dancing was +rather comparable to modern grand opera than to drama proper, the song and +musical accompaniment of comedy lend it a strong flavor of the opera +bouffe and even of the musical comedy of to-day. In Part II we shall draw +numerous other parallels between this style of composition and the plays +of Plautus. West, in A.J.P. VIII. 33, notes one of the few comparisons to +"comic opera" that we have seen. Fay, in the Introduction to his ed. of +the _Most._ ( 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early +schools." + +One feature of the performance still remains to be discussed--the +"stage-business," that is, the movements of the actors apart from mere +gesticulation and dialogue. Much of this too will find a place in Part II, +in the treatment of special peculiarities, but in general we note here +that the text itself contains many indications that are as plain as +printed stage directions regarding the movements being made or about to be +made by the characters. Examples of the more significant follow: _Amph._ +308: Cingitur: Certe expedit se; 312: Perii, pugnos ponderat. (Sosia +speaks aside of Mercury and similarly during the succeeding scene); 903: +Potin ut abstineas manum?; 955: Aperiuntur aedis. This motif is +commonplace and frequent; 958: Vos tranquillos video; 1130: quam valide +tonuit; _As._ 39: Age, age, usque excrea; _Bac._ 668: quod sic terram +optuere?; _Cap._ 557: Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuitur?; 594: +Ardent oculi;[106] 793: Hic homo pugilatum incipit; _Ep._ 609: illi +caperrat frons severitudine; _Mer._ 138: iam dudum spato sanguinem; _Mil._ +1324: Nefle; _Most._ 1030: vocis non habeo satis. (He must have been +shouting); _Ps._ 458: Statum vide hominis, Callipho, quam basilicum; 955: +transvorsus ... cedit, quasi cancer solet: _Trin._ 623 f.: celeri +graducunt uterque: ille rcprehendit hunc priorem pallio.[107] + +This practice of indicating business in the lines, of making the +play act, is common to all the older types of drama, Elizabethan as +well as classic. A single striking example from Shakespeare will +furnish a parallel, in the well-known lines from _Macbeth_: + + The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon, + Where gott'st thou that goose look? (V. 3). + +The modern playwright robs his lines of their vividness and +throws the onus on the actor through the medium of his interpolated +direction, a custom which reaches its most exaggerated form +in the plays of Bernard Shaw, as mentioned above. + +[Sidenote: Thesis] We have now made a perceptible advance towards getting +an answer to our original questions: "What manner of drama is this?" and +"How was it done?" The comments of the most eminent critics on the former +question have left us rather bewildered by their diversity. Almost to a +man they have taken Plautus too seriously or else have arraigned him for +not conforming to their preconceived code of comedy, without questioning +whether it were Plautus' own or not. This has really nullified their +efforts to explain away the peculiarities and absurdities of his style. +Some _solvent_ of these difficulties is needed. + +As to the second question, we have examined briefly the extant evidence +regarding the actor's employment of gesture and business, his delivery of +the dialogue, make-up and character delineation, and found a disappointing +paucity, but a general and irresistible trend towards liveliness, vivacity +and broad undiluted comedy that must have been the sort of dramatic fare +demanded by the primeval appetite of the Plautine audience. But again we +find ourselves falling short of a satisfying answer to our question. +Again, some _solvent_ is needed. As the last resort, we turn to the +evidence of the plays themselves and the unbounded realm of subjective +criticism. + +From the earliest times gesture and business in Aristophanes and the Old +Comedy were marked by the riotous license of all the media of that notable +epoch[108] of comedy. From the broad spirit of its frank and vivid +burlesque not even the most stolidly Teutonic of humorless critics ever +thought of demanding a "picture of life." But with the abandonment of the +purpose of political propaganda, the consequent disappearance of the +chorus with its burlesque trappings (largely through motives of state +economy), and the establishment in the New Comedy of a type of dramatic +machinery that had a specious outer shell of reflection of characters and +events in daily life, the critics instantly seem to demand the standard of +dramatic technique of Aristotle and Freytag and condemn all departures +from this standard. In reality, we believe that the kinship of Plautus +with Aristophanes is much closer than has usually been realized. + +Is, then, the change from Old to New Comedy as great as has been +represented? Does not the change consist rather in the outer form and in +the ideas expounded than in the spirit of the histrionism and mimicry? And +must not the vigor, from what we have seen, have been intensified in +Plautus? LeGrand alone seems to have caught the essence of this:[109] "Que +dire de la mimique? D'aprs les indications contenues dans le texte mme +des comdies, d'aprs les commentaires--notamment ceux de Donat, d'aprs +les monuments figurs--en particulier les images des manuscrits, elle +devait tre en general trs vive, souvent trop vive pour le got des +modernes.... Et puis, ils s'addressaient a des spectateurs mridionaux, +coutumiers dans la vie quotidienne d'une gesticulation plus anime que la +ntre." And this is said as a combined estimate of New Comedy and +_palliatae_. + +We are now prepared to advance a definite thesis, that shall gather up the +random threads of argument and suggestion scattered through the foregoing +pages and shall, we hope, provide a conclusive and final answer to both of +our original questions. If we can establish: that our author's sole aim +was to feed the popular hunger for amusement; that, while after leaving +much of his Greek originals practically untouched, he considered them in +effect but a medium for the provocation of laughter, but a vessel into +which to pour a highly seasoned brew of fun; that to this end his actors +went before the public, potentially speaking slap-stick in hand, equipped +by nature with liveliness of grimace and gesture and prepared to act with +verve, unction and an abandon of dash and vigor that would produce a riot +of merriment; that his dramatic machinery is hopelessly crippled and that +his evident intentions and effects are hopelessly lost unless interpreted +in this spirit: then we relegate Plautine drama to a low plane of broad +farce, where verisimilitude to life becomes wholly unnecessary because +undesirable; where the canons of dramatic art become inoperative; where, +contrary to what Krting says, we are not asked to believe that +"everything is happening in a perfectly natural manner"; where the poet +may stick at nothing provided the laugh be forthcoming; where all the +apparently absurd conventions of _palliatae_ cease to be absurd, vanish +into thin air and become unamenable to literary criticism, inasmuch as +they are all only part of the laugh-compelling scheme. This is the +_solvent_ that we propose. To establish this, let us proceed to an +examination of the internal mechanism of the plays. + + + + +Part II + +An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus + + + +The salient features that characterize the plays of Plautus include both +his consciously employed means of producing his comic effects, and the +peculiarities and abnormalities that evidence his attitude of mind in +writing them. We should make bold to catalogue them as follows: + +I. Machinery characteristic of the lower types of modern drama--farce, low + comedy, musical comedy, burlesque shows, vaudeville, and the like. + + A. Devices self-evident from the text. + 1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + 2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + 3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + a. True burlesque. + b. True farce. + c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + + B. Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad + farcical spirit. + 1. The running slave. + 2. Wilful blindness. + 3. Adventitious entrance. + +II. Evidences of loose composition which prove a disregard of + technique and hence indicate that entertainment was the sole aim. + + A. Solo speeches and passages. + 1. Asides and soliloquies. + 2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + 3. Direct address of the audience. + + B. Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition. + 1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + 2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + 3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + 4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + 5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + 6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +Let us illustrate these points by typical passages and endeavor to insert +such stage-directions as would indicate how the most telling effects could +be produced and hence aid the reader in visualizing the actual +performance. + + +I. Machinery Characteristic of the Lower Types of Modern Drama + +A. _Devices self-evident from the text._ + +1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + +It is a little difficult to sublimate this entirely from burlesque, but +its true nature is instanced by the opening lines of the _Miles_, where +the vainglorious Pyrgopolinices, with many a sweep and strut, addresses +his attendants, who are probably staggering under the weight of an +enormous shield: + +"Have a care that the effulgence of my shield be brighter than e'er the +sun's rays in a cloudless sky: when the time for action comes and the +battle's on, I intend it shall dazzle the eyesight o' m' foes. (_Patting +his sword_). Verily I would condole with this m' sword, lest he lament and +be cast down in spirit, forasmuch as now full long hath he hung idle by m' +side, thirsting, poor lad, to meet his fellow 'mongst the foe," and so on. + +In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device. So +we find Pseudolus addressing the audience in ringing blustering tones and +with grandiose gesture (_Ps._ 584 ff.): + +"It now becomes my aim today to lay siege to this town and capture it." +(Ballio the procurer is the town). "I shall hurl all my legions against +it. If I take it, ... good luck to you, my citizens, for part of the booty +shall be yours." + +This finds a close counterpart in the _Mil._ 219 ff., a passage which +West[110] thinks was deliberately inserted to rouse the populace into +demanding that Scipio be at once despatched to Africa. + +Periplecomenus is urging Palaestrio to find a stratagem. Actually he +probably addresses the pit: + +"Don't you see that the enemy are upon you and investing your rear? Call a +council of war, reach out for stores and reinforcements in this crisis: +haste, haste, no time to waste! Make a detour through some pass, forestall +your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops! Cut off the enemy's base of +supplies!" etc. + +Whether this passage had an ulterior purpose or not, the motif is +frequent.[111] So we find Chrysalus in _Bac._ 925 ff. holding the stage +for an entire scene with an elaborate comparison of himself to Ulysses, +the brains of the Greek host, overcoming his master Nicobulus who +represents Priam. + +In general the mocking assumption of an heroic attitude recurs with +sufficient frequency to stamp it as a staple of comic effect. Many +passages would become tiresome and meaningless instead of amusing unless +so interpreted. The soliloquy of Mnesilochus in _Bac._ 500 ff. could be +made interesting only by turgid ranting. Similarly in _Bac._ 530 ff. and +612 ff.[112] + + +2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + +By this we mean what can in nowise be so clearly defined as by +"rough-house." For instance, the turbulent Euclio in _Aul._ delivers +bastings impartially to various _dramatis personae_ and as a climax drives +the cooks and music-girl pell-mell out of the house, doubtless accompanied +by deafening howling and clatter (415 ff.). Similarly in the _Cas._ (875 +ff.) Chalinus routs Olympio and the lecherous Lysidamus. We may well +imagine that such scenes were preceded as well as accompanied by a fearful +racket within (a familiar device of our low comedy and extravaganza), the +effect probably heightened by tempestuous _melodrama_ on the _tibiae_, as +both the scenes cited are in _canticum_. + +In the _Men._ we are treated to a free fight, in which the valiant +Messenio routs the _lorarii_ by vigorous punches, while Menaechmus plants +his fist in one antagonist's eye (_Men._ 1011 ff.): + +(Menaechmus of Epidamnus is seized by _lorarii_; as he struggles, +Messenio, slave of Menaechmus Sosicles, rushes into the fray to his +rescue). "MES. I say! Gouge out that fellow's eye, the one that's got you +by the shoulder, master. Now as for these rotters, I'll plant a crop of +fists on their faces. (_Lays about._) By Heaven, you'll be everlastingly +sorry for the day you tried to carry my master off. Let go! + +MEN. (_Joining in with a will._) I've got this fellow by the eye! + +MES. Bore it out! A hole's good enough for his face! You villians, you +thieves, you robbers! (_General mele. Lorarii weaken._) + +LOR. We're done for! Oh Lord, please! + +MES. Let go then! + +MEN. What right had you to lay hands on me? Give them a good beating up! +(_Lorarii break and scatter wildly under the ferocious onslaught._) + +MES. Come, clear out! To the devil with you all! That for _you_! +(_Strikes._) You're the last; here's _your_ reward! (_Strikes again._)" + +The lines themselves are sufficiently graphic and need but little +annotation. Other pugilistic activities crop up at not infrequent +intervals in the text,[113] and in _Ps._ 135 ff. Ballio generously plies +the whip. In the lacuna of the _Amph._ after line 1034, Mercury probably +bestows a drenching on Amphitruo.[114] In _As._ III. 3, especially 697 +ff., Libanus makes his master Argyrippus "play horsey" with him, doubtless +with indelicate buffonery. With invariable energy, even so simple a matter +as knocking on doors is made the excuse for raising a violent disturbance, +as in _Amph._ 1019 f. and 1025: Paene effregisti, fatue, foribus +cardines.[115] And this idea is actually parodied in _As._ 384 ff. No, +Plautus did not allow his public to languish for want of noise. + + +3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + +Under this head we include such conscious strivings for comic as are +frankly and plainly exaggerated and hyper-natural. + + +a. True burlesque. + +This is in effect pure parody, cartooning. Patent burlesque of tragedy +appears in _Trin._ 820 ff. (_Charmides returns from abroad._) + +"CHAR. To Neptune, ruler of the deep, and puissant brother unto Jove and +Nereus, do I in joy and gladness cry my praises and gratefully proclaim my +gratitude; and to the briny waves, who held me in their power, yea, even +my chattels and my very life, and from their realms restored me to the +city of my birth," etc., etc. + +To tickle the ears of the groundlings, this must have been delivered in +grandiloquent mimicry with all the paraphernalia of the tragic style. +Horace notes a kindred manifestation of this tendency (to which he himself +is pleasingly addicted), in _Ep._ II. 3.93 f.: + + Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit + Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore. + +Tragic burlesque is again beautifully exemplified in _Ps._ 702 ff. The +versatile Pseudolus after a significant aside: "I'll address the fellow in +high-sounding words," says to his master Calidorus: + +"Hail! Hail! Thee, thee, O mighty ruler, thee do I beseech who art lord +over Pseudolus. Thee do I seek that thou mayst obtain thrice three times +triple delights in three various ways, joys earned by three tricks and +three tricksters, cunningly won by treachery, fraud and villainy, which in +this little sealed missive have I but erstwhile brought to thee.... + +CHAR. The rascal's spouting like a tragedian." + +When Sosia, in the first scene of _Amph._ (203 ff.), turgidly describes +the battle between the Thebans and Teleboans, he is parodying the +Messenger of tragedy. Another echo from tragedy is heard at the end of the +play, when Jupiter appears in the role of deus ex machina.[116] + +Burlesque of character and calling puts in an occasional appearance. The +recreant Sosia in _Amph._ 958 ff. mimics the dutiful slave. _As._ 259 ff. +contains an ironical treatment of augury, while in 751 ff. the poet has +his satirical fling at the legal profession. + + +b. True farce. + +This is of course the comedy of situation and finds its mainstay in +mistaken identity. The _Men._ and _Amph._ with their doubles are +farce-comedies proper, but the element of farce forms the motive power of +nearly all the plots; for example, the shuffling-up of Acropolistis, +Telestis and the _fidicina_ in _Ep._, the quarrel between Mnesilochus and +Pistoclerus in _Bac._ resulting from the former's belief that his friend +had stolen his sweetheart, the exchange of names between Tyndarus and +Philocrates in _Cap._, the entrapping of Demaenetus with the _meretrix_ at +the dnouement of _As._, etc., etc. It is understood, we presume, that the +modern farce occupies no exalted position in the comic scale, is +distinguished by the grotesquerie of its characters, incidents and +dialogue, and is indulgently permitted to stray far from the paths of +realism. Even in Shakespearian farce, note the exaggerated antics of the +two Dromios in "The Comedy of Errors." It is significant then that farce +is a staple of our plays. + +The farcical element is strikingly exemplified in _Amph._ 365-462, where +Mercury persuades Sosia that he is not himself. Impersonation and +assumption of a role is another noteworthy and frequent medium of plot +motivation. In _As._ 407 ff. Leonida tries to palm himself off as the +_atriensis_. Note the violent efforts of the two slaves to wheedle the +cunning ass-dealer (449 ff.). In _Cas._ 815 ff. Chalinus enters disguised +as the blushing bride. In _Men._ 828 ff. Menaechmus Sosicles pretends +madness in a clever scene of uproarious humor. In the _Mil._ (411 ff.) +Philocomasium needs only to change clothing to appear in the role of her +own hypothetical twin sister, and in 874 ff. and 1216 ff. the _meretrix_ +plays _matrona_. Sagaristio and the daughter of the _leno_ impersonate +Persians (_Per._ 549 ff.), Collabiscus becomes a Spartan (_Poen._ 578 +ff.), Simia as Harpax gets Ballio's money (_Ps._ 905 ff.), the sycophant +is garbed as messenger (_Trin._ 843 ff.), Phronesium elaborately pretends +to be a mother (_Truc._ 499 ff.). A swindle is almost invariably the +object in view. But we have said enough on this score: no one who knows +the plays at all can fail to recognize the predominance of farce. Compare +on the modern stage the sudden appearance of "the long-lost cousin from +Chicago." + + +c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + +This group of course often contains marked features of burlesque and +farce, and hence shows a close kinship with the foregoing. + +The extravagance of the love-sick swain is a fruitful source of this +species of caricature. The ridiculous Calidorus, always wearing his heart +on his sleeve, rolls his eyes, brushes away a tear and says (_Ps._ 38 +ff.): "But for a short space have I been e'en as a lily of the field. +Suddenly sprang I up, as suddenly I withered." The irreverent Pseudolus +replies: "Oh, shut up while I read the letter over." Calidorus finds his +counterpart in Phaedromus of the _Cur._, who, accompanied by his slave, +approaches milady's abode (_Cur._ 10 ff.): + +"PH. (_In languishing accents, with eyes cast upward_): Shall I not take +sweets to the sweet: what is culled by the toil of the busy bees to my own +little honey?... (_They advance to milady's doorway which he sprinkles +with wine_, 88 ff.): Come, drink, ye portals of pleasure, quaff and deign +to be propitious unto me. + +PALINURUS SER. (_Addressing the door with mimicry of Phaedromus' airs._) +Do you want some olives or sweetmeats or capers? + +PH. (_Continuing._) Arouse your portress; hither send her unto me. +(_Lavishes the wine._) + +PAL. (_In great alarm, grasping his arm._) You're spilling the wine! +What's got hold of you? + +PH. Unhand me! (_Gently shakes himself loose._) Lo! The temple of joys +untold is opening. Did not the hinge creak? 'Tis charming! + +PAL. (_Turning aside in disgust._) Why don't you give it a kiss?" + +In each case the impertinent slave provides the foil. When the lovers +succeed in meeting, they are interlocked in embrace from 172 to 192, +probably invested with no small amount of suggestive "business." This +would doubtless hardly be tolerated by the "censor" today. Another variety +of lover's extravagance is the lavishing of terms of endearment, as we +find in _Cas._ 134 ff.[117] + +When this feature of "extravagance" enters the situation instead of the +dialogue, we have episodes such as the final scene of the _Ps._, where the +name character is irrelevantly introduced (1246) in a state of +intoxication which, with copious belching in Simo's face, culminates in a +rebellion of the overloaded stomach (1294). We can scarcely doubt that +such business was carried out in ultra-graphic detail and rewarded by +copious guffaws from the populace. In sharp contrast to this, the +drunkenness of Callidamates in _Most._ 313 ff. is depicted with unusual +artistry, but still from the very nature of such a scene it may be labeled +"extravagant." + +Manifestation of violent anger is another source of exaggerated stage +business. _Ep._ 512 ff. should be interpreted somewhat as follows: + +"(_The deluded Periphanes has just discovered that the fidicina is an +impostor and not his daughter._) FID. (_Sweetly._) Do you want me for +anything else? + +PER. (_Stamping foot and shaking fists in a passion._) The foul fiend take +you to utter perdition! Clear out, and quickly too! + +FID. (_In alarm._) Won't you give me back my harp? + +PER. Nor harp nor pipes! So hurry up and get out of here, if you know +what's good for you! + +FID. (_Stamping her foot in tearful rage._) I'll go, but you'll have to +give them back later just the same and it will be all the worse for you. + +PER. (_Striding up and down in wildest anger._) What!... shall I let her +go unpunished? Nay, even if I have to lose as much again, I'll lose it +rather than let myself be mocked and despoiled with impunity!" and so +on.[118] + +Other random scenes that may be classed as "extravagant" are found in +Strobilus' cartoon of Euclio (_Aul._ 300 ff.), Demipho's discovery in the +distance of a mythical bidder for the girl (_Mer._ 434 ff.), Charinus' +playing "horsey" and taking a trip in his imaginary car (_Mer._ 930 ff.), +and the loud "boo-hoo" to which Philocomasium gives vent (_Mil._ 1321 +ff.). These all might be classed under either "farce" or "burlesque," but +they seem to come more exactly under the kindred head of "extravagance." + +A familiar figure in modern farce-comedy is the comic conspirator with +finger on lip, tiptoeing round in fear of listeners. He finds his +prototype in _Trin._ (146 ff.): + +"(_Callicles and Megaronides converse._) + +CAL. (_In a mysterious whisper._) Look around a bit and make sure there's +nobody spying on us--and please look around every few seconds. (_They +pause and peer in every direction, perhaps creeping round on tiptoe._) + +MEG. Now, I am all ears. + +CAL. When you're through, I'll talk. (_Pauses and nods._) Just before +Charmides went abroad, he showed me a treasure, (_stops and looks over his +shoulders_) in his house here, in one of the rooms. (_Starts, as if at a +noise._) Look around! (_They repeat the search and return again._) + +MEG. There's nobody."[119] + +Another old stage friend is the detected plotter trying to lie out of an +embarrassing situation. He is lineally descended from Tranio in the +_Most._ Tranio has just induced his master Theopropides to pay forty minae +to the money-lender on the pretext that Theopropides' son Philolaches has +bought a house (659 ff.): + +"TH. In what neighborhood did my son buy this house? + +TR. (_Aside to audience in comic despair, with appropriate gesture._) See +there now! I'm a goner! + +TH. (_Impatiently._) Will you answer my question? + +TR. Oh yes, but (_Stammering and displaying symptoms of acute +embarrassment_) I--I'm trying to think of the owner's name. (_Groans._) + +TH. Well, hurry up and remember it! + +TR. (_Rapidly, aside._) I can't see anything better to do than tell him +his son bought the house of our next-door neighbor here. (_With a shrug._) +Thunder, I've heard that a _steaming_ lie is the best kind. +(_Mock-heroically._) 'Tis the will of the gods, my mind's made up. + +TH. (_Who has been frowning and stamping in impatience._) Well, well, +well! Haven't you thought of it yet? + +TR. (_Aside._) Curses on him!... (_Finally turning and bursting out +suddenly._) It's our next-door neighbor here--your son bought the house +from him. (_He sees that the lie goes and sighs with relief._)"[120] + +Another variation on this theme is the futile effort of the plotter to get +rid of a character armed with incriminating evidence. Again we quote +_Most._ (573 ff.), where Tranio is conversing with Theopropides. The +money-lender from whom young Philolaches has borrowed appears on the other +side of the stage. Tranio espies him. He must keep him away from the old +man. With a hurried excuse he flies across to meet Misargyrides. + +"TR. (_Taking Misargyrides' arm and attempting to steer him off-stage._) I +was never so glad to see a man in my life. + +MIS. (_Suspiciously, holding back._) What's the matter? + +TR. (_Confidentially._) Just step this way. (_Looks back apprehensively at +Theopropides, who is regarding them suspiciously._) + +MIS. (_In a loud and offensive voice._) Won't my interest be paid? + +TR. I know you have a good voice; don't shout so loud. + +MIS. (_Louder._) Hang it, but I _will_ shout! + +TR. (_Groans and glances over shoulder again._) Run along home, there's a +good fellow. (_Urges him toward exit._)", etc. + +Tranio has a chance for very lively business: a sickly smile for the +usurer, lightning glances of apprehension towards Theopropides, with an +occasional intimate groan aside to the audience. Other farcical scenes of +the many that may be cited as calling for particularly vivacious business +and gesture are, e.g., _Cas._ 621 ff., where Pardalisca befools Lysidamus +by timely fainting, _Rud._ 414 ff., where Sceparnio flirts with Ampelisca, +and the quarrel scene, _Rud._ 485 ff.[121] + +The last four passages quoted in translation are by no means lacking in +artistic humor and a measure of reality, but they imply a pronounced +heightening of the actions and emotions of everyday life and lose their +humor unless presented in the broad spirit that stamps them as belonging +to the plane of farce. We now pass on to motives where the dialogue aims +at effects manifestly unnatural and where verisimilitude is sacrificed to +the joke, as we have seen it is in the employment of "bombast," "true +burlesque," etc. + +The first of these motives is a stream of copious abuse, as in _Per._ 406 +ff., where Toxilus _servos_ and Dordalus _leno_ exchange Rabelaisian +compliments. + +"TOX. (_Hopping about with rabid gestures._) You filthy pimp, you +mud-heap, you common dung-hill, you besmirched, corrupt, law-breaking +decoy, you public sewer, ... robber, mobber, jobber, ...! + +DOR. (_Who has been dancing around in fury, shaking his fist until +exhausted by his paroxysms._) Wait--till--(_Puffing_)--I--get--my +breath--I'll--answer you! You dregs of the rabble, you slave-brothel, you +'white-slave' freer, you sweat-of-the-lash, you chain gang, you king of +the treadmill, ... you eat-away, steal-away run-away....!" etc.[122] + +Perhaps we have here the forerunner of the shrewish wife in modern +vaudeville, who administers to her shrinking consort a rapid-fire +tongue-lashing. Another phase of this profuse riot of words appears in the +formidable Persian name that Sagaristio, disguised as a Persian, adopts in +the _Per._ (700 ff.): + +"DORDALUS. What's your name? + +SAG. Listen then, and you shall hear: False-speaker-us Girl-seller-son +Much-o'-nothing-talk-son Money-gouge-out-son Talk-up-to you-son +Coin-wheedle-out-son What-I-once-get-son Never-give-up-son: there you are! + +DOR. (_With staring eyes and gasping breath._) Ye Gods! That's a +variegated name of yours! + +SAG. (_With a superior wave of the hand._) It's the Persian fashion." + +The second point in this category is own cousin to the above. We should +label it persistent interruption and repetition. An excellent instance is +_Trin._ 582 ff., when Stasimus, Lesbonicus and Philto have just hatched a +plot. Philto departs. + +"LES. (_To Stasimus._) You attend to my instructions. I'll be there +presently. Tell Callicles to meet me. + +ST. Now you just clear out! (_Pushes him after Philto._) + +LES. (_Calls out as he is being shoved away._) Tell him to see what has to +be done about the dowry. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Raising his voice._) For I'm determined not to marry her off +without a dowry. + +ST. Won't you clear out? + +LES. (_Still louder._) And I won't let her suffer harm by reason.---- + +ST. Get out, I say! + +LES. (_Shouts._)--of my carelessness. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. It seems right that my own sins-- + +ST. Clear out! + +LES.--should affect me alone. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Mock heroically._) Oh father, shall I ever behold you again? + +ST. Out, out, out! (_With a final shove._) (_Exit Lesbonicus._) At last, I +'ve got him away! (_Breathes hard._)" + +The fun, if fun there be, lies in the hammer-like repetition of "I modo," +a sort of verbal buffoonery. A clever actor could din this with telling +effect. The device is employed several times. In _Most._ 974 ff. the word +is _aio_, in _Per._ 482 ff. _credo_, in _Poen._ 731 ff. _quippini_, in +_Ps._ 484 ff. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}, in _Rud._ 1212 ff. _licet_ and 1269 ff. +_censeo_. The last two examples are the lengthiest.[123] + +The third of these motives is the introduction of clearly unnatural +dialogue, wholly incidental and foreign to the action, for the sake of +lugging in a joke. The _As._ (38 ff.) yields the following conversation +between Demaenetus _senex_ and his slave Libanus: + +"LI. By all that's holy, as a favor to me, spit out the words you have +uttered. + +DE. All right, I'll be glad to oblige you. (_Coughs._) + +LI. Now, now, get it right up! (_Pats him on the back._) + +DE. More? (_Coughs._) + +LI. Gad, yes, please! Right from the bottom of your throat: more still! +(_Pats._) + +DE. Well, how far down then? + +LI. (_Unguardedly._) Down to Hades is my wish! + +DE. I say, look out for trouble! + +LI. (_Diplomatically._) For your wife, I mean, not for you. + +DE. For that speech I bestow upon you freedom from punishment."[124] + +The childish bandying of words in _Truc._ 858 ff. is egregiously tiresome +in the reading, but in action could have been made to produce a modicum of +amusement if presented in the broad burlesque spirit that we believe was +almost invariably employed. This gives us a clue to the next topic. + + + +B. _Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad farcical +spirit._ + + +This includes peculiarities that have usually been commented on as +weaknesses or conventions, or else been given up as hopeless +incongruities, but which we hope to prove also yield their quota of +amusement if clownishly performed. The foremost of these is the famous + + +1. Running Slave or Parasite. + +We all know him: rushing madly cross stage at top-speed (if we take the +literal word of the text for it), with girded loins, in search of somebody +right under his nose, the while unburdening himself of exhaustive periods +that, however great the breadth of the Roman stage, would carry him +several times across and back: as Curculio in 279 ff.: + +"Make way for me, friends and strangers, while I carry out my duty here. +Run, all of you, scatter and clear the road! I'm in a hurry and I don't +want to butt into anybody with my head, or elbow, or chest, or knee.... +And there's none so rich as can stand in my way, ... none so famous but +down he goes off the sidewalk and stands on his head in the street," and +so on for ten lines or more. After he has found his patron Phaedromus, he +is apparently so exhausted that he cries: "Hold me up, please, hold me up! +(_Wobbles and falls panting into Phaedromus' arms._) + +PH.... Get him a chair ... quick!" + +When Leonida enters (_As._ 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out +of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in _Trin._ 1008 ff., though his mission is +also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals! + +Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the +dissertation of Weissman, _De servi currentis persona apud comicos +Romanes_ (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the _modus operandi_ +is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,[125] but +offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:[126] "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist +ein Rtsel fur uns." LeGrand[127] follows Weise's conclusion that it is an +imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use, +while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: _agoranomus_, +_demarchus_, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from +fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the +device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been +performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,[128] but +makes use of it himself.[129] + +Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the +usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the +slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He +fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very +man he is so violently seeking. He cites as the genuine occurrences of the +_servus_ or _parasitus currens_, besides the passages mentioned above, +_Cap._ 781 ff., _Ep._ 1 ff., 192 ff., _Mer._ 111 ff., _Per._ 272 ff., +_St._ 274 ff. Furthermore, he argues convincingly that this was an +independent Roman development without a prototype on the Greek stage and +neatly refutes Weise and LeGrand by proving that there are no extant Greek +fragments sufficient to furnish a ground for any but the most tenuous +argument. Above all, he correctly interprets the poet's aim with the +dictum: "Praeterquam quod hac persona optime utitur ad actionem bene +continuandam id maxime spectat ut per eam _spectatorum risum_ captet." And +this from a German youth of twenty-two! + +It is in his attempt to explain the mechanism that we believe Weissman +fails. He essays an exegesis of each passage, though the separate +explanations are naturally similar. It will suffice to quote one, that to +_As._ 267 ff.: "Hoc nullo modo aliter mihi declarari posse videtur nisi +sic: Oratio Leonidae currentis maior est quam ut arbitrari possimus +currentem semper eum habuisse eam. Ex versu 290 Leonidam de celeritate sua +remisisse plane apparet. Quod semel solum eum fecisse cum non satis mihi +esse videatur, saepius--bis vel ter--per breve tempus eum cursum suum +interrupisse, circumspexisse, Libanum autem non spectavisse (hoc consilium +poetae erat, licentia poetica est) et hoc modo per totam scaenam cursum +suum direxisse arbitror." + +It will be observed that for lack of any tangible evidence he very +properly makes use of subjective reasoning. Now it has long been the +opinion of the writer that the maximum of comic effect (and that this was +the purpose of the _servus currens_ there can surely be no doubt) could +best be obtained by the actor's making a violent and frenzied pretense of +running while scarcely moving from the spot. Consider the ludicrous +spectacle of the rapidly moving legs and the flailing arms, with the +actor's face turned toward the audience, as he declaims sonorously of his +haste to perform his vital errand, while making but a snail's progress. +Truly then his plea of exhaustion would not be without excuse! This is an +explanation at once simpler, more potentially comic, more in accord with +what we predicate as the spirit of Plautus, and furthermore we have seen +roars of laughter created by the similar device of a low comedian in a +modern extravaganza. Taking advantage of the same subjective license, we +see nothing in Weissman's theory to offset our opinion. But, what is more, +our subjective reconstruction is given color by a shred of tangible +evidence. Suetonius (_Tib._ 38) refers to a popular quip on the emperor +that compares him to an actor on the classic Greek stage: "Biennio +continuo post ademptum imperium pedem porta non extulit; ... ut vulgo iam +per iocum Callip(p)ides vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem +mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est." That this Callipides was +the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK KAI SYMBOL~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} mentioned by Xenophon (_Sym._ III. 11), Plutarch +(_Ages._ 21 and _Apophth. Lacon._: s. v. _Ages._), Cicyero (_Ad. Att._ +XIII. 12) and possibly by Aristotle (_Poet._ 26.), seems highly plausible. +Compare the _saltus fullonius_ (Sen. _Ep._ 15.4). + +Most amusing of all is Plautus' introduction of a parody on the parody, +when Mercury rushes in post-haste crying (_Amph._ 984 ff.): + +"Make way, give way, everybody, clear the way! I tell you all: don't you +get so bold as to stand in my road. For, egad! I'd like to know why I, a +god, shouldn't have as much right to threaten the rabble as a mere slave +in the comedies!" + +And perhaps _St._ 307 is a joke on the running slave: Sed spatium hoc +occidit: brevest curriculo: quam me paenitet? That violent haste was +considered a slavish trait is evidenced by _Poen._ 523-3. + + +2. Wilful blindness. + +In the scene recently quoted (_Cur._ 279 ff.), Curculio, after his violent +exertions in search of his patron, is for a time apparently unable to +discover him, though he is on the stage all the time. This species of +blindness must be wilfully designed as a burlesque effect and again finds +its echo in low comedy types of today. The breadth and depth of the Roman +stage alone will not account for this either; indeed, its very size could +be utilized to heighten the humor, as the actor peers hither and yon in +every direction but the right one. So Curculio (front) may pass directly +by Phaedromus (rear) without seeing him, to the huge delight of the +audience, and turn back again, while saying (301 ff.): + +"Is there anybody who can point out Phaedromus, my guardian angel, to me? +The matter's very urgent: I must find this chap at once. + +PALINURUS. (_To Phaedromus._) It's you he's looking for. + +PH. What do you say we speak to him? Hello, Curculio, I want you! + +CUR. (_Stopping and again looking vainly round._) Who's calling? Who says +"Curculio"? + +PH. Somebody that wants to see you. + +CUR. (_At last recognizing him when almost on top of him._) Ah! You don't +want to see me any more than I want to see you." + +Acanthio in _Mer._ 130 ff. is still more blind to the presence of Charinus +and raises a deal more fuss, as he enters in the wildest haste looking for +Charinus, who is of course in plain sight. Acanthio, with labored +breathing and the remark that he would never make a piper, probably passes +by Charinus and goes to the house. + +"AC. What am I standing here for, anyway? I'll make splinters of these +doors without a single qualm. (_Hammers violently. Charinus approaches, +vainly trying to attract his attention._) Open up, somebody! Where's my +master Charinus, at home or out? (_Still hammering._) Isn't anybody +supposed to have the job of tending door? + +CH. (_Shouting._) Here I am, Acanthio! You're looking for me, aren't you? + +AC. (_Still punishing the door._) I never saw such slovenly management. + +CH. (_Finally grabbing and shaking him._) What the deuce has got hold of +you?"[130] And so in the case of practically all the _servi currentes_. + +The opening scene of the _Per._ (13 ff.) between two slaves apparently +unable to distinguish each other's features from opposite sides of the +stage affords an opportunity for a similar species of farcical by-play. +Toxilus and Sagaristio stroll slowly in from the different side-entrances, +alternately soliloquizing. Suddenly, when probably fairly close, both look +up and peer curiously at each other: + +"TOX. (_Shading his eyes with his hand._) Who's that standing over there? + +SAG. Who's this standing over here? + +TOX. Looks like Sagaristio. + +SAG. I bet it's my friend Toxilus. + +TOX. He's the fellow, all right. + +SAG. That's the chap, I'm sure. + +TOX. I'll go over to him. + +SAG. I'll go up and speak to him. (_They draw closer._) + +TOX. Sagaristio, I hope the gods are good to you. + +SAG. Toxilus, I hope the gods give you everything you want. How are you? + +TOX. So so."[131] + +Note that this is _canticum_ and the effect of the two "sing-songing" +slaves on the audience must have been much the same as, upon us, the +spectacle of a vaudeville "duo," entering from opposite wings and singing +perchance a burlesque of grand opera at each other. + + +3. Adventitious entrance. + +This is of a piece with the above, but is usually due to a weakness of +composition, to the goddess {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, who is the presiding deity of +the plots of New Comedy.[132] However, there are times when appreciable +fun can be extracted from this, if the actor speak in a bland jocular +tone, taking the audience into his confidence, as _Trin._ 400 f.: + +"PHILTO. But the door of the house to which I was going is opening. Isn't +that nice? Lesbonicus, the very man I'm looking for, is coming out with +his slave." + +And _Aul._ 176 f.: + +"MEGADORUS. I'd like to see Euclio, if he's at home. Ah, here he comes! +He's on his way home from some place or other."[133] + +We believe that enough has been said to prove that the favorite devices of +the lower types of modern stage-production form the back-bone of Plautus' +methods of securing his comic effects. Let us pass on without more ado to +a discussion of points that establish equally well that he was careless of +every other consideration but the eliciting of laughter. + + + + +II. Evidences of Loose Composition Which Prove a Disregard of Technique +and Hence Indicate that Entertainment Was the Sole Aim + + +A. _Solo speeches and passages_. + + +1. Asides and soliloquies. + +As it is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of stage +characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic +composition have always been recognized as the only feasible conventional +mode of conveying them. According to the strictest canons of dramatic art, +the ideally constructed play should be entirely free from this weakness. +Mr. Gillette is credited with having written in "Secret Service" the first +aside-less play. But this is abnormal and rather an affectation of +technical skill. The aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of +Plautus we + +have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends the +conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition, pointing plainly +to a poverty of technique and hence further strengthening the conception +of entertainment as the author's sole purpose. And often too, as we shall +point out, this very form can be used for amusement. To attempt a complete +collection of these passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, +comprising a formidable percentage of all the verses. + +And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and spiritless as +merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual conversation with +himself that shows a noble regard for the value of his own society. This +is attested by many passages, such as _Amph._ 381: Etiam muttis?; _Aul._ +52: At ut scelesta sola secum murmurat; _Aul._ 190: Quid tu solus tecum +loquere?; _Bac._ 773: Quis loquitur prope?; _Cap._ 133: Quis hic +loquitur?[134] + +One character standing aside and commenting on the main action is a +familiar situation and often productive of good fun. An excellent example +is _Most._ 166 ff., where Philematium is performing her conventionally +out-door toilet with the aid of her duenna Scapha. Philolaches stands on +the other side of the stage and interjects remarks: + +"PHILEM. Look at me please, Scapha dear; is this gown becoming? I want to +please Philolaches, the apple of my eye.... + +SC. Why deck yourself out, when your charm lies in your charming manners? +It isn't gowns that lovers love, but what bellies out the gowns. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) God bless me, but Scapha's clever; the hussy has +horse-sense.... + +PHILEM. (_Pettishly._) Well, then? + +SC. What is it? + +PHILEM. Look me over anyhow and see how this becomes me. + +SC. The grace of your figure makes everything you wear becoming. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) Now for that speech, Scapha, I'll give you some present +before the day is out--and so on for a whole long scene. + +The quips are amusing in an evident burlesque spirit. Such a scene was +easily done on the broad Roman stage, whether it was a heritage from the +use of the orchestra in Greek comedy, as LeGrand thinks,[135] or not. In +similar vein, clever by-play on the part of the cunning Palaestrio would +make a capital scene out of _Mil. 1037 ff._[136] A perfectly unnatural but +utterly amusing scene of the same type is _Amph. 153-262_, where Mercury +apostrophizes his fists, and the quaking Sosia (cross-stage) is frightened +to a jelly at the prospect of his early demise. In Cap. 966, Ilegio, staid +gentleman that he is, introduces an exceeding "rough" remark in the middle +of a serious scene. The aside of Pseudolus in _Ps. 636 f._ could be +rendered as a good-natured burlesque as follows: + +"HARPAX. What's your name? + +PS. (_Hopping forward and addressing audience with hand over mouth._) The +pander has a slave named Surus. I'll say I'm he. (_Hopping back and +addressing Harpax._) I'm Surus." Many other scenes were doubtless rendered +by one character's thus stepping aside and confiding his ideas to the +spectators, as for example _Aul. 194 ff._ and _Trin. 895 ff._ Often our +characters blurt out their inmost thoughts to the public, as in _Cas. 937 +ff._, with eavesdroppers conveniently placed, else what would become of +the plot? + +The soliloquy is constantly used to keep the audience acquainted with the +advance of the plot[137], or to paint in narrative intervening events that +connect the loose joints of the action. This is of course wholly +inartistic, but may often find its true office in keeping a noisy, +turbulent and uneducated audience aware of "what is going on." In many +cases the soliloquy is in the nature of a reflection on the action and +seems to bear all the ear-marks of a heritage from the original function +of the tragic chorus[138]. It devolved upon the actor by sprightly mimicry +to relieve, in these scenes, the tedium that appeals to the reader. So in +_Cap._ 909 ff. the _canticum_ of the _puer_ becomes more than a mere +stopgap, if he acts out vividly the violence of Ergasilus; and in _Bac._ +1067 ff. the soliloquy would acquire humor, if confidentially directed at +the audience. In _As._ 127 ff., as Argyrippus berates the _lena_ within, +it must be delivered with an abundance of pantomime. + + +2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + +Frequently the soliloquy takes the form of a long solo passage directed at +the audience, while the action halts for a whole scene to allow the actor +to regale his public with the poet's views on the sins of society, +economic topics of the day, or topics of the by-gone days in Athens, and +the like. The resemblance to the interpolated song and dance of musical +comedy is most striking. The comparison is the more apt, as about +two-thirds of the illustrative scenes referred to in the next paragraph +are in _canticum_. It is a pity that the comic chorus had disappeared, or +the picture were complete. That it is often on the actor's initial +appearance that he sings his song or speaks his piece, strengthens the +resemblance. But this is a natural growth under the influence of two +publics, the Greek and the Roman, notably fond of declamation and oratory. +LeGrand believes this a characteristic directly derived from a narrative +form of Middle Comedy embodied in certain extant fragments.[139] + +The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues +of the loyal slave are extolled[140], or the knavery of the cunning +slave[141]. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the +decline of his profession[142], or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in +haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food[143]. Bankers, lawyers +and panders come in for their share of satire[144]. Our favorite topic +today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the +boards of ancient Athens and Rome[145]. In _Mil._ 637 ff, Periplecomenus +descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The +delights or pains of love[146], the ruminations of old age[147], marriage +reform[148] and divorce[149], the views of _meretrices_ and their victims +on the arts of their profession[150], the habits of cooks[151], the pride +of valor and heroic deeds[152] are fruitful subjects. In _Cur._ 462 ff. +the _choragus_ interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the +manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of +dreams[153], and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a +house[154]. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in _Rud._ 185 ff., +which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's +Chorus (_Rud._ 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to +intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at +all. In this category also belong the revels of the drunken Pseudolus with +his song and dance[155], and the final scene of the _St._[156], where, the +action of the slender plot over, the comedy slaves royster and dance with +the harlot. When Ballio drives his herd before him, as he berates them +merrily to the tune of a whip, we have an energetic and effective +scene[157]. + + +3. Direct address of the audience. + +It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of +the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of +dramatic production (v. Part I, 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside +and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on +terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the +frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct +address of the audience, when they are called by name. In _Truc._ 482 +Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum +praedicem.... In _Poen Truc._ 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic, +spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the +action of the _Ps._ (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi +hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (_Amph._ 449-550 passim), probably +with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain +the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the +close of the _Men._ (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites +the spectators to attend. + +When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild +lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (_Aul._ 715 ff.): + +"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that +stole it. (_Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking +"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him._) What do _you_ say? I know +I can trust _you_. I can tell by your face you're honest. (_To the whole +audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue._) What's the matter? +What are you laughing at?" etc. + +Moilre has imitated this scene very closely in _L'Avare_ (IV. 7), with a +super-Plautine profusion of verbiage. + +In _Mil._ 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal +conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the +throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid, +pointed pantomime: + +"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (_To audience, pointing to +Palaestrio._) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in +anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would +summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his +left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha! +He whacks his right thigh!" etc. + +It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in _Amph._ 861 ff. strolls in and +speaks his little piece to the pit: + +"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the +fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and +become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."[158] + +Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (_de Com._ III. +6)[159]: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam +loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum. + +Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole +_grex_, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the +plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today[160], +unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was +over. + + + +B. _Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition_. + + +We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies, +contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in +his _Plautinische Studien_. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the +situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus' +style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is +often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that +Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with +more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at +intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently. + + +1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + +Strong evidence of loose construction and lack of a technical dramatic +ideal is contained in the large number of scenes padded out with pointless +badinage, often tiresome, often wholly episodical in nature, as the +monodies, and putting for a time a complete check on the plot. The most +striking of these is _Aul._ 631 ff., when Euclio, suspecting Strobilus of +the theft of his gold, pounces upon him and belabors him: + +"STR. (_Howling and dancing and making violent efforts to free himself._) +What the plague has got hold of you? What have you to do with me, you +dotard? Why pick on me? Why are you grabbing me? Don't beat me! (_Succeeds +in breaking loose._) + +EUC. (_Shaking stick at him._) You first-class jailbird, do you dare ask +me again? You're not a thief, but three thieves rolled into one! + +STR. (_Whining and nursing bruises_) What did I steal from you? + +EUC. (_Still threatening._) Give it back here, I say? + +STR. (_Trembling and edging off._) What is it you want me to give back? + +EUC. (_Watching him narrowly._) You ask? + +STR. I tell you, I didn't take a thing from you. + +EUC. (_Impatiently._) All right, but hand over what you did take! +(_Pause._) Well, well! + +STR. Well, what? + +EUC. You can't get away with it. + +STR. (_Bolder._) Look here, what do you want?... + +EUC. (_Angrier and angrier._) Hand it over, I say! Stop quibbling! I'm not +trifling now! + +STR. Now what shall I hand over? Speak out! Why don't you give the thing a +name? I swear I never touched or handled anything of yours. + +EUC. Put out your hands. + +STR. There you are! I've done so. See them? + +EUC. (_Scrutinizing his hands closely._) All right. Now put out the third +too. + +STR. (_Aside, growing angry._) The foul fiends of madness have possessed +this doddering idiot. (_Majestically._) Confess you wrong me? + +EUC. (_Dancing in frenzy._) To the utmost, since I don't have you strung +up! And that's what'll happen too, if you don't confess. + +STR. (_Shouting._) Confess what? + +EUC. What did you steal from here? (_Pointing to his house._) + +STR. Strike me if I stole anything of yours, (_Aside to audience_) and if +I don't wish I'd made off with it. + +EUC. Come now, shake out your cloak. + +STR. (_Doing so._) As you please. + +EUC. (_Stooping to see if anything falls out._) Haven't got it under your +shirt? (_Pounces upon him and ransacks clothing._) + +STR. (_Resignedly._) Search me, if you like;" and so on with "Give it +back," What is it? "Put out your right hand," etc., etc. + +Molire again imitated almost slavishly (_L'Avare_, V. 3). Longwinded as +the thing is, it is clear that the liveliness of the action not only +relieves it, but could make it immensely amusing. At least it is superior +to the average vaudeville skit of the present day. It must not be +forgotten too that, as Plautus was in close touch with his players, he +could have done much of the stage-directing himself and might even have +worked up some parts to fit the peculiar talents of certain actors, as is +regularly done in the modern "tailormade drama." + +There are numbers of scenes of the sort quoted above, where the apparent +monotony and verbal padding could be converted into coin for laughter by +the clever comedian. _Amph._ 551-632 could be worked up poco a poco +crescendo e animato; in _Poen._ 504 ff., Agorastocles and the _Advocati_ +bandy extensive rhetoric; in _Trin._ 276 ff., the action is suspended +while Philto proves himself Polonius' ancestor in his long-winded +sermonizing to Lysiteles and his insistent _laudatio temporis acti_; in +_St._ 326 ff., as Pinacium, the _servus currens_, finally succeeds in +"arriving" out of breath (he has been running since 274), bursting with +the vast importance of his news, he postpones the delivery of his tidings +till 371 while he indulges in irrelevant badinage. This is pure +buffoonery. And we can instance scene upon scene where the self-evident +padding can either furnish an excuse for agile histrionism, or become +merely tiresome in its iteration[161]. The danger of the latter was even +recognized by our poet, when, at the end of much word-fencing, Acanthio +asks Charinus if his desire to talk quietly is prompted by fear of waking +"the sleeping spectators" (_Mer._ 160). This was probably no exaggeration. + +When the padding takes the form of mutual "spoofing," the scene assumes an +uncanny likeness to the usual lines of a modern "high-class vaudeville +duo." Note Leonida and Libanus, the merry slaves of the _As._ in 297 ff., +Toxilus and Sagaristio in the _Per._, Milphio and Syncerastus in the +_Poen._ (esp. 851 ff.), Pseudolus and Simia in _Ps._ 905 ff., Trachalio +and Gripus in _Rud._ 938 ff., Stichus and Sagarinus in the final scene of +the _St._, and in _Ps._ 1167 ff. Harpax is unmercifully "chaffed" by Simo +and Ballio. Or, in view of the surrounding drama, we might better compare +these roysterers to the "team" of low comedians often grafted on a musical +comedy, where their antics effectually prevent the tenuous plot from +becoming vulgarly prominent. + + +2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + +The Plautine character is never a consistent human character. He is rather +a personified trait, a broad caricature on magnified foibles of some type +of mankind. There is never any character development, no chastening. We +leave our friends as we found them. They may exhibit the outward +manifestation of grief, joy, love, anger, but their marionette nature +cannot be affected thereby. That we should find inconsistencies in +character portrayal under these circumstances, is not only to be expected, +but is a mathematical certainty. The poet cares not; they must only dance, +dance, dance! + +Persistent moralizers, such as Megaronides in the _Trin._, who serve but +as a foil from whom the revelry "sticks fiery off," descend themselves at +moments to bandying the merriest quips (Scene I.). In _Ep._ 382 ff., the +moralizing of Periphanes is counterfeit coinage. Gilded youths such as +Calidorus of the _Ps._ begin by asking (290 f.): "Could I by any chance +trip up father, who is such a wide-awake old boy?", and end by rolling +their eyes upward with: "And besides, if I could, filial piety prevents." +The Menaechmi twins are eminently respectable, but they cheerfully purloin +mantles, bracelets and purses. Hanno of the _Poen._ should according to +specifications be a staid _pater familias_, but Plautus imputes to him a +layer of the _Punica fides_ that he knew his public would take delight in +"booing." And the old gentleman enters into a plot (1090) to chaff +elaborately his newly-found long-lost daughters, whom he has spent a +lifetime in seeking, before disclosing his identity to them (1211 ff.). +Saturio's daughter in the _Per._ is at one time the very model of maidenly +modesty and wisdom (336 ff.), at others an accomplished intriguante and +demi-mondaine (549 ff., esp. 607 ff.). When the plot of the _Ep._ is +getting hopelessly tangled, of a sudden it is magically resolved as by a +deus ex machina and everybody decides to "shake and make up." + +Slaves ever fearful of the mills or quarries are yet prone to the most +abominable "freshness" towards their masters. The irrepressible Pseudolus +in reading a letter from Calidorus' mistress says (27 ff.): + +"What letters! Humph! I'm afraid the Sibyl is the only person capable of +interpreting these. + +"CAL. Oh why do you speak so rudely of those lovely letters written on a +lovely tablet with a lovely hand? + +"PS. Well, would you mind telling me if hens have hands? For these look to +me very like hen-scratches. + +"CAL. You insulting beast! Read, or return the tablet! + +"PS. Oh, I'll read all right, all right. Just focus your mind on this. + +"CAL. _(Pointing vacantly to his head._) Mind? It's not here. + +"PS. What! Go get one quick then![162]." + +In order that the machinations of these cunning slaves may mature, it is +usually necessary to portray their victims as the veriest fools. Witness +the cock-and-bull story by which Stasimus, in _Trin._ 515 ff., convinces +Philto that his master's land is an undesirable real estate prospect. +Dordalus in _Per._ (esp. 493 ff.) exhibits a certain amount of caution in +face of Toxilus' "confidence game," but that he should be victimized at +all stamps him as a caricature. + +LeGrand is certainly right in pronouncing the cunning slave a pure +convention, adapted from the Greek and so unsuitable to Roman society that +even Plautus found it necessary to apologize for their unrestrained +gambols, on the ground that 'that was the way they did in Athens!'[163] + +Certain of the characters are caricatures _par excellence_, embodiments of +a single attribute. Leaena of the _Cur._ is the perpetually thirsty +_lena_: "Wine, wine, wine!"[164] Cleaerata of the _As._ is a plain +caricature, but is exceptionally cleverly drawn as the _lena_ with the +mordant tongue. Phronesium's thirst in the _Truc._, is gold, gold, gold! +The _danista_ of the _Most._ finds the whole expression of his nature in +the cry of "Faenus!"[165] Assuredly, he is the progenitor of the modern +low-comedy Jew: "I vant my inderesd!" Calidorus of the _Ps._ and +Phaedromus of the _Cur._ are but bleeding hearts dressed up in clothes. +The _milites gloriosi_ are all cartoons;[166] and the perpetually +moralizing pedagogue Lydus of the _Bac._ becomes funny, instead of +egregiously tedious, if acted as a broad burlesque. + +The panders[167] are all manifest caricatures, too, especially the famous +Ballio of the _Ps._, whom even Lorenz properly describes as "der +Einbegriff aller Schlechtigkeit," though he deprecates the part as "eine +etwas zu grell and zu breit angefuhrte Schilderung."[168] "Ego scelestus," +says Ballio himself.[169] He calmly and unctuously pleads guilty to every +charge of "liar, thief, perjurer," etc., and can never be induced to lend +an ear until the cabalistic charm "Lucrum!" is pronounced (264). + +The famous miser Euclio has given rise to an inordinate amount of +unnecessary comment. Lamarre[170] is at great pains to defend Plautus from +"le reproche d'avoir introduit dans la peinture de son principal +personnage <Euclio> des traits outres et hors de nature." Indeed, he +possesses few traits in accord with normal human nature. But curiously +enough, as we learn from the _argumenta_ (in view of the loss of the +genuine end of the _Aul._), Euclio at the _denouement_ professes himself +amply content to bid an everlasting farewell to his stolen hoard, and +bestows his health and blessing on "the happy pair." This apparent +conversion, with absolutely nothing dramatic to furnish an introduction or +pretext for it, has caused Langen to depart from his usual judicious +scholarship. After much hair-splitting he solemnly pronounces it +"psychologically possible."[171] LeGrand points out[172] that his change +of heart is not a conversion, but merely a professed reconciliation to the +loss. But there is no need for all this pother. The simple truth is that +Plautus was through with his humorous complication and was ready to top it +off with a happy ending. It is the forerunner of modern musical comedy, +where the grouchy millionaire papa is propitiated at the last moment +(perhaps by the pleadings of the handsome widow), and similarly consents +to his daughter's marriage with the handsome, if impecunious, ensign. + + +3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + +Lorenz with commendable insight has pointed out[173] that {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, the +goddess of Chance, is the motive power of the Plautine plot, as +distinguished from the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} of tragedy. A student of Plautus readily +recognizes this point. The entire development of the _Rud._ and _Poen._ +exemplifies it in the highest degree. Hanno in the _Poen._, in particular, +meets first of all, in the strange city of Calydon, the very man he is +looking for! When Pseudolus is racking his wits for a stratagem, Harpax +obligingly drops in with all the requisites. The ass-dealer in the _As._ +is so ridiculously fortuitous that it savors of childlike naivet. + +Characters are perpetually entering just when wanted. We hear "Optume +advenis" and "Eccum ipsum video" so frequently that they become as +meaningless as "How d'ye do!"[174]; though, as shown above[175], even this +very weakness could at moments be made the pretext for a mild laugh. + +For a complete catalogue of the formidable mass of inconsistencies and +contradictions that throng the plays, the reader is referred to the +_Plautinische Studien_ of Langen, as aforesaid. It will be of passing +interest to recall one or two. In _Cas._ 530 Lysidamus goes to the "forum" +and returns _32 verses later_ complaining that he has wasted the whole day +standing "advocate" for a kinsman. But this difficulty is resolved, if we +accept the theory of Prof. Kent (TAPA. XXXVII), that the change of acts +which occurs in between, is a conventional excuse for any lapse of time, +in Roman comedy as well as in Greek tragedy. But it is extremely doubtful +that Prof. Kent succeeds in establishing the truth of this view in the +case of Roman comedy. We see no convincing reason for departing from the +accepted theory, as expressed by Duff (_A Literary History of Rome_, pp. +196-7): "In Plautus' time a play proceeded continuously from the lowering +of the curtain at the beginning to its rise at the end, save for short +breaks filled generally by simple music from the _tibicen_ (_Ps._ 573). The +division into scenes is ancient and regularly indicated in manuscripts of +Plautus and Terence." + +Langen seems surprised[176] when Menaechmus Sosicles, on beholding his +twin for the first time (_Men._ 1062), though he was the object of a six +years' search, wades through some twenty lines of amazed argument before +Messenio (with marvelous cunning!) hits on the true explanation. It is of +course conceived in a burlesque spirit. What would become of the comic +action if Menaechmus II simply walked up to Menaechmus I and remarked: +"Hello, brother, don't you remember me?" + +That the seven months of _Most._ 470 miraculously change into six months +in 954 is the sort of mistake possible to any writer. In the _Amph._ 1053 +ff., Alcmena is in labor apparently a few minutes after consorting with +Jupiter; but the change of acts _may_ account for the lapse of time, here +as in _Cas._ 530 ff. + +But after the exhaustive work of Langen, we need linger no longer in this +well-ploughed field. We repeat, the evidence all points irresistibly to +the conclusion that Plautus is wholly careless of his dramatic machinery +so long as it moves. The laugh's the thing! + +The _St._ is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' +mind. The virtue of the Penelope-like Pamphila and Panegyris proves too +great a strain and unproductive of merriment. The topic gradually vanishes +as the drolleries of the parasite Gelasimus usurp the boards. He in turn +gives way to the hilarious buffoonery of the two slaves. The result is a +succession of loose-jointed scenes[177]. The _Aul._ too is fragmentary and +episodical. The _Trin._ is insufferably long-winded, with insufficient +comic accompaniment. The _Cis._ is a wretched piece of vacuous +inanity[178]. + + +4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + +Plautus' frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the +interjection of Roman references--what De Quincey calls "anatopism"--is +another item of careless composition too well known to need more than +passing mention. The repeated appearance of the _Velabrum,_[179] or +_Capitolium,_[180] or _circus,_[181] or _senatus_, or _dictator_,[182] or +_centuriata comitio,_[183] or _plebiscitum,_[184] and a host of others in +the Greek investiture, becomes after a while a matter of course to us. We +see however no need to quarrel with _forum_; it was Plautus' natural +translation for {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH TONOS~}. But it all adds inevitably and relentlessly to +our argument--Plautus was heedless of the petty demands of technique and +realism. His attention was too much occupied in devising means of +amusement. + +The occasional topical allusions belong in the same category as above; for +example, the allusion to the Punic war (_Cis._ 202),[185] the _lex +Platoria_ (_Ps._ 303, _Rud._ 1381-2), Naevius' imprisonment (_Mil. _ +211-2), Attalus of Pergamum (_Per._ 339, _Poen._ 664), Antiochus the Great +(_Poen._ 693-4). Again we have a modern parallel: the topics of the day +are a favorite resort of the lower types of present-day stage production. + + +5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + +But the most extreme stage of intimate jocularity is reached when the last +sorry pretense of drama is discarded and the dramatic machinery itself +becomes the subject of jest. So in the _Cas._ 1006 the cast is warned: +Hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. In _Per._ 159-60 Saturio +wants to know where to get his daughter's projected disguise: + +"SAT. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} ornamenta? + +TOX. Abs chorago sumito. Dare debet: praebenda aediles locaverunt." (Cf. +_Trin._ 858.) + +Even the _Ps._, heralded as dramatically one of the best of the plays, +yields the following: Horum caussa haec agitur spectatorum fabula (720); +hanc fabulam dum transigam (562) and following speech; verba quae in +comoediis solent lenoni dici (1081-2); quam in aliis comoediis fit (1240); +quin vocas spectatores simul? (1332). In _St._ 715 ff., the action of the +play is interrupted while the boisterous slaves give the musician a drink. +From the _Poen._ comes a gem that will bear quoting at length (550 ff.): + + Omnia istaec scimus iam nos, si hi spectatores sciant. + Horunc hic nunc causa haec agitur spectatorum fabula: + Hos te satius est docere ut, quando agas, quid agas sciant. + Nos tu ne curassis: scimus rem omnem, quippe omnes simul. + Didicimus tecum una, ut respondere possimus tibi.[186] + +This is the final degeneration into the realm of pure foolery. It is a +patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content." Once +more we venture to point a parallel on the modern stage, in the vaudeville +comedian who interlards his dancing with comments such as: "I hate to do +this, but it's the only way I can earn a living." + + +6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +We must touch finally, but very lightly, on the commonplaces of stock +plots and characters. The whole array of puppets is familiar to us all: +the cunning slave, the fond or licentious papa, the spendthrift son and +their inevitable confrres appear in play after play with relentless +regularity. The close correspondence of many plots is also too familiar to +need discussion.[187] The glimmering of originality in the plot of the +_Cap._ called for special advertisement.[188] In the light of the +foregoing evidence, the pertinence of these facts for us, we reiterate, is +that Plautus merely adopted the New Comedy form as his comic medium, and, +while leaving his originals in the main untouched, took what liberties he +desired with them, with the single-minded purpose of making his public +laugh.[189] + + + + +In Conclusion + + + +In contrast to these grotesqueries certain individual scenes and plays +stand out with startling distinctness as possessed of wit and humor of +high order. The description by Cleaereta of the relations of lover, +mistress and _lena_ is replete with biting satire (_As._ 177 ff., 215 +ff.). The finale of the same play is irresistibly comic. In _Aul. _ 731 +ff. real sparks issue from the verbal cross-purposes of Euclio and +Lyconides over the words "pot" and "daughter." The _Bac._ is an excellent +play, marred by padding. When the sisters chaff the old men as "sheep" +(1120 ff.), the humor is naturalistic and human. The _Cas._, uproarious +and lewd as it is, becomes excruciatingly amusing if the mind is open to +appreciating humor in the broadest spirit. The discourse of Periplecomenus +(_Mil._ 637 ff.) is marked by homely satirical wisdom. In the _Ps._ the +badinage of the name-character is appreciably superior to most of the +incidental quips. Pseudolus generously compliments Charinus on beating him +at his own game of repartee (743). When Weise (_Die Komodien des Plautus_, +p. 181) describes _Ps._ IV. 7 as "eine der ausgezeichnetsten Scenen, die +es irgend giebt," his superlative finds a better justification than usual. + +When Menaechmus Sosicles sees fit "to put an antic disposition on," we +have a scene which, while eminently farcical, is signally clever and +dramatically effective. Witness the imitation by Shakespeare in _The +Comedy of Errors_, IV. 4, and in spirit by modern farce; for instance, in +_A Night Off_, when the staid old Professor feels the recrudescence of his +youthful aspirations to attend a prize-fight, he simulates madness as a +prelude to dashing wildly away. + +The following from _Rud._ (160 ff.) is theatrical but tremendously +effective and worthy of the highest type of drama. Sceparnio, looking +off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat. He +addresses Daemones: + +"SC. But O Palaemon! Hallowed comrade of Neptune ... what scene meets my +eye? + +DAE. What do you see? + +SC. I see two poor lone women sitting in a bit of a boat. How the poor +creatures are being tossed about! Hoorah! Hoorah! Fine! The waves are +whirling their boat past the rocks into the shallows. A pilot couldn't +have steered straighter. I swear I never saw waves more high. They're safe +if they escape those breakers. Now, now, danger! One is overboard! Ah, the +water's not deep: she'll swim out in a minute. Hooray! See the other one, +how the wave tossed her out! She is up, she's on her way shoreward; she's +safe!" + +Sceparnio clasps his hands, jumps up and down, grasps the shaking Daemones +convulsively and communicates his excitement to the audience. It is a +piece of thrilling theatrical declamation and must have wrought the +spectators up to a high pitch. In general, the _Rud._ is a superior play. + +In _Cas._ 229 ff. there is developed a piece of faithful and entertaining +character-drawing, as the old rou Lysidamus fawns upon his militant +spouse Cleostrata, with the following as its climax: + +"CLE. (_Sniffling._) Ha! Whence that odor of perfumes, eh? + +LYS. The jig's up." + +In the whole panorama of Plautine personae the portrayal of Alcmena in the +_Amph._ is unique, for she is drawn with absolute sincerity and speaks +nothing out of character. Certainly no parody can be made out of the nobly +spoken lines 633-52, which lend a genuine air of tragedy to the professed +_tragi(co)comoedia_ (59, 63); unless we think of the lady's unwitting +compromising condition (surely too subtle a thought for the original +audience). Note also the exalted tone of 831-4, 839-42. But all through +this scene Sosia is prancing around, prating nonsense, and playing the +buffoon, so that perchance even here the nobility becomes but a foil for +the revelry. And in 882-955 his royal godship Jove clowns it to the lady's +truly minted sentiments. + +No, we are far from attempting to deny to Plautus all dramatic technique, +skill in character painting and cleverness of situation, but he was never +hide-bound by any technical considerations. He felt free to break through +the formal bonds of his selected medium at will. He had wit, esprit and +above all a knowledge of his audience; and of human nature generally, or +else he could not have had such a trenchant effect on the literature of +all time. + +At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive +estimate of the mise-en-scne. Enough has been said, we believe, in our +discussion of the criticism and acting and in our analysis of his dramatic +values, to show that the aberrations of Plautus' commentators have been +due to their failure to reach the crucial point: the absolute license with +which his plays were acted and intended to be acted is at once the +explanation of their absurdities and deficiencies. This was true in a far +less degree of Terence, who dealt in plots more _stataria_ and less +_motoria_.[190] Though using the same store of models, he endeavored to +produce an artistically constructed play, which should make some honest +effort to "hold the mirror up to nature." We are convinced that even his +extensive use of _contaminatio_ was designed to evolve a better plot. The +extravagance of Plautus is toned down in Terence to a reasonable +verisimilitude and a far more "gentlemanly" mode of fun-making that was +appropriate to one in the confidence of the aristocratic Scipionic circle. +But when all is said and done, Terence lacks the vivid primeval +"Volkswitz" of Plautus. We dare only skirt the edges of this extensive +subject.[191] + +Above all, our noble jester _succeeds_ in his mission of laugh-producing. +But his methods are not possessed in the main of dramatic respectability. +And it must be apparent that our analysis and citations have covered the +bulk of the plays. + +We conclude then that the prevalence of inherent defects of composition +and the lack of serious motive, coupled with the author's constant and +conscious employment of the implements of broad farce and extravagant +burlesque, impel us inevitably to the conclusion that we have before us a +species of composition which, while following a dramatic form, is not +inherently drama, but a variety of entertainment that may be described as +a compound of comedy, farce and burlesque; while the accompanying music, +which would lend dignity to tragedy or grand opera, merely heightens the +humorous effect and lends the color of musical comedy or opera +bouffe.[192] Krting is right in calling it mere entertainment, Mommsen is +right in calling it caricature, but we maintain that it is professedly +mere entertainment, that it is consciously caricature and if it fulfills +these functions we have no right to criticise it on other grounds. If we +attempt a serious critique of it as drama, we have at once on our hands a +capricious mass of dramatic unrealities and absurdities: bombast, +burlesque, extravagance, horse-play, soliloquies, asides, direct address +of the audience, pointless quips, and so on. The minute we accept it as a +consciously conceived medium for amusement only, we have a highly +effective theatrical mechanism for the unlimited production of laughter. +And, in fact, every shred of evidence, however scant, goes to show that +the histrionism must have been conceived in a spirit of extreme +liveliness, abandon and extravagance in gesture and declamation, that +would not confine the actor to faithful portrayal in character, but would +allow him scope and license to resort to any means whatsoever to bestir +laughter amongst a not over-stolid audience. + + + + + + + +Footnotes + + + +[1]: E.g., Casina in the _Cas._, Silenium in the _Cis._, +Planesium in the _Cur._, Adelphasium and Anterastylis in the +_Poen._, Palaestra in the _Rud._ + +[2]: V. infra, part II, sec. I. B. I. + +[3]: E.g., Lorcnz's Introd. to _Most._ and _Pseud._ V. infra, +part I, i. + +[4]: We are not concerned in this question with technical discussion as to +the position of the banquet table on the stage, the nature of the dog of +the _Most._ and the like, but with the delivery and movements of the +actors themselves. + +[5]: De Off. I. 29.104. + +[6]: X. 1.99. Cf. Ritschl's citations of Varro: _Parerga_, p. 71 ff. +Cf. Epig. quoted by Varro and attributed to Plautus himself, ap. Gel. +N.A., I. 24.1-3. But that this was a patent literary forgery is proved by +Gudeman in TAPA. XXV, p. 160. + +[7]: N.A., VI. 17.4. + +[8]: I.7.17. + +[9]: XIX. 8.6. + +[10]: _A.P._, 270 ff. Cf. _Ep._ II. I.170 ff. and Fay, ed. +_Most._, Intro. 2. + +[11]: _De Com._ III. 6, Donatus ed. Wessner. For full quotation, v. +infra, Part II, Sec. II. A. 3, Note 50. + +[12]: _Excerpta de Com._ V. 1. + +[13]: For a complete list, see _Testimonia_ prefixed to Goetz and +Schoell's ed. of Plautus. + +[14]: P. 217 M. + +[15]: 404, 412, 823. + +[16]: Ed. _Men._ (Leipzig, 1891), ad 410. + +[17]: Cf. opening lines of Eurip. _Iph. in Taur._ + +[18]: Pp. 13--19. V. Langen, _Plautinische Studien_, pp. 139-142. Cf. +also comments of Brix to _Menaechmi_ passim. + +[19]: Op. cit., p. 146. + +[20]: Cf. Gel. N. A., III. 3-14 ff. + +[21]: V. infra, Part II, under 'Careless Composition'. + +[22]: _Beschluss der Critik iiber die Gefangenen des Plaulus_. + +[23]: 23: Op. cit., fin. + +[24]: _La Litterature latine depuis la fondation de Rome_ (Paris, +1899), Bk. II. chap. 3. sec. 15, p. 362. + +[25]: Introd. to ed. _Mosl._, p. 37. + +[26]: Bk. II, Ch. 4. + +[27]: Lamarre, op. cit., Bk. II, Ch. 4, Sec. 12, p. 475. + +[28]: _Thtre de Plaute_ (Paris, 1845), Introd. p. 18. + +[29]: _Opuscula Philologica_, Vol. II p. 743. + +[30]: _Opusc._ II. 733 ff. + +[31]: In _Opusc._ III. 455, Ritschl relates that Varro wrote six books +on drama, with Plautus as the especial object of his interest: _de +originibus scaenicis, de scaenicis actionibus, de actibus scaenicis, de +personis, de descriptionibus, quaestiones Plautinae_. + +[32]: Langen, op. cit., p. 127. + +[33]: _Opusc._ II. 746. + +[34]: Op. cit., p. 165. + +[35]: Op. cit., p. 167. + +[36]: _Mil._ 522 ff. (All citations from Plautus are based on the text +and numbering of the lines in the text of Goetz and Schoell). + +[37]: _History of Rome_, (Transl. Dickson, Scribner, N.Y., 1900), Vol. +III, p. 143. + +[38]: E.g., LeGrand, _Daos_, V. supra. Cf. also N. 80, Part II. + +[39]: P. 190, trans. John Black (London, 1846), Lecture XIV. + +[40]: _Theatre of the Greeks_, p. 443. + +[41]: P. 197. + +[42]: Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30. + +[43]: V. supra. + +[44]: P. 620. But cf. Note 37. + +[45]: Cf. further Plessis, _La posie latine_ (Paris, 1909), p. 54 +ff.; Patin, _tudes sur la posie latine_ (Paris, 1869), Vol. II, p. +224 ff.; Ribbeck, _Geschichte der rmischen Dichtung_ (Stuttgart, +1894), Vol. I, p. 57 ff.; Tyrrell, _Early Latin Poetry_, p. 44 ff. A +very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, _A Literary History of +Rome_ (N.Y., 1909), p. 183 ff. + +[46]: _History of Rome_, Vol. III, p. 139. Cf. note 37. + +[47]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 28-9. + +[48]: Prol. _Poen._, II ff. + +[49]: _Plaudere_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, _sibilare_ or _exsibilare, explodere, +eicere_ were expressions used to indicate approval or disapproval. +Cf. the discussion of Oehmichen, article _Bhnenwesen_ in Von Mller's +_Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, 5ter Band, 3te +Abteilung, 73. 2, p. 271. + +[50]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 36 ff. + +[51]: Cf. Tac. _Ann._ I. 77. V. Oehmichen, op. cit., 39.3, p. 220. + +[52]: V. Prol. _Amph._ 52-3: + + Quid contraxistis frontem? + Quia tragoediam Dixi futuram hanc? + +[53]: _Parad._ III. 2.26. Cf. _Or._ 51.173, _de Or._ III. +50.196: _"theatra tota reclamant_"; Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.200 ff.; +Suet. _Nero_, 24.1. + +[54]: Cic. _de Or._ I.61.259, I.27.124. + +[55]: _Hist. Rome_, ed. cit., Vol. III, p. 140. + +[56]: _Cist._ 785: Qui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet. Cf. +_Trin._ 990. _Amph._ 83-4, (if this is not merely an imitation +of the Greek original). + +[57]: Tac. _Ann._ 1.77. + +[58]: _Amph._ 65 ff., _Poen._ 36 ff., Ter. _Phor._ 16 ff., +Cic. _ad Att._ IV. 15.6, Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.181. + +[59]: _Cas._ 17 ff., _Trin._ 706 ff. But others argue that these +passages are only translations from the Greek. V. Leo in _Hermes_, +1883, p. 561, F. Ostermayer, _De hist. fab. in com. Pl._ (Greifswald, +1884), p. 7. Ritschl (_Parerga_, p. 229) argues that the passages +refer to cases of extraordinary public approval, not to formal contests. +Cf. Var. _L.L._ V. 178. + +[60]: Cic. _pro. Ros. Com._ 10.28-9, Plin. _N. H._ 7.39.128, Dio +77.21. Cf. Sen. _Ep._ 80.7. + +[61]: Krting, op. cit., p. 244 ff. + +[62]: Cic. _de Or._ I.59.251, Suet. _Nero_ 20, Quint. XI. 3.19. + +[63]: I.ii.i-2, I.ii.12. + +[64]: Quint. XI.3.iii. + +[65]: Cic. _Or._ 31.109. + +[66]: Quint. XI.3.178, Juv. III. 98-9. + +[67]: Cic. _de Off._ I.31.114, _ad Att._ IV.15.6. + +[68]: Ap. Athen. XIV. 615 A. + +[69]: For a full discussion of the ancient actor v. Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, s. v. +_histrio_; Friedlander in Marquardt-Mommsen _Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer_, VI. p. 508 ff.; J. van Wageningen, _Scaenica Romana_; +Warnecke, _Die Vortragskunst der romischen Schauspieler_, in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1908, p. 704 ff. + +[70]: Cf. _de Or._ III.56.214, III.22.83, Quint. XI. 3.125, 181-2. + +[71]: Quint. XI.3.112. + +[72]: Cf. Quint. XI.3.89. + +[73]: Cic. _ad Att._ VI.1.8. + +[74]: Cf. _de Or._ III.26.102, Quint. XI.3.71, 89. + +[75]: For further treatment of the gestures of orators see Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie_, s. v. _histrio_; Warnecke in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1910, p. 593; Sittl, _Die Gebarden der Griechen und +Romer_, Chap. XI; Mart. Cap. 43. In the other rhetoricians of the later +Empire there is much copying of Cicero and Quintilian, but nothing of +significance for our purpose, unless it be the comparison of the rigid +training recommended to the embryo orator. For further citations, v. +Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit. + +[76]: 0p. cit., p. 203. + +[77]: _Wiener Studien_, Vol. XIV, p. 120. + +[78]: _Scaen. Rom._, p. 52. Cf. Karsten in _Mnem._ XXXII, (1904), +pp. 209-251, 287-322, who concludes that at least four hands aided in the +commentaries. + +[79]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 88, _Eun._ 187, 986, _Phor._ +315. + +[80]: A11 the passages in Donatus dealing with gesture have been collected +by Leo, _Rheinisches Museum_ XXXVIII, p. 331 ff. + +[81]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 180, 363, 380-1, _Eun._ 209, 559, +974, _Ad._ 84, 499, 661, 795, 951, _Hec._ 612, 689, _Phor._ +49, 315. Cf. _Ad._ 285: superbe ac magnifice. Cf. Schol. ad +_And._ 332: Vultuose hoc dicitur, hoc est cum gestu. Cf. also +Warnecke in _Neue Jahrbcher_, 1910, note 75. + +[82]: Cf. XI.3.103, _Auct. ad Her._ III.15.27. + +[83]: Their precise age and antiquity have been disputed with some +acrimony. With Sittl cf. Bethe, _Praef. Cod. Ambros._ p. 64; van +Wageningen, op. cit., p. 50 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII, p. 342 +ff. V. reproductions in Wieseler, _Theatergebude und Denkmler des +Bhnenwesens bei den Griechen und Rmern,_ Tafel X; and Bethe, ed. of +Codex Ambrosianus. + +[84]: _Neue Jahr._, Sup. Band I (1832), p. 447 ff. + +[85]: Quint. VI.3.29, Mart. Cap., Chap. 43, p. 543 ed. Kopp. + +[86]: V. reproductions in Baumeister, _Denkmler des klassischen +Altertums_, s. v. "Lustspiel" and Wieseler, op. cit., note 83. + +[87]: Donat. _de Com._ VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names +have been interchanged. + +[88]: _Ars Gram._ III, p. 489, 10 K; Festus, s.v. _personata_, +p. 217. Cf. Cic. _de Nat. Deo._ I. 28.79. Ribbock, _Romische +Tragodie_ p. 661, and Dziatzko in _Rhein. Mus._ XXI. 68, have made a +violent effort to reconcile the conflicting statements by arguing +that Roscius belonged to the troupe of Minucius. This is denied by +Weinberger, _Wien. Stud._ XIV. 126. For further discussion v. van +Wageningen, _Scaen. Rom._ p. 34 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII. +342; Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, _Ueber Antike +Theatermasken_; Teuffel, _Romische Litteraturgeschichte_ 16. +Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s.v. _histrio_, pp. 2120-21. A +recent article by Saunders (A.J.P., XXXII, p. 58) gives an admirable +summing-up of the whole controversy, with substantial proof that at +any rate the performers of Plautus' day were unmasked. + +[89]: Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, _Costume in Roman +Comedy_; Marquardt-Mommsen, _Handbuch der romischen Altertumer_, +VI. p. 525; Pauly-Wissowa, l.c. Cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ VII. 6. + +[90]: Cf. _Mil._ 629 ff., 923, _Ps._ 967, _Rud._ 125 f., 313 +f., 1303, _Trin._ 861 f., _Truc._ 286 ff.; Ter., _Phor._ +51. + +[91]: V. van Wageningen, op. cit. pp. 40 f. + +[92]: _De Or._ III. 22.83. + +[93]: II. 10.13. Cf. XI. 3.91. + +[94]: I. II. 1-2 + +[95]: Donat. ad _And._ 505, _Eun._ 224, 288, 403, _Ad._ 187, +395. + +[96]: Ad _And._ 194, 301, _Eun._ 467, 986, _Hec._ 98, 439, +640, _Ad._ 101. Cf. _Ad._ 96.; cum admiratone indignantis; 97; +intento digito et infestis in Micionem oculis. + +[97]: Ad _Eun._ 1055. + +[98]: Ad _And._ 633, _Eun._ 233, 451, _Hec._ 63, _Ad._ +259. + +[99]: Ad _Phor._ 145. + +[100]: Ad _Ad._ 200. + +[101]: Ad _Eun._ 187. + +[102]: VII. 2.8-10. + +[103]: Cf. Diom. 291, 23 ff., K; Ribbeck, _Rom. Trag._ p. 634, +believes that this was the rule, but he is apparently alone in the +opinion. Cf. Budensteiner in Bursian's _Jahresbericht_ CVI, p. 162 +ff., who agrees with the proof of van Eck, _Quaest. Sten. Rom._ +(Amsterdam 1892), that it was an isolated intance. + +[104]: We are not even remotely concerned with metrical analysis. For that +phase, with a discussion as to the effect of the various metrical systems, +see Klotz, _Grundzuge der altromischen Metrik_, esp. p. 370 ff. Cf. +Duff, _A Lit. Hist. of Rome_, p. 196. Note Donat, _de Com._ +VIII. 9 and Diom. 491, 23K. + +[105]: For arguments as to the divisions of the three classes, v., besides +Klotz, Ritschl, _Parerga_, p. 40; Conradt, _Die metrische +Komposition der Komodien des Terenz_ (Berlin 1876); Bucheler in _Neue +Jahr. fur Phil._ CXLI (1871), p. 273 ff.; Dziatzko in _Rhein. +Mus._ XXVI (1871), pp. 97-100: G. Hermann, _de Canticis in Romanorum +Fabulis, Opusc._ I. 290; which have all been landmarks in the +discussion. Cf. also Teuffel, _Rom. Lit._, 16. Sec. 5, etc. + +[106]: Cf. Cic. _de Or._ II.46.193. + +[107]: Cf. _As._ 265, 587, 640, 403, _Bac._ 611, _Cap._ 637, +_Cas._ 845 ff., _Cis._ 53 ff., _Cur._ 278, 309, 311, +_Ep._ 623 ff., _Men._ 828 f., 910, _Mer._ 599 f., +_Mil._ 200 ff. (quoted infra, Part II), 798-9 (Palaestrio must shout +at Periplecomenus to provoke such a reply), _Most._ 265 ff., 594, +_Per._ 307 f., _Ps._ 911, 1287, _St._ 271, 288 f., +_Trin._ 1099, _Truc._ 276, 476 ff., 549, 593 f., 599 ff., 822. +Cf. also Ter. _Phor._ 210-11 and Moliere's imitation in _Les +Fourberies de Scapin_, l. 4. + +[108]: Cf. Sittl, _Gebarden_, p. 201 and Warnecke's citations from the +Scholiast to Aristophanes in _Neue Jahr._ 1910, p. 592. + +[109]: _Daos_, p. 617. + +[110]: A.J.P. VIII. 15 ff. + +[111]: Cf. _As._ 554 ff., _Bac._ 710 ff., _Cap._ 159 ff. +_Cur._ 572 ff., _Ep._ 437 ff., _Men._ 1342., _Per._ +753 ff., _Ps._ 761 ff., _Trin._ 718 ff., etc. + +[112]: For further examples of bombast and mock-heroics v. _As._ +405-6, _Bac._ 792 f., 842 ff., _Cis._ 640 ff., _Cur._ 96 +ff. 439 ff., _Ep._ 181 ff. (in similar vein most of the soliloquies +of the name part), _Her._ 469 ff., 601 ff., 830 ff., _Mil._ 459 +ff., 486 ff., 947 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Poen._ 470 ff., 1294 +ff., _Ps._ 1063 f., _Truce._ 482 ff., 602 ff. + +[113]: V. _Amph._ 370 ff., _As._ 431, _Cas._ 404 ff., +_Cur._ 192 ff., 624 ff., _Mil._ 1394 ff., _Mos._ i ff., +_Per._ 809 ff., _Poen._ 382 ff., _Rud._ 706 ff. + +[114]: V. Frag. IV, G. & S., ap. Non. p. 543. + +[115]: Cf. _Bac._ 581 ff., 1119, _Cap._ 830 ff., _Most._ 898 +ff., _Rud._ 414, _St._ 308 ff., _Truc._ 254 ff. + +[116]: Cf. also _Bac._ 925 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Men._ 409 +ff. (v. supra, Part I, I, s.v. _Festus, Brix_). On _Bac._ 933, +v. Ribbeck, _Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta_, on Enn., frag. +_Androm._ 81; Kiessling, _Analecta Plautina_, I. 14 f.; +Ostermayer, _De historia fabulari in comoediis Plautinis_, p. 9. On +_Men._ 808 ff., v. Kiessling, II. 9. + +[117]: Cf. further _As._ 606 ff., _Cur._ 147 ff., _Most._ +233 ff., _Poen._ 275 ff. and passim, _Truc._ 434 ff. + +[118]: Cf. _Ep._ 580 ff. Cf. also "bombast," supra A. 1, and "copious +abuse" infra, A. 3. c. Cf. also wall-painting labeled "Der erzurnte +Hausherr," in Baumeister, _Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums_, s. +v. _Lustspiel_. + +[119]: Cf. _Mil._ 596 ff., _Most._ 454 ff., _Trin._ 517 ff. + +[120]: Cf. _Mer._ 748 ff., _Men._ 607 ff. + +[121]: Cf. further _Most._ 265 ff., 456 ff. and note Donat. ad +_Phor._ 210-11: hic locus magis actoris quam lectoris est. + +[122]: Cf. _Most._ 38 ff., _Poen._ 1309 ff. Cf. also "Lavishing +of terms of endearment," supra, A. 3. c. + +[123]: Cf. also _Poen._ 426 ff., _Rud._ 938 ff. + +[124]: Cf. similarly _Cap._ 121 ff., 177 ff., _Cas._ 725 ff., +_Most._ 909, 999 f. Cf. infra II. B.5. + +[125]: _Plaut. Stud._ pp. 121 f. Cf. pp. 101, 137 f., 158 f., 217, 229 +f. + +[126]: _Die Kom. des Pl._, pp. 70-71. + +[127]: _Daos_, p. 430-1. + +[128]: Prol. _Haut._ 32-40, Prol. _Eun._ 35-40. Cf. Eugraphius ad +_Haut._ 31: quid tale hic est, cum servus currit, cum populus +discedit, quod domino insano oboediat servus? Cf. also ad _Haut._ 37; +Donatus ad _Phor._ 1.4. + +[129]: _And._ 338 ff., _Phor._ 179 ff., 841 ff., _Ad._ 299 +ff. Weissman agrees with Donat. that in the last passage humor is not the +object. Cf. _ancilla currens_ in _Eun._ 643 ff. + +[130]: Cf. _servi currentes_ supra. Cf. also _Aul._ 811 ff., +_Ep._ 195 ff., _Mer._ 865 ff., _Ps._ 243 ff., _St._ +330 ff., _Trin._ 1068 ff., _Truc._ 115 ff. + +[131]: For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. +_Bac._ 534, _Ep._ 526 ff., _Rud._ 331 ff., et al. Cf. +Weise, op. cit., p. 72 f. + +[132]: Further comments infra II. B. 3. + +[133]: Cf. _As._ 403, and passim. + +[134]: Cf. _As._ 447, _Cur._ 111, _Men._ 125, 478 f., 909, +_Mer._ 364, 379, _Mil._ 275, _Most._ 548, _Per._ 99, +_Poen._ 840, _Ps._ 445, 615, 908, _Rud._ 97, _St._ 88, +_Trin._ 45, 567, _Truc._ 499, etc. + +[135]: _Daos, p. 431 ff._ See Dieterich, _Pulcinella, PI. II_. +Note esp. _As. 851 ff._ + +[136]: Cf. _Per. 81 ff., 599 ff., Poen. 210 ff., et al._ + +[137]: V. _Amph._ 952-3, _As._ 118 ff., 243 ff., _Aul._ 67 +ff., 667 ff., 701 ff., _Bac._ 170 ff., 349 ff., 573 ff., 761 ff., +_Cas._ 504 ff., _Cis._ 120 ff., _Cur._ 216 ff., 591 ff., +_Mer._ 544 ff., 588 ff., _Mil._ 464 ff., _Most._ 931 ff., +1041 ff., _Rud._ 1191 ff., _St._ 674 ff., et al. + +[138]: V. Cas. 424 ff., 759 ff., _Ep._ 81 ff., _Men._ 1039 ff., +_Ps._ 1017 ff., 1052 ff., 1102 ff., _Rud._ 892 ff., 1281 ff., +_St._ 641 ff., _Trin._ 199 ff., 1115 ff., _Truc._ 322 ff., +335 ff., 645 ff., 699 ff. + +Cf. the treatment of Le Grand, _Daos_, p. 412 ff., where he has an +analysis from a different point of view. The soliloquy and aside are +evidently not so frequent in New Comedy. + +[139]: _Daos_ p. 379. Cf. p. 550. + +[140]: _Aul._ 587 ff., _Men._ 966 ff. Cf. _Most._ 858 ff. +and _As._ 545 ff., a duologue in _canticum_. + +[141]: _Bac._ 640 ff. Cf. _Ps._ 767 ff. + +[142]: _Cap._ 461 ff., Cf. _Per._ 53 ff. + +[143]: _Men._ 77 ff., 446 ff., _St._ 155 ff. + +[144]: _Cur._ 371 ff., (Cf. 494 ff.), _Men._ 571 ff., +_Poen._ 823 ff. + +[145]: _Ep._ 225 ff. + +[146]: _Cas._ 217 ff., _Trin._ 223 ff. (Cf. 660 ff.) + +[147]: _Men._ 753 ff. + +[148]: _Aul._ 475 ff. (496-536 branded as spurious by Weise, op. cit., +pp. 42-44). + +[149]: _Mer._ 817 ff. + +[150]: _Poen._ 210 ff. (though not a solo), _Truc._ 22 ff., 210 +ff., 551 ff. + +[151]: _Ps._ 790 ff. + +[152]: _Truc._ 482 ff. + +[153]: _Mer._ 825 ff., _Rud._ 593 ff. + +[154]: _Mosl._ 85 ff. + +[155]: _Ps._ 1246 ff. + +[156]: _St._ 683 to end. + +[157]: _Ps._ 133 ff. For further passages of the episodical type, cf. +_Bac._ 925 ff. (v. supra under "bombast," I. A. 1), _Poen._ 449 +ff., _Rud._ 906 ff., _Trin._ 820 ff. (v. supra under +"burlesque," I. A. 3). + +[158]: Cf. further _Amph._ 463, 998, _Bac._ 1072, _Cap._ 69 +ff., _Cas._ 879, _Cis._ 146, 678, _Men._ 880, _Mer._ +313, _Mil._ 862, _Most._ 280, 354, 708 ff., _Poen._ 921 f., +_Ps._ 124, _St._ 224,446, 674 ff., _Truc._ 109 ff., 463 +ff., 965 ff. Cf. infra II. B. 5. + +[159]: In Donat. ed. Wessner. + +[160]: V. _As., Bac., Cap., Cis., Cur., Ep., Men., Mer., Most., Per., +Rod., St._ Cf. _Cas._ 1013 ff., _Poen._ 1370 f. + +[161]: V. _Bac._ 235-367, _Cap._ 835-99, _Cis._ 203 ff., +540-630, 705 ff., _Cur._ 251-73 and passim (this play is full of +bandying of quips), _Ep._ 1 ff., _Men._ 137-81, 602-67, +_Mer._ 474 ff., 708 ff., 866 ff., _Most._ 633 ff., 717 ff., 885 +ff., _Per._ 1 ff., 201 ff., _Poen._ 210 ff., _Ps._ 653 ff. +and passim, _Rud._ 485 ff. (the jokes here are unusually good), 780 +ff., _St._ 579 ff., _Trin._ 39 ff., 843 ff., _Truc._ 95 ff. + +[162]: Cf. Sosia im _Amph._ (esp. 659 ff.), Libanus in _As._ 1 +ff., Palinurus in _Cur._, Acanthio in _Mer._ (esp. 137 ff.), +Milphio in _Poen._, Sceparnio in _Rud._ (esp. 104 ff.) and +Trachalio, Pinacium in _St._ (esp. 331 ff.), Stasimus in _Trin._ + +[163]: _St._ 446 ff., Prol. _Cas._ 67 ff. For an exhaustive +discussion of the 'truth to life' of the characters, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, Part I, Chap. V. + +[164]: V. esp. 96 ff. + +[165]: 603 ff. + +[166]: Pyrgopolinices in _Mil._, Therapontigonus in _Cur._, the +_miles_ in _Ep._, Anthemonides in _Poen._ Stratophanes in +_Truc_, is not so violent. + +[167]: Cappadox in _Cur._, Dordalus in _Per._, Lycus in +_Poen._, Labrax in _Rud._ Similarly the _lenae_. + +[168]: Introd. to ed. of _Ps._ + +[169]: 355. Cf. 360 ff., 974 ff. + +[170]: _Hist. de la lit. lat._ Bk. II, Ch. III., Sec. 4. p. 307. + +[171]: _Plaut. Stud._, p. 105. + +[172]: _Daos_, pp. 557 f. Cf. 218 f. + +[173]: Introd. to _Ps._ Cf. _Daos_, p. 452 ff. + +[174]: E.g., _Amph._ 957, _Bac._ 844, _Cas._ 308, +_Men._ 898, _Mil._ 1137, 1188, _Per._ 301, 543, +_Poen._ 576, _Rud._ 1209, _St._ 400-1, _Trin._ 482. + +[175]: Part II, Sec. I. B. 2. + +[176]: P. 157. + +[177]: Cf. _Daos_, p. 60. + +[178]: Cf. in general the conclusions of LeGrand, _Daos_, p. 550, and +his admirable analysis (Part II) of "La structure des comedies." He has +recognized the existence of a number of the characteristics treated above, +but his discussion is in different vein and with a different object in +view. + +[179]: _Cap._ 489, _Cur._ 483. + +[180]: _Cur._ 269, et al. + +[181]: _Mil._ 991. + +[182]: _Ps._ 416, et al. + +[183]: _Ps._ 1232. + +[184]: _Ps._ 748. For a fairly complete collection, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, p. 44 ff. Cf. Middleton and Mills, _Students' Companion to +Latin Authors_, p. 20 ff. + +[185]: Cf. West in A.J.P. VIII. 15. Cf. note 1, Part II, supra. + +[186]: Cf. _Amph._ 861 ff., _As._ 174 f., _Cap._ 778, +_Cur._ 464, _Her._ 160, _Poen._ 1224. + +[187]: Cf. _Daos_, Part I, Chap. III: Les personnages, and p. 303 ff.; +Mommsen, _Hist._ pp. 141 ff. + +[188]: Prol, 53 ff. + +[189]: For a discussion of the relation of Plautus to his originals, v. +Schuster, _Quomodo Plautus Attica exemplaria transtulerit_; LeGrand, +_Daos_, passim; Ostermayer, _de hist. fab. in com. Pl._; +Ritschl, _Par._ 271, etc. The efforts to distinguish Plautus from his +models have so far been fragmentary and abortive and will not advance +appreciably until a complete play that he adapted has been found. At any +rate, the discussion has no real bearing on our subject, since we can +consider only the plays as actually transmitted; their sources cannot +affect our argument. The comparisons in _Daos_ seem to indicate that +Plautus did not debase his originals so much as Mommsen, Krting, Schlegel +and others had thought. Even in 1881, Kiessling (_Anal. Plaut._ II. +9) boldly expresses the opinion: "Atque omnino Plautus multo pressius +Atticorum exemplarium vestigia secutus est quam hodie vulgo arbitrantur". +Cf. Kellogg in PAPA. XLIV (1913). + +[190]: Euanthius, _de Com._ IV. 4. + +[191]: For an interesting comparison of Plautus and Terence, v. Spengel, +_ber die lateinische Komdie_, (Munich 1878). + +[192]: The importance of the music is indicated by the transmission of the +composer's name in all extant _didascaliae_, esp. those of Terence. +V. Klotz, _Altrm. Met._ p. 384 ff. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by +Wilton Wallace Blancke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + +***** This file should be named 9970-8.txt or 9970-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/7/9970/ + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9970-8.zip b/9970-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..292e847 --- /dev/null +++ b/9970-8.zip diff --git a/9970-h.zip b/9970-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbac95d --- /dev/null +++ b/9970-h.zip diff --git a/9970-h/9970-h.htm b/9970-h/9970-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3e3a4f --- /dev/null +++ b/9970-h/9970-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3574 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="US-ASCII" ?> +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html> + +<head> +<title>The Dramatic Values in Plautus - by Wilton Wallace Blancké</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + h1,h2,h3,h4 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps } + h1,h2 { margin-top: 2em } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + img { border-style: none } + hr ( margin: 2em 0% 2em 0% } + --> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by Wilton Wallace Blancke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +Author: Wilton Wallace Blancke + +Release Date: August 12, 2006 [EBook #9970] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h2>University of Pennsylvania</h2> + +<h1>The Dramatic Values in Plautus</h1> + +<p align="center" class="smallcaps">By</p> + +<h2>Wilton Wallace Blancké, A.M., Ph.D.</h2> +<h3>Professor of Latin in the Central High School of Philadelphia</h3> + +<h4>A Thesis</h4> + +<h4>Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial fulfillment +of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy</h4> + +<p align='center' class="smallcaps">1918</p> + + + + +<h2>Foreword</h2> + + + +<p>This dissertation was written in 1916, before the entrance of the United +States into The War, and was presented to the Faculty of the University of +Pennsylvania as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its +publication at this time needs no apology, for it will find its only +public in the circumscribed circle of professional scholars. They at least +will understand that scholarship knows no nationality. But in the fear +that this may fall under the eye of that larger public, whose interests +are, properly enough, not scholastic, a word of explanation may prove a +safeguard.</p> + +<p>The Germans have long been recognized as the hewers of wood and drawers of +water of the intellectual world. For the results of the drudgery of minute +research and laborious compilation, the scholar must perforce seek German +sources. The copious citation of German authorities in this work is, then, +the outcome of that necessity. I have, however, given due credit to German +criticism, when it is sound. The French are, generically, vastly superior +in the art of finely balanced critical estimation.</p> + +<p>My sincere thanks are due in particular to the Harrison Foundation of the +University for the many advantages I have received therefrom, to +Professors John C. Rolfe and Walton B. McDaniel, who have been both +teachers and friends to me, and to my good comrades and colleagues, +Francis H. Lee and Horace T. Boileau, for their aid in editing this essay.</p> + +<p>Wilton Wallace Blancké.<br /> +1918.</p> + + + + +<h2>Part 1</h2> + +<h3>A Résumé of the Criticism and of the Evidence Relating to the Acting +of Plautus</h3> + + + + +<h3>Introduction</h3> + + + +<p>This investigation was prompted by the abiding conviction that Plautus as +a dramatic artist has been from time immemorial misunderstood. In his +progress through the ages he has been like a merry clown rollicking +amongst people with a hearty invitation to laughter, and has been rewarded +by commendation for his services to morality and condemnation for his +buffoonery. The majority of Plautine critics have evinced too serious an +attitude of mind in dealing with a comic poet. However portentous and +profound his scholarship, no one deficient in a sense of humor should +venture to approach a comic poet in a spirit of criticism. For criticism +means appreciation.</p> + +<p>Furthermore, the various estimates of our poet's worth have been as +diversified as they have been in the main unfair. Alternately lauded as a +master dramatic craftsman and vilified as a scurrilous purveyor of +unsavory humor, he has been buffeted from the top to the bottom of the +dramatic scale. More recent writers have been approaching a saner +evaluation of his true worth, but never, we believe, has his real position +in that dramatic scale been definitely and finally fixed; because +heretofore no attempt has been made at a complete analysis of his +dramatic, particularly his comic, methods. It is the aim of the present +dissertation to accomplish this.</p> + +<p>I doubt not that from the inception of our acquaintance with the pages of +Plautus we have all passed through a similar experience. In the beginning +we have been vastly diverted by the quips and cranks and merry wiles of +the knavish slave, the plaints of love-lorn youth, the impotent rage of +the baffled pander, the fruitless growlings of the hungry parasite's +belly. We have been amused, perhaps astonished, on further reading, at +meeting our new-found friends in other plays, clothed in different names +to be sure and supplied in part with a fresh stock of jests, but still +engaged in the frustration of villainous panders, the cheating of harsh +fathers, until all ends with virtue triumphant in the establishment of the +undoubted respectability of a hitherto somewhat dubious female +character.<sup><a href="#foot1">1</a></sup></p> + +<p>Our astonishment waxes as we observe further the close correspondence of +dialogue, situation and dramatic machinery. We are bewildered by the +innumerable asides of hidden eavesdroppers, the inevitable recurrence of +soliloquy and speech familiarly directed at the audience, while every once +in so often a slave, desperately bent on finding someone actually under +his nose, careens wildly cross the stage or rouses the echoes by +unmerciful battering of doors, meanwhile unburdening himself of lengthy +solo tirades with great gusto;<sup><a href="#foot2">2</a></sup> and all this dished up with a sauce of +humor often too racy and piquant for our delicate twentieth-century +palate, which has acquired a refined taste for suggestive innuendo, but +never relishes calling a spade by its own name.</p> + +<p>If we have sought an explanation of our poet's gentle foibles in the +commentaries to our college texts, we have assuredly been disappointed. +Even to the seminarian in Plautus little satisfaction has been vouchsafed. +We are often greeted by the enthusiastic comments of German critics, which +run riot in elaborate analyses of plot and character and inform us that we +are reading <i>Meisterwerke</i> of comic drama.<sup><a href="#foot3">3</a></sup> Our perplexity has perhaps +become focused upon two leading questions; first: "What manner of drama is +this after all? Is it comedy, farce, opera bouffe or mere extravaganza?" +Second: "How was it done? What was the technique of acting employed to +represent in particular the peculiarly extravagant scenes?"<sup><a href="#foot4">4</a></sup></p> + +<p>There is an interesting contrast between the published editions of Plautus +and Bernard Shaw. Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate +network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of +the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find +nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such +editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken +lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at +least does not lie on the surface of the text.</p> + +<p>For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are +necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a résumé of the +evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a +consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and +stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the +plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We +hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading +questions.</p> + + + +<h4>§1. Critics of Plautus</h4> + + +<p>Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things, +time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from +a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the +rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of +denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation.</p> + +<p>Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously. +Stylistically he was translated to the skies. [Sidenote: Cicero] Cicero<sup><a href="#foot5">5</a></sup> +imputes to him "iocandi genus, ... elegans, urbanum, ingeniosum, facetum." +[Sidenote: Aelius Stilo] Quintilian<sup><a href="#foot6">6</a></sup> quotes: "Licet Varro Musas Aelii +Stilonis sententia Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si latine +loqui vellent." [Sidenote: Gellius] The paean is further swelled by +Gellius, who variously refers to our hero as "homo linguae atque +elegantiae in verbis Latinae princeps,"<sup><a href="#foot7">7</a></sup> and "verborum Latinorum +elegantissimus,"<sup><a href="#foot8">8</a></sup> and "linguae Latinae decus."<sup><a href="#foot9">9</a></sup> [Sidenote: Horace] If +our poet is scored by Horace<sup><a href="#foot10">10</a></sup> it is probably due rather to Horace's +affectation of contempt for the early poets than to his true convictions; +or we may ascribe it to the sophisticated metricist's failure to realize +the existence of a "Metrica Musa Pedestris." As Duff says (<i>A Literary +History of Rome</i>, p. 197), "The scansion of Plautus was less understood in +Cicero's day than that of Chaucer was in Johnson's." (Cf. Cic. <i>Or.</i> 55. +184.)</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Euanthius] We have somewhat of a reaction, too, against the +earlier chorus of praise in the commentary of Euanthius,<sup><a href="#foot11">11</a></sup> who condemns +Plautus' persistent use of direct address of the audience. If it is true, +as Donatus<sup><a href="#foot12">12</a></sup> says later: "Comoediam esse Cicero ait imitationem vitae, +speculum consuetudinis, imaginem veritatis," we find it hard to understand +Cicero's enthusiatic praise of Plautus, as we hope to show that he is very +far from measuring up to any such comic ideal as that laid down by Cicero +himself.</p> + +<p>But of course these ancient critiques have no appreciable bearing on our +argument and we cite them rather for historical interest and +retrospect.<sup><a href="#foot13">13</a></sup> [Sidenote: Festus] [Sidenote: Brix] While Festus<sup><a href="#foot14">14</a></sup> makes +a painful effort to explain the location of the mythical "Portus Persicus" +mentioned in the <i>Amph.</i>,<sup><a href="#foot15">15</a></sup> Brix<sup><a href="#foot16">16</a></sup> in modern times shows that there is +no historical ground for the elaborate mythical genealogy in <i>Men.</i> 409 +ff. We contend that "Portus Persicus" is pure fiction, as our novelists +refer fondly to "Zenda" or "Graustark," while the <i>Men.</i> passage is a +patent burlesque of the tragic style.<sup><a href="#foot17">17</a></sup></p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Becker] On the threshold of what we may term modern criticism +of Plautus we find W.A. Becker, in 1837, writing a book: "De Comicis +Romanorum Fabulis Maxime Plautinis Quaestiones." Herein, after deploring +the neglect of Plautine criticism among his immediate predecessors and +contemporaries, he attempts to prove that Plautus was a great "original" +poet and dramatic artist. Surely no one today can be in sympathy with such +a sentiment as the following (Becker, p. 95): "Et Trinummum, quae ita +amabilibus lepidisque personis optimisque exemplis abundat, ut quoties eam +lego, non comici me poetae, sed philosophi Socratici opus legere mihi +videar." I believe we may safely call the <i>Trinummus</i> the least Plautine +of Plautine plays, except the <i>Captivi</i>, and it is by no means so good a +work. The <i>Trinummus</i> is crowded with interminable padded dialogue, +tiresome moral preachments, and possesses a weakly motivated plot; a +veritable "Sunday-school play."</p> + +<p>But Becker continues: "Sive enim <Plautus> seria agit et praecepta pleno +effundit penu, ad quae componere vitarn oporteat; in sententiis quanta +gravitas, orationis quanta vis, quam probe et meditate cum hominum ingenia +moresque novisse omnia testantur." We feel sure that our Umbrian fun-maker +would strut in public and laugh in private, could he hear such an encomium +of his lofty moral aims. For it is our ultimate purpose to prove that +fun-maker Plautus was primarily and well-nigh exclusively a fun-maker.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Weise] K. H. Weise, in "Die Komodien des Plautus, kritisch nach +Inhalt und Form beleuchtet, zur Bestimmung des Echten und Unechten in den +einzelnen Dichtungen" (Quedlinburg, 1866), follows hard on Becker's heels +and places Plautus on a pinnacle of poetic achievement in which we +scarcely recognize our apotheosized laugh-maker. Every passage in the +plays that is not artistically immaculate, that does not conform to the +uttermost canons of dramatic art, is unequivocally damned as "unecht." In +his Introduction (p. 4) Weise is truly eloquent in painting the times and +significance of our poet. With momentary insight he says: "Man hat an ihm +eine immer frische und nie versiegende Fundgrabe des ächten Volkswitzes." +But this is soon marred by utterances such as (p. 14): "Fände sich also in +der Zahl der Plautinischen Komodien eine Partie, die mit einer andern in +diesen Hinsichten in bedeutendem Grade contrastirte, so konnte man sicher +schliessen, dass beide nicht von demselben Verfasser sein könnten." He +demands from Plautus, as <i>ein wahrer Poet</i>, "Congruenz, und richtige +innere Logik <und> harmonische Construction" (p. 12), and finally declares +(p. 22): "Interesse, Character, logischer Bau in der Zusammensetzung, +Naturlichkeit der Sprache und des Witzes, Rythmus und antikes Idiom des +Ausdrucks werden die Kriterien sein mussen, nach dem wir uber die +Vortrefflichkeit und Plautinität plautinischer Stücke zu entscheiden +haben."</p> + +<p>On this basis he ruthlessly carves out and discards as "unecht" every +passage that fails to conform to his amazing and extravagant ideals, in +the belief that "der ächte Meister Plautus konnte nur Harmonisches, nur +Vernunftiges, nur Logisches, nur relativ Richtiges dichten" (p. 79), +though even Homer nods. The <i>Mercator</i> is banned <i>in toto</i>. To be sure, +Weise somewhat redeems himself by the statement (p. 29 f.): "Plautus +bezweckte ... lediglich nur die eigentliche und wirksamste Belustigung des +Publicums." But how he reconciles this with his previously quoted +convictions and with the declaration (p. 16): "Plautus ist ein sehr +religioser, sehr moralischer Schriftsteller," it is impossible to grasp, +until we recall that the author is a German.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Langen] Such criticism stultifies itself and needs no +refutation; certainly not here, as P. Langen in his <i>Plautinische Studien</i> +(<i>Berliner Studien</i>, 1886; pp. 90-91) has conclusively proved that the +inconsistent is a feature absolutely germane to Plautine style, and has +collected an overwhelming mass of "Widerspruche, Inkonsequenzen und +psychologische Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" that would question the +"Plautinity" of every other line, were we to follow Weise's precepts. +Langen too uses the knife, but with a certain judicious restraint.</p> + +<p>We insist that the attempt to explain away every inconsistency as spurious +is a sorry refuge.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Langrehr] Langrehr in <i>Miscellanea Philologica</i> (Gottingen, +1876), under the caption <i>Plautina</i><sup><a href="#foot18">18</a></sup> gives vent to further solemn +Teutonic carpings at the plot of the <i>Epidicus</i> and argues the play a +<i>contaminatio</i> on the basis of the double intrigue. He is much exercised +too over the mysterious episode of 'the disappearing flute-girl.'</p> + +<p>Langen, who is in the main remarkably sane, refutes these conclusions +neatly.<sup><a href="#foot19">19</a></sup> How Weise and his confrères argue Plautus such a super-poet, +in view of the life and education of the public to whom he catered, let +alone the evidence of the plays themselves, and their author's status as +mere translator and adapter, must remain an insoluble mystery. The simple +truth is that a playwright such as Plautus, having undertaken to feed a +populace hungry for amusement, ground out plays (doubtless for a +living),<sup><a href="#foot20">20</a></sup> with a wholesome disregard for niceties of composition, +provided only he obtained his <i>sine qua non</i>--the laugh.<sup><a href="#foot21">21</a></sup></p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Lessing] In our citation of opinions we must not overlook that +impressive mile-stone in the history of criticism, the discredited but +still great Lessing. In his "Abhandlung von dem Leben und den Werken des +M. Accius Plautus" Lessing deprecates the harsh judgment of Horace and +later detractors of our poet in modern times. Lessing idealizes him as the +matchless comic poet. That the <i>Captivi</i> is "das vortrefflichste Stück, +welches jemals auf den Schauplatz gekommen ist," as Lessing declares in +the Preface to his translation of the play, is an utterance that leaves us +gasping.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Dacier] But Lessing's idea of the purpose of comedy is a +combination of Aristotelian and mid-Victorian ideals: "die Sitten der +Zuschauer zu bilden und zu bessern, ... wenn sie nämlich das Laster +allezeit unglücklich und die Tugend am Ende glücklich sein lässt."<sup><a href="#foot22">22</a></sup> It +is on the basis of this premise that he awards the comic crown to the +<i>Cap.</i><sup><a href="#foot23">23</a></sup> His extravagant encomium called forth from a contemporary a +long controversial letter which Lessing published in the second edition +with a reply so feeble that he distinctly leaves his adversary the honors +of the field. How much better the diagnosis of Madame Dacier, who is +quoted by Lessing! In the introduction to her translations of the +<i>Amphitruo</i>, <i>Rudens</i> and <i>Epidicus</i> (issued in 1683), she apologizes for +Plautus on the ground that he had to win approval for his comedies from an +audience used to the ribaldry of the <i>Saturae</i>.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Lorenz] Lorenz in his introductions to editions of the <i>Most.</i> +and <i>Pseud.</i> is another who seems to be carried away by the unrestrained +enthusiasm that often affects scholars oversteeped in the lore of their +author. Faults are dismissed as merely "Kleine Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" +(Introd. <i>Ps.</i>, p. 26, N. 25.) "Jeder Leser," says he, "<wird gewiss> +darin beistimmen, dass ... der erste Act <des <i>Pseudolus</i>> eine so +gelungene Exposition darbietet, wie sie die dramatische Poesie nur +aufweisen kann." Such a statement must fall, by weight of exaggeration. In +appreciation of the portrayal of the name-part he continues: "Mit welch' +überwältigender Herrschaft tritt hier gleich die meisterhaft geschilderte +Hauptperson hervor! Welche packende Kraft, welche hinreissende <i>verve</i> +liegt in dem reichen Dialoge, der wie beseelt von der feurigen Energie des +begabten Menschen, der ihn lenkt, fröhlich rauschend dahin eilt, +übersprudelnd von einer Fulle erheiternder Scherze und schillernder +Spielereien!"</p> + +<p>In curious contrast to this fulsome outpouring stands the expressed belief +of Lamarre<sup><a href="#foot24">24</a></sup> that the character of Ballio overshadows that of Pseudolus. +In support of this view he cites Cicero (<i>Pro Ros. Com.</i> 7.20), who +mentions that Roscius chose to play Ballio.</p> + +<p>Lorenz in his enthusiasm exalts the <i>Epid.</i> to an ideal of comic +excellence (Introd. <i>Ps.</i> p. 27). He even goes so far as to contend that +Plautus lives up to the following characterization:<sup><a href="#foot25">25</a></sup> "Nicht blos durch +naturgetreue and lebhafte Charakterschilderungen und durch eine komisch +gehaltene, aber die Grenzen des Wahrscheinlichen und des Graziösen nicht +überschreitende Zeichnung des täglichen Lebens soll der Dichter des +Lustspiels seine Zuschauer interessiren und ihr heiteres Gelächter +hervorrufen, sondern auch so reiche Anwendung zu geben, durch die es in +den Dienst einer sittlichen Idee tritt, und so gleichsam die moralische +Atmosphäre ... zu reinigen."</p> + +<p>Such emotional superlatives merely create in the reader a cachinnatory +revulsion. Yes, Plautus was great, but he was great in a far different +way. He approached the Rabelaisian. It is doubtful if "die Grenzen des +Graziösen" lay within his purview at all.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Lamarre] The treatment of Lamarre cited above contains<sup><a href="#foot26">26</a></sup> a +highly meritorious analysis of the Plautine characters, discussed largely +as a reflection of the times and people, both of New Comedy and of +Plautus, without imputing to our poet too serious motives of subtle +portrayal. But he too ascribes to Plautus a latent moral purpose: "En +faisant rire, il veut corriger"!<sup><a href="#foot27">27</a></sup></p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Naudet] This sounds ominously like an echo from Naudet<sup><a href="#foot28">28</a></sup> who, +in the course of lauding Plautus' infinite invention and variety of +embroidery, would translate him into a zealous social reformer by saying: +"L'auteur se proposait de faire beaucoup rire les spectateurs, mais il +voulait aussi qu'ils se corrigeassent en riant." All this is +disappointing. We should have expected Gallic esprit to rise superior to +such banality.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed +by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled <i>Daos Tableau de la comedie +grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle</i> (Annales de l'Université de +Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques +et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au +point de vue moral, la νέα dut être inoffensive (en son temps)." +This is the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis +of the extant remains of New Comedy and <i>Palliatae</i>.</p> + +<p>Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status +of a petty moralizer<sup><a href="#foot29">29</a></sup>. In particular, he lauds the <i>Aul</i> unreservedly +as a <i>chef d'oeuvre</i> of character delineation and pronounces it +immeasurably superior to Molière's imitation, "L'Avare."<sup><a href="#foot30">30</a></sup> This whole +critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing +to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.<sup><a href="#foot31">31</a></sup></p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very +point in remarking<sup><a href="#foot32">32</a></sup> that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in +the <i>Cas</i><sup><a href="#foot33">33</a></sup> implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic +worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and +remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen +still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the <i>Miles</i><sup><a href="#foot34">34</a></sup>: +"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der +Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf +man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen. +Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack +<i>eines</i> Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat."</p> + +<p>But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of +the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns<sup><a href="#foot35">35</a></sup>, the +scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that +the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is +supposed to be conveying secret information.<sup><a href="#foot36">36</a></sup> If carried out in a +broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his <i>History</i><sup><a href="#foot37">37</a></sup>, in the course of an +interesting discussion on <i>palliatae</i> and their Greek originals, has a far +saner point of view. He says of the authors of New Comedy, "They wrote not +like Eupolis and Aristophanes for a great nation; but rather for a +cultivated society which spent its time ... in guessing riddles and +playing at charades.... Even in the dim Latin copy, through which we +chiefly know it, the grace of the original is not wholly obliterated. <In +<i>palliatae</i>> persons and incidents seem capriciously or carelessly +shuffled as in a game of cards; in the original a picture from life, it +became in the reproduction a caricature."</p> + +<p>Naturally we are not concerned with any consideration of the value of his +estimate of New Comedy. Assuredly he rates it too highly, as later +investigations have indicated.<sup><a href="#foot38">38</a></sup> But here for the first time we are able +to quote a well-balanced appreciation of some essential features of +Plautine drama: a "capricious shuffling of incidents" and "caricature." In +fact it will be our endeavor to show that the <i>palliata</i> was not a true +art form, but merely an outer shell or mold into which Plautus poured his +stock of witticisms.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Korting] Still more trenchant is the conclusion of Korting in +his <i>Geschichte des griechischen und römischen Theaters</i> (P. 218 ff.): +"Die neue attische Komödie und folglich auch ihr Abklatsch, die romische +Palliata, war nicht ein Lustspiel im höchsten, im sittlichen Sinne des +Wortes, sondern ein blosses Unterhaltungsdrama. Amüsieren wollten die +Komödiendichter, nichts weiter. Jedes höhere Streben lag ihnen fern. Wohl +spickten sie ihre Lustspiele mit moralischen Sentenzen.... Aber die +schönen Sentenzen sind eben nur Zierat, sind nur Verbramung einer in ihrem +Kerne und Wesen durch und durch unsittlichen Dichtung ... Mit der +Wahrscheinlichkeit der Handlung wird es sehr leicht genommen: die +seltsamsten Zufälle werden als so ziemlich selbstverständliche +Möglichkeiten hingestellt ... Es ginge das noch an, wenn wir in eine +phantastische Märchenwelt geführt werden, in welcher am Ende auch das +Wunderbarste möglich ist, aber nein! es wird uns zugemutet, überzeugt zu +sein, dass alles mit natürlichen Dingen zugehe.</p> + +<p>"Alles in allem genommen, ist an dieser Komödie, abgesehen von ihrer +formal musterhaften Technik, herzlich wenig zu bewundern.... An +Zweideutigkeiten, Obscönitäten, Schimpfscenen ist Überfluss vorhanden."</p> + +<p>With admirable clarity of vision, Korting has spied the vital spot and +illuminated it with the word "Unterhaltungsdrama." That amusement was the +sole aim of the comic poets we firmly believe. But if this was so, why +arraign them on the charge of trying to convince us that everything is +happening in a perfectly natural manner? The outer form to be sure is that +of everyday life, but this is no proof that the poets demanded of their +audiences a belief in the verisimilitude of the events depicted. Can we +have no fantastic fairyland without some outlandish accompaniment such as +a chorus garbed as birds or frogs? But we reserve fuller discussion of +this point until later. We might suggest an interesting comparison to the +nonsense verse of W. S. Gilbert, which represents the most shocking ideas +in a style even nonchalantly matter-of-fact. Does Gilbert by any chance +actually wish us to believe that "Gentle Alice Brown," in the poem of the +same name, really assisted in "cutting up a little lad"?</p> + +<p>Korting regains his usual clear-headedness in pronouncing 'that there is +little in the technique of <i>palliatae</i> to excite our admiration.' Again we +insist (to borrow the jargon of the modern dramatic critic) it was but a +"vehicle" for popular amusement.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Schlegel] Wilhelm Schlegel, in his <i>History of the Drama</i><sup><a href="#foot39">39</a></sup> +has the point of view of the dramatic critic, rather than the professional +scholar; while expressing a measure of admiration for the significance of +Plautus in literature, he is impelled to say: "The bold, coarse style of +Plautus and his famous jokes, savour of his familiarity with the vulgar +... <He> mostly inclines to the farcical, to overwrought and often +disgusting drollery." This is doubtless true, but, by making the +incidental a criterion for the whole, it gives a gross misconception to +one that has not read Plautus.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Donaldson] J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek +theatre<sup><a href="#foot40">40</a></sup>, has plagiarized Schlegel practically <i>verbatim</i>, while giving +the scantest credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as being a +mere echo, or compilation of second-hand material.</p> + +<p>We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient comedy that +he enthusiastically superintended the translation and production of plays +of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel<sup><a href="#foot41">41</a></sup>: "I once witnessed at Weimar a +representation of the <i>Adelphi</i> of Terence, entirely in ancient costume, +which, under the direction of Goethe, furnished us a truly Attic evening."</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Scott] In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may +be interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar <i>par excellence</i>, +may be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's +<i>Amphitryon</i> he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of +Amphitryon which has <i>had the honour</i> to be deemed worthy of imitation by +Molière and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and +inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that +of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to +which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious +literary technician!<sup><a href="#foot42">42</a></sup></p> + +<p>[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all +is certainly attained by LeGrand in <i>Daos</i>.<sup><a href="#foot43">43</a></sup> He appreciates clearly +that "la nouvelle comédie n'a pas été, en toute circonstance stance, une +comédie distinguée. Elle n'a pas dédaigné constamment la farce et le gros +rire."<sup><a href="#foot44">44</a></sup> How much more then would this apply to <i>palliatae</i>!</p> + +<p>We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of +criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which +Plautus has been subjected.<sup><a href="#foot45">45</a></sup> The ancients overrated him stylistically, +but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz +and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of +Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and +therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that +offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the +<i>Captivi</i>. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our +poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit +without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness. +Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his +inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but +Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while +aiming solely at provoking laughter.</p> + +<p>From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the +prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his +conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy +situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's +original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a +grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him +for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any +illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent and consummate +technique? Did he for a single instant imagine himself the inspired +reformer of public morality? Did he believe that his style was elegant and +polished? Indeed, he must have effected an appreciable refinement of the +vernacular of his age to produce his lively verse, but without losing the +robust vitality of "Volkswitz." Or is it true that nothing further than +amusement lay within his scope?</p> + +<p>If so, we may at least posit that almost unbounded license must be allowed +the pen which aims simply to raise a laugh. We do not fulminate against a +treatise on Quaternions because it lacks humor. If the drawings of +cartoonists are anatomically incorrect, we are smilingly indulgent. Do we +condemn a vaudeville skit for not conforming to the Aristotelian code of +dramatic technique? Assuredly we do not rise in disgust from a musical +comedy because "in real life" a bevy of shapely maidens in scant attire +never goes tripping and singing blithely though the streets. If then we +can establish that Plautus regarded his adapted dramas merely as a rack on +which to hang witticisms, merely as a medium for laugh-provoking sallies +and situations, we have at once Plautus as he pretended to be, and in +large measure the answer to the original question: "What manner of drama +is this?"</p> + +<p>We say only "in large measure," because it is part of our endeavor to +settle accurately the position of our author in the dramatic scale, +considered of necessity from the modern viewpoint. We cannot believe that +he had any pretensions to refined art in play building, or rather +rebuilding, or to any superficial elegance of style, or to any moralizing +pose. We believe him an entertainer pure and simple, who never restricted +himself in his means except by the outer conventions and form of the Greek +New Comedy and the Roman stage, provided his single aim, that of affording +amusement, was attained. To establish this belief, and at the same time to +interpret accurately the nature of his plays and the means and effect of +their production, is our thesis.</p> + +<p>If then we run the gamut of the dramatic scale, we observe that as we +descend from the higher forms, such as tragedy, psychological drama and +"straight comedy," to the lower, such as musical comedy and burlesque, the +license allowed playwright and actor increases so radically that we have a +difference of kind rather than of degree. Certain conventions of course +are common to all types. The "missing fourth side" of the room is a +commonplace recognized by all. If we ourselves are never in the habit of +communicating the contents of our letters, as we write, to a doubtless +appreciative atmosphere, we never cavil at such an act on the stage. The +stage whisper and aside, too, we accept with benevolent indulgence; but it +is worth noting that in the attempted verisimilitude of the modern +"legitimate" drama, the aside has well nigh vanished. As we go down the +scale through light comedy and broad farce these conventions multiply +rapidly.</p> + +<p>With the introduction of music come further absurdities. Melodious voicing +of our thoughts is in itself essentially unnatural, to say the least. +Grand opera, great art form as it may be, is hopelessly artificial. +Indeed, so far is it removed from the plane of every day existence that we +are rudely jolted by the introduction of too commonplace a thought, as +when Sharpless in the English version of "Madame Butterfly" warbles +mellifluously: "Highball or straight?" And when we reach musical comedy +and vaudeville, all thought of drama, technically speaking, is abandoned +in watching the capers of the "merry-merry" or the outrageous "Dutch" +comedian wielding his deadly newspaper.</p> + +<p>It is important for our immediate purposes to note: first, (as aforesaid), +that the amount of license allowed author and actor increases immeasurably +as we go down the scale; second, that the degree of familiarity with the +audience and cognizance of the spectator's existence varies inversely as +the degree of dramatic value. Thus, at one end of the scale we have, for +instance, Mrs. Fiske, whose fondness for playing to the centre of the +stage and ignoring the audience is commented upon as a mannerism; at the +other, the low comedian who says his say or sings his song directly at the +audience and converses gaily with them as his boon companions. Now it will +be shown that familiar address of the audience and the singing of monodies +to musical accompaniment are essential features of Plautus' style, and +many other implements of the lower types of modern drama are among his +favorite devices. If then we can place Plautus toward the bottom of the +scale, we relieve him vastly of responsibility as a dramatist and of the +necessity of adherence to verisimilitude. Where does he actually belong? +The answer must be sought in a detailed consideration of his methods of +producing his effects and in an endeavor to ascertain how far the audience +and the acting contributed to them.</p> + + + +<h4>§2. The Performance</h4> + + +<p>[Sidenote: The Audience] As it is perfectly patent that every practical +playwright must cater to his public, the audience is an essential feature +in our discussion. The audience of Plautus was not of a high class. +Terence, even in later times, when education had materially progressed, +often failed to reach them by over-finesse. Plautus with his bold brush +pleased them. Surely a turbulent and motley throng they were, with the +native violence of the sun-warmed Italic temperament and the abundant +animal spirits of a crude civilization, tumbling into the theatre in the +full enjoyment of holiday, scrambling for vantage points on the sloping +ground, if such were handy, or a good spot for their camp-stools. In view +of the uncertainty as to the actual site of the original performances, +this portraiture is "atmospheric" rather than "photographic." (See +Saunders in TAPA. XLIV, 1913). At any rate, we have ample evidence of the +turbulence of the early Roman audience. (Ter. Prol. <i>Hec.</i> 39-42, and +citations immediately following). Note the description of Mommsen:<sup><a href="#foot46">46</a></sup> +"The audience was anything but genteel.... The body of spectators cannot +have differed much from what one sees in the present day at public +fireworks and gratis exhibitions. Naturally, therefore, the proceedings +were not too orderly; children cried,<sup><a href="#foot47">47</a></sup> women talked and shrieked, now +and then a wench prepared to push her way to the stage; the ushers had on +these festivals anything but a holiday, and found frequent occasion to +confiscate a mantle or to ply the rod."<sup><a href="#foot48">48</a></sup></p> + +<p>Impatient if the play be delayed, and voicing their disapproval by lusty +clapping, stamping, whistling and cat-calls, they are equally ready with +noisy approval if the dramatic fare tickle their palate.<sup><a href="#foot49">49</a></sup> The +<i>tibicen</i>, as he steps forth to render the overture, is greeted +uproariously as an old favorite. The manager perhaps appears and announces +the names of those taking part, each one of whom is doubtless applauded or +hissed in proportion to his measure of popularity. Differences of opinion +as to the merits of an individual actor may culminate in the partisans' +coming to blows.<sup><a href="#foot50">50</a></sup> Horace (<i>Ep.</i> II. I. 200 ff.) comments on the +turbulence of the audiences of his day too; while under the Empire +factions for and against particular actors grew up, as in the circus.<sup><a href="#foot51">51</a></sup> +Late-comers of course often disturbed the Prologus in his lines. The +continual reiteration that we find in such prologues as the <i>Amph.</i>, +<i>Cap.</i> and <i>Poen.</i> was naturally designed as a safeguard against such +disturbance. Yet these prologues were undoubtedly composed, as Ritschl has +shown (<i>Par.</i> 232 ff.), shortly after 146 B.C., and the turbulence of the +original audience must have been far greater.</p> + +<p>To win the favor of such a crowd, which would groan if instead of the +expected comedy a tragedy should be announced,<sup><a href="#foot52">52</a></sup> what methods were +necessary? Slap-sticks, horse-play, broad slashing swashbuckling humor, +thick colors daubed on with lavish brush!</p> + +<p>By Cicero's time the public had attained to such a degree of +sophistication that the slightest slip on the part of the wretched actor +was greeted by a storm of popular disapproval. "Histrio si paulum se movit +extra numerum, aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut +longior, exsibilatur, exploditur," says Cicero.<sup><a href="#foot53">53</a></sup> The actor dare not +even have a cold, for on the slightest manifestation of hoarseness, he was +hooted off, though favorites such as Roscius might be excused on the plea +of indisposition.<sup><a href="#foot54">54</a></sup> The Scholiast Cruquius to Hor. <i>Ser.</i> I. 10.37 ff. +notes: "Poemata ... in theatris exhibita imperitae multitudinis applausum +captare."</p> + +<p>It is evident from all this that, while the Roman public had made +considerable advances in education, their demonstrative temperament had +not cooled. It seems eminently fair to deduce that the far ruder and less +cultivated audiences of Plautus' day were even more violent in their +manifestations of pleasure and displeasure, but that their criterion of +taste was solely the amount of amusement derived from the performance and +that they bothered themselves little about niceties of rhythm. To the +Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production. +Again we reiterate, only the bold brush could have pleased them.</p> + +<p>That the plays of Plautus attained a permanent position in ihe theatrical +repertoire of Rome is of course well known; but he wrote primarily for his +own age, and in a difficult environment. Not only did he have to please a +highly volatile and inflammable public, but he must have been forced to +exercise tact to avoid offending the patrician powers, as the imprisonment +of Naevius indicates. Mommsen has an apt summary:<sup><a href="#foot55">55</a></sup> "Under such +circumstances, where art worked for daily wages and the artist instead of +receiving due honour was subjected to disgrace, the new national theatre +of the Romans could not present any development either original or even at +all artistic."</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: The Actor] This brief discussion of the relation between public +and playwright will suffice for our purposes. In the course of it we have +insensibly encroached upon the next topic: the relation of public and +actor. Who after all is the chief factor in the success or failure of a +drama, in spite of the oft misquoted adage, "The play's the thing?" The +actor! The actor, who can mouth and tear a passion to tatters, or swing a +piece of trumpery into popular favor by the brute force of his dash and +personality. That this was true in Plautus' day, no less than in our own, +is plainly indicated by the personal allusion inserted in the <i>Bac.</i> +(214-5):</p> + +<blockquote> Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo,<br /> +Nullam aeque invitus specto, <i>si agit Pellio</i>.</blockquote> + +<p>The servile status of the ancient actor is an index to the energy of his +performance, if to nothing else. Failure meant a beating, success a drink +at least.<sup><a href="#foot56">56</a></sup> Augustus humanely abrogated the whipping of actors, but an +attempt was made in Tiberius' time to renew the practice.<sup><a href="#foot57">57</a></sup> On the other +hand, there seem to have been prizes awarded to successful actors,<sup><a href="#foot58">58</a></sup> as +well as to the poet;<sup><a href="#foot59">59</a></sup> but this practice surely arose after Plautus' +lifetime. At any rate, whatever was the nature of the reward, in his day +the large emoluments won by Roscius and other popular favorites were +impossible.<sup><a href="#foot60">60</a></sup> The effort demanded by the elaborate education of the +actor,<sup><a href="#foot61">61</a></sup> in which naturally gesticulation was the most vital element, +was out of all proportion to the precarious reward. A rigid course of +training was prescribed and strenuous exercises were required, for both +actor and orator to keep the voice in proper form.<sup><a href="#foot62">62</a></sup> Indeed, Quintilian +advises the budding orator to take instruction in voice production and +gesticulation from the comic actor.<sup><a href="#foot63">63</a></sup> For the comic actor was at all +times recognized as livelier and more vivid in his performance than the +tragedian.<sup><a href="#foot64">64</a></sup> The two were usually sharply differentiated.<sup><a href="#foot65">65</a></sup> +Specialization arose, too, and we hear of actors who confined their +efforts to feminine roles,<sup><a href="#foot66">66</a></sup> though naturally every performer was cast +for parts to which his physique was best suited.<sup><a href="#foot67">67</a></sup></p> + +<p>It is doubtful whether such an elaborate system had been developed in +Plautus' time, but this much is certain: the comedian was on the stage +lively, energetic and constantly spurred on by the fear of punishment from +the <i>dominus gregis</i> and the violent disapproval of a fickle, tempestuous +and withal exacting public. Polybius<sup><a href="#foot68">68</a></sup> relates that the visit of a +troupe of Greek actors to Rome was a failure because of their over-staid +deportment, until, learning the desires of the volatile Italians, they +improvised a vastly more vivid pantomime depicting a mock battle, with +huge success. Assuredly the early Roman comedian must have acted with +greater abandon and clownish drollery, if not with the elaborate +histrionic technique of the later actor.<sup><a href="#foot69">69</a></sup> We have heard Dr. Charles +Knapp relate that the performance of the <i>Ajax</i> of Sophocles by a troupe +of modern Greek players went with amazing and incredible rapidity and +vivacity. It is all of a piece. We must inevitably associate vivid +temperament with the sons of the Mediterranean in all ages. Yet we have +just seen that the Greeks of old were too self-contained for their Italian +brethren.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: The Histrionism] With this brief discussion of the condition, +incentive and motive of the Plautine actor, let us pass on to a more +detailed consideration of his methods and technique. Naturally by far the +most important part of this was gesture. Here again, while some of our +evidence is somewhat unreliable, practically every shred of extant +testimony indicates an extreme liveliness and vivacity. In the +rhetoricians frequent warning is issued to the forensic neophyte to avoid +the unrestraint of theatrical gesticulation. Cicero says (<i>De Or.</i> I. 59. +251): "Nemo suaserit studiosis dicendi adulescentibus in gestu discendo +histrionum more elaborare." Quintilian echoes (I. 11. 3): "Ne gestus quidem +omnis ac motus a comediis petendus est.... Orator plurimum ... aberit a +scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius." And in the <i>Auctor +ad Herennium</i> we find (III. 15. 26): "Convenit igitur in vultu et pudorem +nec acrimoniam esse, in gestu et venustatem nec turpitudinem, ne aut +histriones aut operarii videamur esse."<sup><a href="#foot70">70</a></sup> That the nature and liveliness +of gesture on the stage was determined by the character portrayed, it is +almost needless to say.<sup><a href="#foot71">71</a></sup></p> + +<p>Cicero's analysis (<i>de Or.</i> III. 59. 220) of the difference between +theatrical and forensic gesture implies that the former illustrates +individual words and ideas, while the latter comprehends more broadly the +general thought and sentiment.<sup><a href="#foot72">72</a></sup> It is most unfortunate that we have +lost Cicero's treatise <i>De Gestu Histrionis</i>.<sup><a href="#foot73">73</a></sup></p> + +<p>By Cicero's time a more restrained mode of acting was evidently considered +good taste; witness <i>de Off.</i> (I. 36. 130): "Histrionum non nulli gestus +ineptus non vacant, et quae sunt recta et simplicia laudantur."<sup><a href="#foot74">74</a></sup> But +the passages cited above bear ample testimony to the vigor of histrionic +gesticulation even at this later and far more cultivated epoch. Again we +repeat, what must have been the energy and abandon of the original +Plautine actor?<sup><a href="#foot75">75</a></sup></p> + +<p>Apart from the rhetoricians, the most fruitful literary source of our +information on gesture is Donatus' commentary on Terence. The +trustworthiness of this has been the subject of much argument. Sittl<sup><a href="#foot76">76</a></sup> +accuses him of speaking merely from the standpoint of a professor of +rhetoric, as comedies of Terence were no longer given in the time of +Donatus. Weinberger in his "Beitrage zu den Buhnenaltherthumern aus Donats +Terenz-commentar,"<sup><a href="#foot77">77</a></sup> admonishes us to be very careful not to put too +high a value on the commentary. Van Wageningen<sup><a href="#foot78">78</a></sup> is of the opinion that +much of the work was inspired by Donatus' having seen in his own time +unmasked actors play. To this view color is lent by Donatus' note to +<i>And.</i> 716: "Sive haec <Mysis> personatis viris agitur, ut apud veteres, +sive per mulierem, ut nunc videmus."</p> + +<p>If this is true, it makes Donatus' work of more significance to us, as it +would imply a harking back to the play of feature of the unmasked +performances of Plautus' day. But while it is certain that Donatus had +other sources than the Terentian text for his annotations,<sup><a href="#foot79">79</a></sup> it is +equally certain that practically everything he has to say relative to +gesture and stage business is readily to be deduced from the text and is +in the main interesting only as a compilation.<sup><a href="#foot80">80</a></sup> However, everything he +says continues to point persistently to lively gesture and action; and +this too in Terentian comedy, where the text makes far less rigorous +demands on the actor's muscles than in Plautus' works.</p> + +<p>Donatus remarks occasionally that certain words must have been accompanied +by especially expressive gesture and byplay, evidently of feature, as +<i>vultuose, cum gestu</i> and similar phrases are used to indicate this.<sup><a href="#foot81">81</a></sup> +His note to <i>And.</i> 722 is: "Haec scaena actuosa est: magis enim in gestu +quam in oratione est constituta." Of gestures emphatic and yet not foreign +to everyday life Quintilian notes (XI. 3. 123): "Femur ferire--et usitatum +et indignantis decet"; a movement plainly employed in <i>Mil.</i> 204 and +<i>Truc.</i> 601. But, says Quintilian further (ib.): "Complodere manus +scaenicum est et pectus caedere."<sup><a href="#foot82">82</a></sup></p> + +<p>One of the notable "hits" of the ancient stage is recorded by Donatus ad +<i>Phor.</i> 315: Ambivius (as Phormio) entered "oscitans temulenter atque +aurem minimo scalpens digitulo ... et labia lingens ut ebrius et ructans." +But Ambivius' potations resulted in an extremely spirited and lifelike +imitation of the parasite character and he was forthwith forgiven his +drunkenness.</p> + +<p>Passing mention must be made of the Terentian Mss. illustrations, though +they add but little weight to the foregoing. For a complete list of their +sources and editions see Sittl, "Gebärden der Griechen und Römer," Chap. +XI, p. 203 ff.<sup><a href="#foot83">83</a></sup> But whatever be the exact date of the original, in our +extant copies the old traditional gestures are lost and the gesture of +everyday life supplied. In fact, in the analyses appended by Leo, van +Wageningen and Warnecke, in the works cited above, we arrive at little but +that the gestures natural to any Italian-born person in a like situation +are reproduced, such as "gestus abeuntis, cogitantis, parasiti," etc. It +is almost too much to make any of this a basis for argument as to +classical and pre-classical stage-craft. It is at least significant that +every character with hands free is gesticulating and the scene from <i>Eun.</i> +IV. 6-7 is evidently full of vigorous action.</p> + +<p>An old and discursive article<sup><a href="#foot84">84</a></sup> by T. Baden, containing a description +and analysis of the gestures and posture of a number of familiar figures +from comedy exemplified in some collections of statuettes (chiefly those +in Borgia's Museum of Baden's time), is open to the same objection as the +above. The gestures of slave, pander, parasite, etc., described in the +article are lively and expressive to be sure, but contain little to +differentiate them from those of daily life.</p> + +<p>While much of our evidence is still to come, we believe that we are +already justified in the deduction that the actor contemporary with +Plautus must have indulged in the extravagances of the players in the +Atellan farces and the mimes. The <i>mimus</i> of the Empire, we know, +specialized in ridiculous facial contortions.<sup><a href="#foot85">85</a></sup></p> + +<p>We must not forget too the vivacity indicated by the comic scenes among +the Pompeian and Herculanean wall-paintings,<sup><a href="#foot86">86</a></sup> which have a close +kinship with the Terentian MSS. pictures. Nor must we lose sight of the +fact that all our pictorial <i>reliquiae</i> portray the later masked +characters, and hence play of feature, which must have been a notable +concomitant of the original Plautine performance, is entirely obscured.</p> + +<p>As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent of our +poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order. Whether we +agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first introduced for comedy +and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius Prothymus respectively,<sup><a href="#foot87">87</a></sup> +or with Diomedes' explanation<sup><a href="#foot88">88</a></sup> that Roscius adopted them to disguise +his pronounced squint, it is certain that they were not worn in Plautus' +time, when wigs and make-up were employed for characterization.<sup><a href="#foot89">89</a></sup> In +fact, the early performances of Plautus, unless we except the original +Terentian productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman +comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the practice of +lively grimace and facial play.</p> + +<p>The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward +appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries of make-up +that rival those of the Old Comedy. From <i>As.</i> 400-1 we learn that Saurea +was:</p> + +<blockquote> Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ventriosus,<br /> +Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte.</blockquote> + +<p>In the <i>Mer.</i> Lysimachus is described as a veritable <i>thensaurus +mali</i> (639-40):</p> + +<blockquote> Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum,<br /> +Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum.</blockquote> + +<p>Curculio was one-eyed: "Unocule, salve" (Cur. 392). Pseudolus must have +been a joy to the groundlings <i>(Ps.</i> 1218 ff.):</p> + +<blockquote> Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger,<br /> +Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum<br /> +Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes.<br /> +Pseudolus fuit ipsus.</blockquote> + +<p>His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization. +(Cf. Ter. <i>Phor.</i> 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer, +he inquires (<i>Rud.</i> 316 ff.):</p> + +<blockquote> Ecquem<br /> +Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum,<br /> +Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?<sup><a href="#foot90">90</a></sup></blockquote> + +<p>The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in +vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this +respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One +must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as +on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too +slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore, +deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and +developed their Greek and Etruscan models.<sup><a href="#foot91">91</a></sup> When Livius Andronicus +first fathered <i>palliatae</i>, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as +the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his +audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him, +and he doubtless seized upon the <i>palliata</i> form as the natural medium for +the exploitation of his talents. By Cicero's time considerable technical +equipment was required; the actor must be an adept in gesticulation, +gymnastic and dancing.<sup><a href="#foot92">92</a></sup> Appreciable refinement had been reached in +Quintilian's age, for he scores the comic actor who departs too far from +reality and pronounces the ideal player him who declaims with a measured +artistic heightening of everyday discourse.<sup><a href="#foot93">93</a></sup> It is noteworthy that this +practically coincides with the accepted standard of modern realistic +acting. But the Plautine actor could never have felt himself trammeled by +any such narrow and sophisticated restrictions, as we believe the evidence +accumulated above amply proves. At any rate, the delineation of different +roles must have been at all times strictly in character. The need of +feminine vocal tones, unless another jest is intended is indicated by +<i>Rud.</i> 233:</p> + +<blockquote> Certe vox muliebris auris tetigit meas.</blockquote> + +<p>And Quintilian admonishes the youth who is taking lessons from a comic +actor in voice-production not to carry his precepts so far as to imitate +the female falsetto, the senile tremolo, the obsequiousness of the slave, +the stuttering accents of intoxication or the intonations of love, greed, +fear.<sup><a href="#foot94">94</a></sup></p> + +<p>Where Donatus gives instructions as to the vocal expression with which +certain lines are to be delivered, as in the case of his comments on +gesture, they are almost painfully evident from the context. He cites for +instance irony<sup><a href="#foot95">95</a></sup>, anger<sup><a href="#foot96">96</a></sup>, exhaustion <sup><a href="#foot97">97</a></sup>, amazement <sup><a href="#foot98">98</a></sup>, +sympathy<sup><a href="#foot99">99</a></sup>, pity<sup><a href="#foot100">100</a></sup>. He appears as the lineal ancestor of the modern +"coach" of amateur theatricals in somewhat naively remarking<sup><a href="#foot101">101</a></sup> that +upon leaving Thais for two days, Phaedria must pronounce "two days" as if +"two years" were written.</p> + +<p>Another phase of the delivery of the dialogue that deserves passing +mention is song and musical accompaniment. Livy's anecdote<sup><a href="#foot102">102</a></sup> of the +employment by Livius Andronicus of a boy to sing for him while he +gesticulated is almost universally accepted as an exceptional instance, +prompted by the failing of Livius' voice through age<sup><a href="#foot103">103</a></sup>. We are now +fairly well informed of the tripartite diversion of the dialogue into +<i>canticum</i> or song proper, recitative, and <i>diverbium</i> or spoken +utterance<sup><a href="#foot104">104</a></sup>, with the incidental accompaniment of the <i>tibia</i>. Though +there may be some dispute as to the apportionment of the various classes, +the general truth is established.<sup><a href="#foot105">105</a></sup> The important feature of this for +our purpose is that, if the ancient tragedy with its music and dancing was +rather comparable to modern grand opera than to drama proper, the song and +musical accompaniment of comedy lend it a strong flavor of the opera +bouffe and even of the musical comedy of to-day. In Part II we shall draw +numerous other parallels between this style of composition and the plays +of Plautus. West, in A.J.P. VIII. 33, notes one of the few comparisons to +"comic opera" that we have seen. Fay, in the Introduction to his ed. of +the <i>Most.</i> (§ 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early +schools."</p> + +<p>One feature of the performance still remains to be discussed--the +"stage-business," that is, the movements of the actors apart from mere +gesticulation and dialogue. Much of this too will find a place in Part II, +in the treatment of special peculiarities, but in general we note here +that the text itself contains many indications that are as plain as +printed stage directions regarding the movements being made or about to be +made by the characters. Examples of the more significant follow: <i>Amph.</i> +308: Cingitur: Certe expedit se; 312: Perii, pugnos ponderat. (Sosia +speaks aside of Mercury and similarly during the succeeding scene); 903: +Potin ut abstineas manum?; 955: Aperiuntur aedis. This motif is +commonplace and frequent; 958: Vos tranquillos video; 1130: quam valide +tonuit; <i>As.</i> 39: Age, age, usque excrea; <i>Bac.</i> 668: quod sic terram +optuere?; <i>Cap.</i> 557: Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuitur?; 594: +Ardent oculi;<sup><a href="#foot106">106</a></sup> 793: Hic homo pugilatum incipit; <i>Ep.</i> 609: illi +caperrat frons severitudine; <i>Mer.</i> 138: iam dudum spato sanguinem; <i>Mil.</i> +1324: Nefle; <i>Most.</i> 1030: vocis non habeo satis. (He must have been +shouting); <i>Ps.</i> 458: Statum vide hominis, Callipho, quam basilicum; 955: +transvorsus ... cedit, quasi cancer solet: <i>Trin.</i> 623 f.: celeri +graducunt uterque: ille rcprehendit hunc priorem pallio.<sup><a href="#foot107">107</a></sup></p> + +<p>This practice of indicating business in the lines, of making the +play act, is common to all the older types of drama, Elizabethan as +well as classic. A single striking example from Shakespeare will +furnish a parallel, in the well-known lines from <i>Macbeth</i>:</p> + +<blockquote> The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon,<br /> +Where gott'st thou that goose look? (V. 3).</blockquote> + +<p>The modern playwright robs his lines of their vividness and +throws the onus on the actor through the medium of his interpolated +direction, a custom which reaches its most exaggerated form +in the plays of Bernard Shaw, as mentioned above.</p> + +<p>[Sidenote: Thesis] We have now made a perceptible advance towards getting +an answer to our original questions: "What manner of drama is this?" and +"How was it done?" The comments of the most eminent critics on the former +question have left us rather bewildered by their diversity. Almost to a +man they have taken Plautus too seriously or else have arraigned him for +not conforming to their preconceived code of comedy, without questioning +whether it were Plautus' own or not. This has really nullified their +efforts to explain away the peculiarities and absurdities of his style. +Some <i>solvent</i> of these difficulties is needed.</p> + +<p>As to the second question, we have examined briefly the extant evidence +regarding the actor's employment of gesture and business, his delivery of +the dialogue, make-up and character delineation, and found a disappointing +paucity, but a general and irresistible trend towards liveliness, vivacity +and broad undiluted comedy that must have been the sort of dramatic fare +demanded by the primeval appetite of the Plautine audience. But again we +find ourselves falling short of a satisfying answer to our question. +Again, some <i>solvent</i> is needed. As the last resort, we turn to the +evidence of the plays themselves and the unbounded realm of subjective +criticism.</p> + +<p>From the earliest times gesture and business in Aristophanes and the Old +Comedy were marked by the riotous license of all the media of that notable +epoch<sup><a href="#foot108">108</a></sup> of comedy. From the broad spirit of its frank and vivid +burlesque not even the most stolidly Teutonic of humorless critics ever +thought of demanding a "picture of life." But with the abandonment of the +purpose of political propaganda, the consequent disappearance of the +chorus with its burlesque trappings (largely through motives of state +economy), and the establishment in the New Comedy of a type of dramatic +machinery that had a specious outer shell of reflection of characters and +events in daily life, the critics instantly seem to demand the standard of +dramatic technique of Aristotle and Freytag and condemn all departures +from this standard. In reality, we believe that the kinship of Plautus +with Aristophanes is much closer than has usually been realized.</p> + +<p>Is, then, the change from Old to New Comedy as great as has been +represented? Does not the change consist rather in the outer form and in +the ideas expounded than in the spirit of the histrionism and mimicry? And +must not the vigor, from what we have seen, have been intensified in +Plautus? LeGrand alone seems to have caught the essence of this:<sup><a href="#foot109">109</a></sup> "Que +dire de la mimique? D'après les indications contenues dans le texte même +des comédies, d'après les commentaires--notamment ceux de Donat, d'après +les monuments figurés--en particulier les images des manuscrits, elle +devait être en general très vive, souvent trop vive pour le goût des +modernes.... Et puis, ils s'addressaient a des spectateurs méridionaux, +coutumiers dans la vie quotidienne d'une gesticulation plus animée que la +nôtre." And this is said as a combined estimate of New Comedy and +<i>palliatae</i>.</p> + +<p>We are now prepared to advance a definite thesis, that shall gather up the +random threads of argument and suggestion scattered through the foregoing +pages and shall, we hope, provide a conclusive and final answer to both of +our original questions. If we can establish: that our author's sole aim +was to feed the popular hunger for amusement; that, while after leaving +much of his Greek originals practically untouched, he considered them in +effect but a medium for the provocation of laughter, but a vessel into +which to pour a highly seasoned brew of fun; that to this end his actors +went before the public, potentially speaking slap-stick in hand, equipped +by nature with liveliness of grimace and gesture and prepared to act with +verve, unction and an abandon of dash and vigor that would produce a riot +of merriment; that his dramatic machinery is hopelessly crippled and that +his evident intentions and effects are hopelessly lost unless interpreted +in this spirit: then we relegate Plautine drama to a low plane of broad +farce, where verisimilitude to life becomes wholly unnecessary because +undesirable; where the canons of dramatic art become inoperative; where, +contrary to what Körting says, we are not asked to believe that +"everything is happening in a perfectly natural manner"; where the poet +may stick at nothing provided the laugh be forthcoming; where all the +apparently absurd conventions of <i>palliatae</i> cease to be absurd, vanish +into thin air and become unamenable to literary criticism, inasmuch as +they are all only part of the laugh-compelling scheme. This is the +<i>solvent</i> that we propose. To establish this, let us proceed to an +examination of the internal mechanism of the plays.</p> + + + + +<h2>Part II</h2> + +<h3>An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus</h3> + + + +<p>The salient features that characterize the plays of Plautus include both +his consciously employed means of producing his comic effects, and the +peculiarities and abnormalities that evidence his attitude of mind in +writing them. We should make bold to catalogue them as follows:</p> + +<ol style="list-style-type: upper-roman"> + <li>Machinery characteristic of the lower types of modern drama--farce, low + comedy, musical comedy, burlesque shows, vaudeville, and the like. + <ol style="list-style-type: upper-alpha"> + <li>Devices self-evident from the text. + <ol style="list-style-type: decimal"> + <li>Bombast and mock-heroics.</li> + <li>Horse-play and slap-sticks.</li> + <li>Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha"> + <li>True burlesque.</li> + <li>True farce.</li> + <li>Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun.</li> + </ol> + </li> + </ol> + </li> + <li>Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad + farcical spirit. + <ol style="list-style-type: decimal"> + <li>The running slave.</li> + <li>Wilful blindness.</li> + <li>Adventitious entrance.</li> + </ol> + </li> + </ol> + </li> + +<li>Evidences of loose composition which prove a disregard of + technique and hence indicate that entertainment was the sole aim. + <ol style="list-style-type: upper-alpha"> + <li> Solo speeches and passages. + <ol style="list-style-type: decimal"> + <li>Asides and soliloquies.</li> + <li>Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. </li> + <li>Direct address of the audience.</li> + </ol> + </li> + <li>Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition. + <ol style="list-style-type: decimal"> + <li>Pointless badinage and padded scenes. </li> + <li>Inconsistencies of character and situation. </li> + <li>Looseness of dramatic construction. </li> + <li>Roman admixture and topical allusions. </li> + <li>Jokes on the dramatic machinery. </li> + <li>Use of stock plots and characters.</li> + </ol> + </li> + </ol> +</li> +</ol> + +<p>Let us illustrate these points by typical passages and endeavor to insert +such stage-directions as would indicate how the most telling effects could +be produced and hence aid the reader in visualizing the actual +performance.</p> + + +<h3>I. Machinery Characteristic of the Lower Types of Modern Drama</h3> + +<h4>A. <i>Devices self-evident from the text.</i></h4> + +<p align="center"><b>1. Bombast and mock-heroics.</b></p> + +<p>It is a little difficult to sublimate this entirely from burlesque, but +its true nature is instanced by the opening lines of the <i>Miles</i>, where +the vainglorious Pyrgopolinices, with many a sweep and strut, addresses +his attendants, who are probably staggering under the weight of an +enormous shield:</p> + +<p>"Have a care that the effulgence of my shield be brighter than e'er the +sun's rays in a cloudless sky: when the time for action comes and the +battle's on, I intend it shall dazzle the eyesight o' m' foes. (<i>Patting +his sword</i>). Verily I would condole with this m' sword, lest he lament and +be cast down in spirit, forasmuch as now full long hath he hung idle by m' +side, thirsting, poor lad, to meet his fellow 'mongst the foe," and so on.</p> + +<p>In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device. So +we find Pseudolus addressing the audience in ringing blustering tones and +with grandiose gesture (<i>Ps.</i> 584 ff.):</p> + +<p>"It now becomes my aim today to lay siege to this town and capture it." +(Ballio the procurer is the town). "I shall hurl all my legions against +it. If I take it, ... good luck to you, my citizens, for part of the booty +shall be yours."</p> + +<p>This finds a close counterpart in the <i>Mil.</i> 219 ff., a passage which +West<sup><a href="#foot110">110</a></sup> thinks was deliberately inserted to rouse the populace into +demanding that Scipio be at once despatched to Africa.</p> + +<p>Periplecomenus is urging Palaestrio to find a stratagem. Actually he +probably addresses the pit:</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that the enemy are upon you and investing your rear? Call a +council of war, reach out for stores and reinforcements in this crisis: +haste, haste, no time to waste! Make a detour through some pass, forestall +your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops! Cut off the enemy's base of +supplies!" etc.</p> + +<p>Whether this passage had an ulterior purpose or not, the motif is +frequent.<sup><a href="#foot111">111</a></sup> So we find Chrysalus in <i>Bac.</i> 925 ff. holding the stage +for an entire scene with an elaborate comparison of himself to Ulysses, +the brains of the Greek host, overcoming his master Nicobulus who +represents Priam.</p> + +<p>In general the mocking assumption of an heroic attitude recurs with +sufficient frequency to stamp it as a staple of comic effect. Many +passages would become tiresome and meaningless instead of amusing unless +so interpreted. The soliloquy of Mnesilochus in <i>Bac.</i> 500 ff. could be +made interesting only by turgid ranting. Similarly in <i>Bac.</i> 530 ff. and +612 ff.<sup><a href="#foot112">112</a></sup></p> + + +<p align="center"><b>2. Horse-play and slap-sticks.</b></p> + +<p>By this we mean what can in nowise be so clearly defined as by +"rough-house." For instance, the turbulent Euclio in <i>Aul.</i> delivers +bastings impartially to various <i>dramatis personae</i> and as a climax drives +the cooks and music-girl pell-mell out of the house, doubtless accompanied +by deafening howling and clatter (415 ff.). Similarly in the <i>Cas.</i> (875 +ff.) Chalinus routs Olympio and the lecherous Lysidamus. We may well +imagine that such scenes were preceded as well as accompanied by a fearful +racket within (a familiar device of our low comedy and extravaganza), the +effect probably heightened by tempestuous <i>melodrama</i> on the <i>tibiae</i>, as +both the scenes cited are in <i>canticum</i>.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Men.</i> we are treated to a free fight, in which the valiant +Messenio routs the <i>lorarii</i> by vigorous punches, while Menaechmus plants +his fist in one antagonist's eye (<i>Men.</i> 1011 ff.):</p> + +<p>(Menaechmus of Epidamnus is seized by <i>lorarii</i>; as he struggles, +Messenio, slave of Menaechmus Sosicles, rushes into the fray to his +rescue). "MES. I say! Gouge out that fellow's eye, the one that's got you +by the shoulder, master. Now as for these rotters, I'll plant a crop of +fists on their faces. (<i>Lays about.</i>) By Heaven, you'll be everlastingly +sorry for the day you tried to carry my master off. Let go!</p> + +<p>MEN. (<i>Joining in with a will.</i>) I've got this fellow by the eye!</p> + +<p>MES. Bore it out! A hole's good enough for his face! You villians, you +thieves, you robbers! (<i>General melée. Lorarii weaken.</i>)</p> + +<p>LOR. We're done for! Oh Lord, please!</p> + +<p>MES. Let go then!</p> + +<p>MEN. What right had you to lay hands on me? Give them a good beating up! +(<i>Lorarii break and scatter wildly under the ferocious onslaught.</i>)</p> + +<p>MES. Come, clear out! To the devil with you all! That for <i>you</i>! +(<i>Strikes.</i>) You're the last; here's <i>your</i> reward! (<i>Strikes again.</i>)"</p> + +<p>The lines themselves are sufficiently graphic and need but little +annotation. Other pugilistic activities crop up at not infrequent +intervals in the text,<sup><a href="#foot113">113</a></sup> and in <i>Ps.</i> 135 ff. Ballio generously plies +the whip. In the lacuna of the <i>Amph.</i> after line 1034, Mercury probably +bestows a drenching on Amphitruo.<sup><a href="#foot114">114</a></sup> In <i>As.</i> III. 3, especially 697 +ff., Libanus makes his master Argyrippus "play horsey" with him, doubtless +with indelicate buffonery. With invariable energy, even so simple a matter +as knocking on doors is made the excuse for raising a violent disturbance, +as in <i>Amph.</i> 1019 f. and 1025: Paene effregisti, fatue, foribus +cardines.<sup><a href="#foot115">115</a></sup> And this idea is actually parodied in <i>As.</i> 384 ff. No, +Plautus did not allow his public to languish for want of noise.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue.</b></p> + +<p>Under this head we include such conscious strivings for comic as are +frankly and plainly exaggerated and hyper-natural.</p> + +<p align="center"> +a. True burlesque.</p> + +<p>This is in effect pure parody, cartooning. Patent burlesque of tragedy +appears in <i>Trin.</i> 820 ff. (<i>Charmides returns from abroad.</i>)</p> + +<p>"CHAR. To Neptune, ruler of the deep, and puissant brother unto Jove and +Nereus, do I in joy and gladness cry my praises and gratefully proclaim my +gratitude; and to the briny waves, who held me in their power, yea, even +my chattels and my very life, and from their realms restored me to the +city of my birth," etc., etc.</p> + +<p>To tickle the ears of the groundlings, this must have been delivered in +grandiloquent mimicry with all the paraphernalia of the tragic style. +Horace notes a kindred manifestation of this tendency (to which he himself +is pleasingly addicted), in <i>Ep.</i> II. 3.93 f.:</p> + +<blockquote> Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit<br /> +Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore.</blockquote> + +<p>Tragic burlesque is again beautifully exemplified in <i>Ps.</i> 702 ff. The +versatile Pseudolus after a significant aside: "I'll address the fellow in +high-sounding words," says to his master Calidorus:</p> + +<p>"Hail! Hail! Thee, thee, O mighty ruler, thee do I beseech who art lord +over Pseudolus. Thee do I seek that thou mayst obtain thrice three times +triple delights in three various ways, joys earned by three tricks and +three tricksters, cunningly won by treachery, fraud and villainy, which in +this little sealed missive have I but erstwhile brought to thee....</p> + +<p>CHAR. The rascal's spouting like a tragedian."</p> + +<p>When Sosia, in the first scene of <i>Amph.</i> (203 ff.), turgidly describes +the battle between the Thebans and Teleboans, he is parodying the +Messenger of tragedy. Another echo from tragedy is heard at the end of the +play, when Jupiter appears in the role of deus ex machina.<sup><a href="#foot116">116</a></sup></p> + +<p>Burlesque of character and calling puts in an occasional appearance. The +recreant Sosia in <i>Amph.</i> 958 ff. mimics the dutiful slave. <i>As.</i> 259 ff. +contains an ironical treatment of augury, while in 751 ff. the poet has +his satirical fling at the legal profession.</p> + + +<p align="center">b. True farce.</p> + +<p>This is of course the comedy of situation and finds its mainstay in +mistaken identity. The <i>Men.</i> and <i>Amph.</i> with their doubles are +farce-comedies proper, but the element of farce forms the motive power of +nearly all the plots; for example, the shuffling-up of Acropolistis, +Telestis and the <i>fidicina</i> in <i>Ep.</i>, the quarrel between Mnesilochus and +Pistoclerus in <i>Bac.</i> resulting from the former's belief that his friend +had stolen his sweetheart, the exchange of names between Tyndarus and +Philocrates in <i>Cap.</i>, the entrapping of Demaenetus with the <i>meretrix</i> at +the dénouement of <i>As.</i>, etc., etc. It is understood, we presume, that the +modern farce occupies no exalted position in the comic scale, is +distinguished by the grotesquerie of its characters, incidents and +dialogue, and is indulgently permitted to stray far from the paths of +realism. Even in Shakespearian farce, note the exaggerated antics of the +two Dromios in "The Comedy of Errors." It is significant then that farce +is a staple of our plays.</p> + +<p>The farcical element is strikingly exemplified in <i>Amph.</i> 365-462, where +Mercury persuades Sosia that he is not himself. Impersonation and +assumption of a role is another noteworthy and frequent medium of plot +motivation. In <i>As.</i> 407 ff. Leonida tries to palm himself off as the +<i>atriensis</i>. Note the violent efforts of the two slaves to wheedle the +cunning ass-dealer (449 ff.). In <i>Cas.</i> 815 ff. Chalinus enters disguised +as the blushing bride. In <i>Men.</i> 828 ff. Menaechmus Sosicles pretends +madness in a clever scene of uproarious humor. In the <i>Mil.</i> (411 ff.) +Philocomasium needs only to change clothing to appear in the role of her +own hypothetical twin sister, and in 874 ff. and 1216 ff. the <i>meretrix</i> +plays <i>matrona</i>. Sagaristio and the daughter of the <i>leno</i> impersonate +Persians (<i>Per.</i> 549 ff.), Collabiscus becomes a Spartan (<i>Poen.</i> 578 +ff.), Simia as Harpax gets Ballio's money (<i>Ps.</i> 905 ff.), the sycophant +is garbed as messenger (<i>Trin.</i> 843 ff.), Phronesium elaborately pretends +to be a mother (<i>Truc.</i> 499 ff.). A swindle is almost invariably the +object in view. But we have said enough on this score: no one who knows +the plays at all can fail to recognize the predominance of farce. Compare +on the modern stage the sudden appearance of "the long-lost cousin from +Chicago."</p> + + +<p align="center">c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun.</p> + +<p>This group of course often contains marked features of burlesque and +farce, and hence shows a close kinship with the foregoing.</p> + +<p>The extravagance of the love-sick swain is a fruitful source of this +species of caricature. The ridiculous Calidorus, always wearing his heart +on his sleeve, rolls his eyes, brushes away a tear and says (<i>Ps.</i> 38 +ff.): "But for a short space have I been e'en as a lily of the field. +Suddenly sprang I up, as suddenly I withered." The irreverent Pseudolus +replies: "Oh, shut up while I read the letter over." Calidorus finds his +counterpart in Phaedromus of the <i>Cur.</i>, who, accompanied by his slave, +approaches milady's abode (<i>Cur.</i> 10 ff.):</p> + +<p>"PH. (<i>In languishing accents, with eyes cast upward</i>): Shall I not take +sweets to the sweet: what is culled by the toil of the busy bees to my own +little honey?... (<i>They advance to milady's doorway which he sprinkles +with wine</i>, 88 ff.): Come, drink, ye portals of pleasure, quaff and deign +to be propitious unto me.</p> + +<p>PALINURUS SER. (<i>Addressing the door with mimicry of Phaedromus' airs.</i>) +Do you want some olives or sweetmeats or capers?</p> + +<p>PH. (<i>Continuing.</i>) Arouse your portress; hither send her unto me. +(<i>Lavishes the wine.</i>)</p> + +<p>PAL. (<i>In great alarm, grasping his arm.</i>) You're spilling the wine! +What's got hold of you?</p> + +<p>PH. Unhand me! (<i>Gently shakes himself loose.</i>) Lo! The temple of joys +untold is opening. Did not the hinge creak? 'Tis charming!</p> + +<p>PAL. (<i>Turning aside in disgust.</i>) Why don't you give it a kiss?"</p> + +<p>In each case the impertinent slave provides the foil. When the lovers +succeed in meeting, they are interlocked in embrace from 172 to 192, +probably invested with no small amount of suggestive "business." This +would doubtless hardly be tolerated by the "censor" today. Another variety +of lover's extravagance is the lavishing of terms of endearment, as we +find in <i>Cas.</i> 134 ff.<sup><a href="#foot117">117</a></sup></p> + +<p>When this feature of "extravagance" enters the situation instead of the +dialogue, we have episodes such as the final scene of the <i>Ps.</i>, where the +name character is irrelevantly introduced (1246) in a state of +intoxication which, with copious belching in Simo's face, culminates in a +rebellion of the overloaded stomach (1294). We can scarcely doubt that +such business was carried out in ultra-graphic detail and rewarded by +copious guffaws from the populace. In sharp contrast to this, the +drunkenness of Callidamates in <i>Most.</i> 313 ff. is depicted with unusual +artistry, but still from the very nature of such a scene it may be labeled +"extravagant."</p> + +<p>Manifestation of violent anger is another source of exaggerated stage +business. <i>Ep.</i> 512 ff. should be interpreted somewhat as follows:</p> + +<p>"(<i>The deluded Periphanes has just discovered that the fidicina is an +impostor and not his daughter.</i>) FID. (<i>Sweetly.</i>) Do you want me for +anything else?</p> + +<p>PER. (<i>Stamping foot and shaking fists in a passion.</i>) The foul fiend take +you to utter perdition! Clear out, and quickly too!</p> + +<p>FID. (<i>In alarm.</i>) Won't you give me back my harp?</p> + +<p>PER. Nor harp nor pipes! So hurry up and get out of here, if you know +what's good for you!</p> + +<p>FID. (<i>Stamping her foot in tearful rage.</i>) I'll go, but you'll have to +give them back later just the same and it will be all the worse for you.</p> + +<p>PER. (<i>Striding up and down in wildest anger.</i>) What!... shall I let her +go unpunished? Nay, even if I have to lose as much again, I'll lose it +rather than let myself be mocked and despoiled with impunity!" and so +on.<sup><a href="#foot118">118</a></sup></p> + +<p>Other random scenes that may be classed as "extravagant" are found in +Strobilus' cartoon of Euclio (<i>Aul.</i> 300 ff.), Demipho's discovery in the +distance of a mythical bidder for the girl (<i>Mer.</i> 434 ff.), Charinus' +playing "horsey" and taking a trip in his imaginary car (<i>Mer.</i> 930 ff.), +and the loud "boo-hoo" to which Philocomasium gives vent (<i>Mil.</i> 1321 +ff.). These all might be classed under either "farce" or "burlesque," but +they seem to come more exactly under the kindred head of "extravagance."</p> + +<p>A familiar figure in modern farce-comedy is the comic conspirator with +finger on lip, tiptoeing round in fear of listeners. He finds his +prototype in <i>Trin.</i> (146 ff.):</p> + +<p>"(<i>Callicles and Megaronides converse.</i>)</p> + +<p>CAL. (<i>In a mysterious whisper.</i>) Look around a bit and make sure there's +nobody spying on us--and please look around every few seconds. (<i>They +pause and peer in every direction, perhaps creeping round on tiptoe.</i>)</p> + +<p>MEG. Now, I am all ears.</p> + +<p>CAL. When you're through, I'll talk. (<i>Pauses and nods.</i>) Just before +Charmides went abroad, he showed me a treasure, (<i>stops and looks over his +shoulders</i>) in his house here, in one of the rooms. (<i>Starts, as if at a +noise.</i>) Look around! (<i>They repeat the search and return again.</i>)</p> + +<p>MEG. There's nobody."<sup><a href="#foot119">119</a></sup></p> + +<p>Another old stage friend is the detected plotter trying to lie out of an +embarrassing situation. He is lineally descended from Tranio in the +<i>Most.</i> Tranio has just induced his master Theopropides to pay forty minae +to the money-lender on the pretext that Theopropides' son Philolaches has +bought a house (659 ff.):</p> + +<p>"TH. In what neighborhood did my son buy this house?</p> + +<p>TR. (<i>Aside to audience in comic despair, with appropriate gesture.</i>) See +there now! I'm a goner!</p> + +<p>TH. (<i>Impatiently.</i>) Will you answer my question?</p> + +<p>TR. Oh yes, but (<i>Stammering and displaying symptoms of acute +embarrassment</i>) I--I'm trying to think of the owner's name. (<i>Groans.</i>)</p> + +<p>TH. Well, hurry up and remember it!</p> + +<p>TR. (<i>Rapidly, aside.</i>) I can't see anything better to do than tell him +his son bought the house of our next-door neighbor here. (<i>With a shrug.</i>) +Thunder, I've heard that a <i>steaming</i> lie is the best kind. +(<i>Mock-heroically.</i>) 'Tis the will of the gods, my mind's made up.</p> + +<p>TH. (<i>Who has been frowning and stamping in impatience.</i>) Well, well, +well! Haven't you thought of it yet?</p> + +<p>TR. (<i>Aside.</i>) Curses on him!... (<i>Finally turning and bursting out +suddenly.</i>) It's our next-door neighbor here--your son bought the house +from him. (<i>He sees that the lie goes and sighs with relief.</i>)"<sup><a href="#foot120">120</a></sup></p> + +<p>Another variation on this theme is the futile effort of the plotter to get +rid of a character armed with incriminating evidence. Again we quote +<i>Most.</i> (573 ff.), where Tranio is conversing with Theopropides. The +money-lender from whom young Philolaches has borrowed appears on the other +side of the stage. Tranio espies him. He must keep him away from the old +man. With a hurried excuse he flies across to meet Misargyrides.</p> + +<p>"TR. (<i>Taking Misargyrides' arm and attempting to steer him off-stage.</i>) I +was never so glad to see a man in my life.</p> + +<p>MIS. (<i>Suspiciously, holding back.</i>) What's the matter?</p> + +<p>TR. (<i>Confidentially.</i>) Just step this way. (<i>Looks back apprehensively at +Theopropides, who is regarding them suspiciously.</i>)</p> + +<p>MIS. (<i>In a loud and offensive voice.</i>) Won't my interest be paid?</p> + +<p>TR. I know you have a good voice; don't shout so loud.</p> + +<p>MIS. (<i>Louder.</i>) Hang it, but I <i>will</i> shout!</p> + +<p>TR. (<i>Groans and glances over shoulder again.</i>) Run along home, there's a +good fellow. (<i>Urges him toward exit.</i>)", etc.</p> + +<p>Tranio has a chance for very lively business: a sickly smile for the +usurer, lightning glances of apprehension towards Theopropides, with an +occasional intimate groan aside to the audience. Other farcical scenes of +the many that may be cited as calling for particularly vivacious business +and gesture are, e.g., <i>Cas.</i> 621 ff., where Pardalisca befools Lysidamus +by timely fainting, <i>Rud.</i> 414 ff., where Sceparnio flirts with Ampelisca, +and the quarrel scene, <i>Rud.</i> 485 ff.<sup><a href="#foot121">121</a></sup></p> + +<p>The last four passages quoted in translation are by no means lacking in +artistic humor and a measure of reality, but they imply a pronounced +heightening of the actions and emotions of everyday life and lose their +humor unless presented in the broad spirit that stamps them as belonging +to the plane of farce. We now pass on to motives where the dialogue aims +at effects manifestly unnatural and where verisimilitude is sacrificed to +the joke, as we have seen it is in the employment of "bombast," "true +burlesque," etc.</p> + +<p>The first of these motives is a stream of copious abuse, as in <i>Per.</i> 406 +ff., where Toxilus <i>servos</i> and Dordalus <i>leno</i> exchange Rabelaisian +compliments.</p> + +<p>"TOX. (<i>Hopping about with rabid gestures.</i>) You filthy pimp, you +mud-heap, you common dung-hill, you besmirched, corrupt, law-breaking +decoy, you public sewer, ... robber, mobber, jobber, ...!</p> + +<p>DOR. (<i>Who has been dancing around in fury, shaking his fist until +exhausted by his paroxysms.</i>) Wait--till--(<i>Puffing</i>)--I--get--my +breath--I'll--answer you! You dregs of the rabble, you slave-brothel, you +'white-slave' freer, you sweat-of-the-lash, you chain gang, you king of +the treadmill, ... you eat-away, steal-away run-away....!" etc.<sup><a href="#foot122">122</a></sup></p> + +<p>Perhaps we have here the forerunner of the shrewish wife in modern +vaudeville, who administers to her shrinking consort a rapid-fire +tongue-lashing. Another phase of this profuse riot of words appears in the +formidable Persian name that Sagaristio, disguised as a Persian, adopts in +the <i>Per.</i> (700 ff.):</p> + +<p>"DORDALUS. What's your name?</p> + +<p>SAG. Listen then, and you shall hear: False-speaker-us Girl-seller-son +Much-o'-nothing-talk-son Money-gouge-out-son Talk-up-to you-son +Coin-wheedle-out-son What-I-once-get-son Never-give-up-son: there you are!</p> + +<p>DOR. (<i>With staring eyes and gasping breath.</i>) Ye Gods! That's a +variegated name of yours!</p> + +<p>SAG. (<i>With a superior wave of the hand.</i>) It's the Persian fashion."</p> + +<p>The second point in this category is own cousin to the above. We should +label it persistent interruption and repetition. An excellent instance is +<i>Trin.</i> 582 ff., when Stasimus, Lesbonicus and Philto have just hatched a +plot. Philto departs.</p> + +<p>"LES. (<i>To Stasimus.</i>) You attend to my instructions. I'll be there +presently. Tell Callicles to meet me.</p> + +<p>ST. Now you just clear out! (<i>Pushes him after Philto.</i>)</p> + +<p>LES. (<i>Calls out as he is being shoved away.</i>) Tell him to see what has to +be done about the dowry.</p> + +<p>ST. Clear out!</p> + +<p>LES. (<i>Raising his voice.</i>) For I'm determined not to marry her off +without a dowry.</p> + +<p>ST. Won't you clear out?</p> + +<p>LES. (<i>Still louder.</i>) And I won't let her suffer harm by reason.----</p> + +<p>ST. Get out, I say!</p> + +<p>LES. (<i>Shouts.</i>)--of my carelessness.</p> + +<p>ST. Clear out!</p> + +<p>LES. It seems right that my own sins--</p> + +<p>ST. Clear out!</p> + +<p>LES.--should affect me alone.</p> + +<p>ST. Clear out!</p> + +<p>LES. (<i>Mock heroically.</i>) Oh father, shall I ever behold you again?</p> + +<p>ST. Out, out, out! (<i>With a final shove.</i>) (<i>Exit Lesbonicus.</i>) At last, I +'ve got him away! (<i>Breathes hard.</i>)"</p> + +<p>The fun, if fun there be, lies in the hammer-like repetition of "I modo," +a sort of verbal buffoonery. A clever actor could din this with telling +effect. The device is employed several times. In <i>Most.</i> 974 ff. the word +is <i>aio</i>, in <i>Per.</i> 482 ff. <i>credo</i>, in <i>Poen.</i> 731 ff. <i>quippini</i>, in +<i>Ps.</i> 484 ff. ναι γάρ, in <i>Rud.</i> 1212 ff. <i>licet</i> and 1269 ff. +<i>censeo</i>. The last two examples are the lengthiest.<sup><a href="#foot123">123</a></sup></p> + +<p>The third of these motives is the introduction of clearly unnatural +dialogue, wholly incidental and foreign to the action, for the sake of +lugging in a joke. The <i>As.</i> (38 ff.) yields the following conversation +between Demaenetus <i>senex</i> and his slave Libanus:</p> + +<p>"LI. By all that's holy, as a favor to me, spit out the words you have +uttered.</p> + +<p>DE. All right, I'll be glad to oblige you. (<i>Coughs.</i>)</p> + +<p>LI. Now, now, get it right up! (<i>Pats him on the back.</i>)</p> + +<p>DE. More? (<i>Coughs.</i>)</p> + +<p>LI. Gad, yes, please! Right from the bottom of your throat: more still! +(<i>Pats.</i>)</p> + +<p>DE. Well, how far down then?</p> + +<p>LI. (<i>Unguardedly.</i>) Down to Hades is my wish!</p> + +<p>DE. I say, look out for trouble!</p> + +<p>LI. (<i>Diplomatically.</i>) For your wife, I mean, not for you.</p> + +<p>DE. For that speech I bestow upon you freedom from punishment."<sup><a href="#foot124">124</a></sup></p> + +<p>The childish bandying of words in <i>Truc.</i> 858 ff. is egregiously tiresome +in the reading, but in action could have been made to produce a modicum of +amusement if presented in the broad burlesque spirit that we believe was +almost invariably employed. This gives us a clue to the next topic.</p> + + + +<h4>B. <i>Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad farcical +spirit.</i></h4> + + +<p>This includes peculiarities that have usually been commented on as +weaknesses or conventions, or else been given up as hopeless +incongruities, but which we hope to prove also yield their quota of +amusement if clownishly performed. The foremost of these is the famous</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>1. Running Slave or Parasite.</b></p> + +<p>We all know him: rushing madly cross stage at top-speed (if we take the +literal word of the text for it), with girded loins, in search of somebody +right under his nose, the while unburdening himself of exhaustive periods +that, however great the breadth of the Roman stage, would carry him +several times across and back: as Curculio in 279 ff.:</p> + +<p>"Make way for me, friends and strangers, while I carry out my duty here. +Run, all of you, scatter and clear the road! I'm in a hurry and I don't +want to butt into anybody with my head, or elbow, or chest, or knee.... +And there's none so rich as can stand in my way, ... none so famous but +down he goes off the sidewalk and stands on his head in the street," and +so on for ten lines or more. After he has found his patron Phaedromus, he +is apparently so exhausted that he cries: "Hold me up, please, hold me up! +(<i>Wobbles and falls panting into Phaedromus' arms.</i>)</p> + +<p>PH.... Get him a chair ... quick!"</p> + +<p>When Leonida enters (<i>As.</i> 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out +of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in <i>Trin.</i> 1008 ff., though his mission is +also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals!</p> + +<p>Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the +dissertation of Weissman, <i>De servi currentis persona apud comicos +Romanes</i> (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the <i>modus operandi</i> +is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,<sup><a href="#foot125">125</a></sup> but +offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:<sup><a href="#foot126">126</a></sup> "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist +ein Rätsel fur uns." LeGrand<sup><a href="#foot127">127</a></sup> follows Weise's conclusion that it is an +imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use, +while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: <i>agoranomus</i>, +<i>demarchus</i>, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from +fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the +device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been +performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,<sup><a href="#foot128">128</a></sup> but +makes use of it himself.<sup><a href="#foot129">129</a></sup></p> + +<p>Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the +usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the +slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He +fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very +man he is so violently seeking. He cites as the genuine occurrences of the +<i>servus</i> or <i>parasitus currens</i>, besides the passages mentioned above, +<i>Cap.</i> 781 ff., <i>Ep.</i> 1 ff., 192 ff., <i>Mer.</i> 111 ff., <i>Per.</i> 272 ff., +<i>St.</i> 274 ff. Furthermore, he argues convincingly that this was an +independent Roman development without a prototype on the Greek stage and +neatly refutes Weise and LeGrand by proving that there are no extant Greek +fragments sufficient to furnish a ground for any but the most tenuous +argument. Above all, he correctly interprets the poet's aim with the +dictum: "Praeterquam quod hac persona optime utitur ad actionem bene +continuandam id maxime spectat ut per eam <i>spectatorum risum</i> captet." And +this from a German youth of twenty-two!</p> + +<p>It is in his attempt to explain the mechanism that we believe Weissman +fails. He essays an exegesis of each passage, though the separate +explanations are naturally similar. It will suffice to quote one, that to +<i>As.</i> 267 ff.: "Hoc nullo modo aliter mihi declarari posse videtur nisi +sic: Oratio Leonidae currentis maior est quam ut arbitrari possimus +currentem semper eum habuisse eam. Ex versu 290 Leonidam de celeritate sua +remisisse plane apparet. Quod semel solum eum fecisse cum non satis mihi +esse videatur, saepius--bis vel ter--per breve tempus eum cursum suum +interrupisse, circumspexisse, Libanum autem non spectavisse (hoc consilium +poetae erat, licentia poetica est) et hoc modo per totam scaenam cursum +suum direxisse arbitror."</p> + +<p>It will be observed that for lack of any tangible evidence he very +properly makes use of subjective reasoning. Now it has long been the +opinion of the writer that the maximum of comic effect (and that this was +the purpose of the <i>servus currens</i> there can surely be no doubt) could +best be obtained by the actor's making a violent and frenzied pretense of +running while scarcely moving from the spot. Consider the ludicrous +spectacle of the rapidly moving legs and the flailing arms, with the +actor's face turned toward the audience, as he declaims sonorously of his +haste to perform his vital errand, while making but a snail's progress. +Truly then his plea of exhaustion would not be without excuse! This is an +explanation at once simpler, more potentially comic, more in accord with +what we predicate as the spirit of Plautus, and furthermore we have seen +roars of laughter created by the similar device of a low comedian in a +modern extravaganza. Taking advantage of the same subjective license, we +see nothing in Weissman's theory to offset our opinion. But, what is more, +our subjective reconstruction is given color by a shred of tangible +evidence. Suetonius (<i>Tib.</i> 38) refers to a popular quip on the emperor +that compares him to an actor on the classic Greek stage: "Biennio +continuo post ademptum imperium pedem porta non extulit; ... ut vulgo iam +per iocum Callip(p)ides vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem +mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est." That this Callipides was +the ὑποϗριτής mentioned by Xenophon (<i>Sym.</i> III. 11), Plutarch +(<i>Ages.</i> 21 and <i>Apophth. Lacon.</i>: s. v. <i>Ages.</i>), Cicyero (<i>Ad. Att.</i> +XIII. 12) and possibly by Aristotle (<i>Poet.</i> 26.), seems highly plausible. +Compare the <i>saltus fullonius</i> (Sen. <i>Ep.</i> 15.4).</p> + +<p>Most amusing of all is Plautus' introduction of a parody on the parody, +when Mercury rushes in post-haste crying (<i>Amph.</i> 984 ff.):</p> + +<p>"Make way, give way, everybody, clear the way! I tell you all: don't you +get so bold as to stand in my road. For, egad! I'd like to know why I, a +god, shouldn't have as much right to threaten the rabble as a mere slave +in the comedies!"</p> + +<p>And perhaps <i>St.</i> 307 is a joke on the running slave: Sed spatium hoc +occidit: brevest curriculo: quam me paenitet? That violent haste was +considered a slavish trait is evidenced by <i>Poen.</i> 523-3.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>2. Wilful blindness.</b></p> + +<p>In the scene recently quoted (<i>Cur.</i> 279 ff.), Curculio, after his violent +exertions in search of his patron, is for a time apparently unable to +discover him, though he is on the stage all the time. This species of +blindness must be wilfully designed as a burlesque effect and again finds +its echo in low comedy types of today. The breadth and depth of the Roman +stage alone will not account for this either; indeed, its very size could +be utilized to heighten the humor, as the actor peers hither and yon in +every direction but the right one. So Curculio (front) may pass directly +by Phaedromus (rear) without seeing him, to the huge delight of the +audience, and turn back again, while saying (301 ff.):</p> + +<p>"Is there anybody who can point out Phaedromus, my guardian angel, to me? +The matter's very urgent: I must find this chap at once.</p> + +<p>PALINURUS. (<i>To Phaedromus.</i>) It's you he's looking for.</p> + +<p>PH. What do you say we speak to him? Hello, Curculio, I want you!</p> + +<p>CUR. (<i>Stopping and again looking vainly round.</i>) Who's calling? Who says +"Curculio"?</p> + +<p>PH. Somebody that wants to see you.</p> + +<p>CUR. (<i>At last recognizing him when almost on top of him.</i>) Ah! You don't +want to see me any more than I want to see you."</p> + +<p>Acanthio in <i>Mer.</i> 130 ff. is still more blind to the presence of Charinus +and raises a deal more fuss, as he enters in the wildest haste looking for +Charinus, who is of course in plain sight. Acanthio, with labored +breathing and the remark that he would never make a piper, probably passes +by Charinus and goes to the house.</p> + +<p>"AC. What am I standing here for, anyway? I'll make splinters of these +doors without a single qualm. (<i>Hammers violently. Charinus approaches, +vainly trying to attract his attention.</i>) Open up, somebody! Where's my +master Charinus, at home or out? (<i>Still hammering.</i>) Isn't anybody +supposed to have the job of tending door?</p> + +<p>CH. (<i>Shouting.</i>) Here I am, Acanthio! You're looking for me, aren't you?</p> + +<p>AC. (<i>Still punishing the door.</i>) I never saw such slovenly management.</p> + +<p>CH. (<i>Finally grabbing and shaking him.</i>) What the deuce has got hold of +you?"<sup><a href="#foot130">130</a></sup> And so in the case of practically all the <i>servi currentes</i>.</p> + +<p>The opening scene of the <i>Per.</i> (13 ff.) between two slaves apparently +unable to distinguish each other's features from opposite sides of the +stage affords an opportunity for a similar species of farcical by-play. +Toxilus and Sagaristio stroll slowly in from the different side-entrances, +alternately soliloquizing. Suddenly, when probably fairly close, both look +up and peer curiously at each other:</p> + +<p>"TOX. (<i>Shading his eyes with his hand.</i>) Who's that standing over there?</p> + +<p>SAG. Who's this standing over here?</p> + +<p>TOX. Looks like Sagaristio.</p> + +<p>SAG. I bet it's my friend Toxilus.</p> + +<p>TOX. He's the fellow, all right.</p> + +<p>SAG. That's the chap, I'm sure.</p> + +<p>TOX. I'll go over to him.</p> + +<p>SAG. I'll go up and speak to him. (<i>They draw closer.</i>)</p> + +<p>TOX. Sagaristio, I hope the gods are good to you.</p> + +<p>SAG. Toxilus, I hope the gods give you everything you want. How are you?</p> + +<p>TOX. So so."<sup><a href="#foot131">131</a></sup></p> + +<p>Note that this is <i>canticum</i> and the effect of the two "sing-songing" +slaves on the audience must have been much the same as, upon us, the +spectacle of a vaudeville "duo," entering from opposite wings and singing +perchance a burlesque of grand opera at each other.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>3. Adventitious entrance.</b></p> + +<p>This is of a piece with the above, but is usually due to a weakness of +composition, to the goddess Τύχη, who is the presiding deity of +the plots of New Comedy.<sup><a href="#foot132">132</a></sup> However, there are times when appreciable +fun can be extracted from this, if the actor speak in a bland jocular +tone, taking the audience into his confidence, as <i>Trin.</i> 400 f.:</p> + +<p>"PHILTO. But the door of the house to which I was going is opening. Isn't +that nice? Lesbonicus, the very man I'm looking for, is coming out with +his slave."</p> + +<p>And <i>Aul.</i> 176 f.:</p> + +<p>"MEGADORUS. I'd like to see Euclio, if he's at home. Ah, here he comes! +He's on his way home from some place or other."<sup><a href="#foot133">133</a></sup></p> + +<p>We believe that enough has been said to prove that the favorite devices of +the lower types of modern stage-production form the back-bone of Plautus' +methods of securing his comic effects. Let us pass on without more ado to +a discussion of points that establish equally well that he was careless of +every other consideration but the eliciting of laughter.</p> + + + + +<h3>II. Evidences of Loose Composition Which Prove a Disregard of Technique +and Hence Indicate that Entertainment Was the Sole Aim</h3> + + +<h4>A. <i>Solo speeches and passages</i>.</h4> + + +<p align="center"><b>1. Asides and soliloquies.</b></p> + +<p>As it is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of stage +characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic +composition have always been recognized as the only feasible conventional +mode of conveying them. According to the strictest canons of dramatic art, +the ideally constructed play should be entirely free from this weakness. +Mr. Gillette is credited with having written in "Secret Service" the first +aside-less play. But this is abnormal and rather an affectation of +technical skill. The aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of +Plautus we</p> + +<p>have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends the +conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition, pointing plainly +to a poverty of technique and hence further strengthening the conception +of entertainment as the author's sole purpose. And often too, as we shall +point out, this very form can be used for amusement. To attempt a complete +collection of these passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, +comprising a formidable percentage of all the verses.</p> + +<p>And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and spiritless as +merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual conversation with +himself that shows a noble regard for the value of his own society. This +is attested by many passages, such as <i>Amph.</i> 381: Etiam muttis?; <i>Aul.</i> +52: At ut scelesta sola secum murmurat; <i>Aul.</i> 190: Quid tu solus tecum +loquere?; <i>Bac.</i> 773: Quis loquitur prope?; <i>Cap.</i> 133: Quis hic +loquitur?<sup><a href="#foot134">134</a></sup></p> + +<p>One character standing aside and commenting on the main action is a +familiar situation and often productive of good fun. An excellent example +is <i>Most.</i> 166 ff., where Philematium is performing her conventionally +out-door toilet with the aid of her duenna Scapha. Philolaches stands on +the other side of the stage and interjects remarks:</p> + +<p>"PHILEM. Look at me please, Scapha dear; is this gown becoming? I want to +please Philolaches, the apple of my eye....</p> + +<p>SC. Why deck yourself out, when your charm lies in your charming manners? +It isn't gowns that lovers love, but what bellies out the gowns.</p> + +<p>PHILO. (<i>Aside.</i>) God bless me, but Scapha's clever; the hussy has +horse-sense....</p> + +<p>PHILEM. (<i>Pettishly.</i>) Well, then?</p> + +<p>SC. What is it?</p> + +<p>PHILEM. Look me over anyhow and see how this becomes me.</p> + +<p>SC. The grace of your figure makes everything you wear becoming.</p> + +<p>PHILO. (<i>Aside.</i>) Now for that speech, Scapha, I'll give you some present +before the day is out--and so on for a whole long scene.</p> + +<p>The quips are amusing in an evident burlesque spirit. Such a scene was +easily done on the broad Roman stage, whether it was a heritage from the +use of the orchestra in Greek comedy, as LeGrand thinks,<sup><a href="#foot135">135</a></sup> or not. In +similar vein, clever by-play on the part of the cunning Palaestrio would +make a capital scene out of <i>Mil. 1037 ff.</i><sup><a href="#foot136">136</a></sup> A perfectly unnatural but +utterly amusing scene of the same type is <i>Amph. 153-262</i>, where Mercury +apostrophizes his fists, and the quaking Sosia (cross-stage) is frightened +to a jelly at the prospect of his early demise. In Cap. 966, Ilegio, staid +gentleman that he is, introduces an exceeding "rough" remark in the middle +of a serious scene. The aside of Pseudolus in <i>Ps. 636 f.</i> could be +rendered as a good-natured burlesque as follows:</p> + +<p>"HARPAX. What's your name?</p> + +<p>PS. (<i>Hopping forward and addressing audience with hand over mouth.</i>) The +pander has a slave named Surus. I'll say I'm he. (<i>Hopping back and +addressing Harpax.</i>) I'm Surus." Many other scenes were doubtless rendered +by one character's thus stepping aside and confiding his ideas to the +spectators, as for example <i>Aul. 194 ff.</i> and <i>Trin. 895 ff.</i> Often our +characters blurt out their inmost thoughts to the public, as in <i>Cas. 937 +ff.</i>, with eavesdroppers conveniently placed, else what would become of +the plot?</p> + +<p>The soliloquy is constantly used to keep the audience acquainted with the +advance of the plot<sup><a href="#foot137">137</a></sup>, or to paint in narrative intervening events that +connect the loose joints of the action. This is of course wholly +inartistic, but may often find its true office in keeping a noisy, +turbulent and uneducated audience aware of "what is going on." In many +cases the soliloquy is in the nature of a reflection on the action and +seems to bear all the ear-marks of a heritage from the original function +of the tragic chorus<sup><a href="#foot138">138</a></sup>. It devolved upon the actor by sprightly mimicry +to relieve, in these scenes, the tedium that appeals to the reader. So in +<i>Cap.</i> 909 ff. the <i>canticum</i> of the <i>puer</i> becomes more than a mere +stopgap, if he acts out vividly the violence of Ergasilus; and in <i>Bac.</i> +1067 ff. the soliloquy would acquire humor, if confidentially directed at +the audience. In <i>As.</i> 127 ff., as Argyrippus berates the <i>lena</i> within, +it must be delivered with an abundance of pantomime.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties.</b></p> + +<p>Frequently the soliloquy takes the form of a long solo passage directed at +the audience, while the action halts for a whole scene to allow the actor +to regale his public with the poet's views on the sins of society, +economic topics of the day, or topics of the by-gone days in Athens, and +the like. The resemblance to the interpolated song and dance of musical +comedy is most striking. The comparison is the more apt, as about +two-thirds of the illustrative scenes referred to in the next paragraph +are in <i>canticum</i>. It is a pity that the comic chorus had disappeared, or +the picture were complete. That it is often on the actor's initial +appearance that he sings his song or speaks his piece, strengthens the +resemblance. But this is a natural growth under the influence of two +publics, the Greek and the Roman, notably fond of declamation and oratory. +LeGrand believes this a characteristic directly derived from a narrative +form of Middle Comedy embodied in certain extant fragments.<sup><a href="#foot139">139</a></sup></p> + +<p>The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues +of the loyal slave are extolled<sup><a href="#foot140">140</a></sup>, or the knavery of the cunning +slave<sup><a href="#foot141">141</a></sup>. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the +decline of his profession<sup><a href="#foot142">142</a></sup>, or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in +haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food<sup><a href="#foot143">143</a></sup>. Bankers, lawyers +and panders come in for their share of satire<sup><a href="#foot144">144</a></sup>. Our favorite topic +today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the +boards of ancient Athens and Rome<sup><a href="#foot145">145</a></sup>. In <i>Mil.</i> 637 ff, Periplecomenus +descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The +delights or pains of love<sup><a href="#foot146">146</a></sup>, the ruminations of old age<sup><a href="#foot147">147</a></sup>, marriage +reform<sup><a href="#foot148">148</a></sup> and divorce<sup><a href="#foot149">149</a></sup>, the views of <i>meretrices</i> and their victims +on the arts of their profession<sup><a href="#foot150">150</a></sup>, the habits of cooks<sup><a href="#foot151">151</a></sup>, the pride +of valor and heroic deeds<sup><a href="#foot152">152</a></sup> are fruitful subjects. In <i>Cur.</i> 462 ff. +the <i>choragus</i> interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the +manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of +dreams<sup><a href="#foot153">153</a></sup>, and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a +house<sup><a href="#foot154">154</a></sup>. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in <i>Rud.</i> 185 ff., +which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's +Chorus (<i>Rud.</i> 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to +intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at +all. In this category also belong the revels of the drunken Pseudolus with +his song and dance<sup><a href="#foot155">155</a></sup>, and the final scene of the <i>St.</i><sup><a href="#foot156">156</a></sup>, where, the +action of the slender plot over, the comedy slaves royster and dance with +the harlot. When Ballio drives his herd before him, as he berates them +merrily to the tune of a whip, we have an energetic and effective +scene<sup><a href="#foot157">157</a></sup>.</p> + +<p align="center"><b>3. Direct address of the audience.</b></p> + +<p>It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of +the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of +dramatic production (v. Part I, § 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside +and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on +terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the +frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct +address of the audience, when they are called by name. In <i>Truc.</i> 482 +Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum +praedicem.... In <i>Poen Truc.</i> 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic, +spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the +action of the <i>Ps.</i> (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi +hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (<i>Amph.</i> 449-550 passim), probably +with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain +the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the +close of the <i>Men.</i> (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites +the spectators to attend.</p> + +<p>When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild +lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (<i>Aul.</i> 715 ff.):</p> + +<p>"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that +stole it. (<i>Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking +"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him.</i>) What do <i>you</i> say? I know +I can trust <i>you</i>. I can tell by your face you're honest. (<i>To the whole +audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue.</i>) What's the matter? +What are you laughing at?" etc.</p> + +<p>Moilère has imitated this scene very closely in <i>L'Avare</i> (IV. 7), with a +super-Plautine profusion of verbiage.</p> + +<p>In <i>Mil.</i> 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal +conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the +throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid, +pointed pantomime:</p> + +<p>"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (<i>To audience, pointing to +Palaestrio.</i>) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in +anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would +summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his +left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha! +He whacks his right thigh!" etc.</p> + +<p>It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in <i>Amph.</i> 861 ff. strolls in and +speaks his little piece to the pit:</p> + +<p>"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the +fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and +become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."<sup><a href="#foot158">158</a></sup></p> + +<p>Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (<i>de Com.</i> III. +6)<sup><a href="#foot159">159</a></sup>: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam +loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum.</p> + +<p>Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole +<i>grex</i>, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the +plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today<sup><a href="#foot160">160</a></sup>, +unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was +over.</p> + + + +<h4>B. <i>Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition</i>.</h4> + +<p>We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies, +contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in +his <i>Plautinische Studien</i>. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the +situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus' +style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is +often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that +Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with +more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at +intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes.</b></p> + +<p>Strong evidence of loose construction and lack of a technical dramatic +ideal is contained in the large number of scenes padded out with pointless +badinage, often tiresome, often wholly episodical in nature, as the +monodies, and putting for a time a complete check on the plot. The most +striking of these is <i>Aul.</i> 631 ff., when Euclio, suspecting Strobilus of +the theft of his gold, pounces upon him and belabors him:</p> + +<p>"STR. (<i>Howling and dancing and making violent efforts to free himself.</i>) +What the plague has got hold of you? What have you to do with me, you +dotard? Why pick on me? Why are you grabbing me? Don't beat me! (<i>Succeeds +in breaking loose.</i>)</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Shaking stick at him.</i>) You first-class jailbird, do you dare ask +me again? You're not a thief, but three thieves rolled into one!</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Whining and nursing bruises</i>) What did I steal from you?</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Still threatening.</i>) Give it back here, I say?</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Trembling and edging off.</i>) What is it you want me to give back?</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Watching him narrowly.</i>) You ask?</p> + +<p>STR. I tell you, I didn't take a thing from you.</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Impatiently.</i>) All right, but hand over what you did take! +(<i>Pause.</i>) Well, well!</p> + +<p>STR. Well, what?</p> + +<p>EUC. You can't get away with it.</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Bolder.</i>) Look here, what do you want?...</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Angrier and angrier.</i>) Hand it over, I say! Stop quibbling! I'm not +trifling now!</p> + +<p>STR. Now what shall I hand over? Speak out! Why don't you give the thing a +name? I swear I never touched or handled anything of yours.</p> + +<p>EUC. Put out your hands.</p> + +<p>STR. There you are! I've done so. See them?</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Scrutinizing his hands closely.</i>) All right. Now put out the third +too.</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Aside, growing angry.</i>) The foul fiends of madness have possessed +this doddering idiot. (<i>Majestically.</i>) Confess you wrong me?</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Dancing in frenzy.</i>) To the utmost, since I don't have you strung +up! And that's what'll happen too, if you don't confess.</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Shouting.</i>) Confess what?</p> + +<p>EUC. What did you steal from here? (<i>Pointing to his house.</i>)</p> + +<p>STR. Strike me if I stole anything of yours, (<i>Aside to audience</i>) and if +I don't wish I'd made off with it.</p> + +<p>EUC. Come now, shake out your cloak.</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Doing so.</i>) As you please.</p> + +<p>EUC. (<i>Stooping to see if anything falls out.</i>) Haven't got it under your +shirt? (<i>Pounces upon him and ransacks clothing.</i>)</p> + +<p>STR. (<i>Resignedly.</i>) Search me, if you like;" and so on with "Give it +back," What is it? "Put out your right hand," etc., etc.</p> + +<p>Molière again imitated almost slavishly (<i>L'Avare</i>, V. 3). Longwinded as +the thing is, it is clear that the liveliness of the action not only +relieves it, but could make it immensely amusing. At least it is superior +to the average vaudeville skit of the present day. It must not be +forgotten too that, as Plautus was in close touch with his players, he +could have done much of the stage-directing himself and might even have +worked up some parts to fit the peculiar talents of certain actors, as is +regularly done in the modern "tailormade drama."</p> + +<p>There are numbers of scenes of the sort quoted above, where the apparent +monotony and verbal padding could be converted into coin for laughter by +the clever comedian. <i>Amph.</i> 551-632 could be worked up poco a poco +crescendo e animato; in <i>Poen.</i> 504 ff., Agorastocles and the <i>Advocati</i> +bandy extensive rhetoric; in <i>Trin.</i> 276 ff., the action is suspended +while Philto proves himself Polonius' ancestor in his long-winded +sermonizing to Lysiteles and his insistent <i>laudatio temporis acti</i>; in +<i>St.</i> 326 ff., as Pinacium, the <i>servus currens</i>, finally succeeds in +"arriving" out of breath (he has been running since 274), bursting with +the vast importance of his news, he postpones the delivery of his tidings +till 371 while he indulges in irrelevant badinage. This is pure +buffoonery. And we can instance scene upon scene where the self-evident +padding can either furnish an excuse for agile histrionism, or become +merely tiresome in its iteration<sup><a href="#foot161">161</a></sup>. The danger of the latter was even +recognized by our poet, when, at the end of much word-fencing, Acanthio +asks Charinus if his desire to talk quietly is prompted by fear of waking +"the sleeping spectators" (<i>Mer.</i> 160). This was probably no exaggeration.</p> + +<p>When the padding takes the form of mutual "spoofing," the scene assumes an +uncanny likeness to the usual lines of a modern "high-class vaudeville +duo." Note Leonida and Libanus, the merry slaves of the <i>As.</i> in 297 ff., +Toxilus and Sagaristio in the <i>Per.</i>, Milphio and Syncerastus in the +<i>Poen.</i> (esp. 851 ff.), Pseudolus and Simia in <i>Ps.</i> 905 ff., Trachalio +and Gripus in <i>Rud.</i> 938 ff., Stichus and Sagarinus in the final scene of +the <i>St.</i>, and in <i>Ps.</i> 1167 ff. Harpax is unmercifully "chaffed" by Simo +and Ballio. Or, in view of the surrounding drama, we might better compare +these roysterers to the "team" of low comedians often grafted on a musical +comedy, where their antics effectually prevent the tenuous plot from +becoming vulgarly prominent.</p> + +<p align="center"><b>2. Inconsistencies of character and situation.</b></p> + +<p>The Plautine character is never a consistent human character. He is rather +a personified trait, a broad caricature on magnified foibles of some type +of mankind. There is never any character development, no chastening. We +leave our friends as we found them. They may exhibit the outward +manifestation of grief, joy, love, anger, but their marionette nature +cannot be affected thereby. That we should find inconsistencies in +character portrayal under these circumstances, is not only to be expected, +but is a mathematical certainty. The poet cares not; they must only dance, +dance, dance!</p> + +<p>Persistent moralizers, such as Megaronides in the <i>Trin.</i>, who serve but +as a foil from whom the revelry "sticks fiery off," descend themselves at +moments to bandying the merriest quips (Scene I.). In <i>Ep.</i> 382 ff., the +moralizing of Periphanes is counterfeit coinage. Gilded youths such as +Calidorus of the <i>Ps.</i> begin by asking (290 f.): "Could I by any chance +trip up father, who is such a wide-awake old boy?", and end by rolling +their eyes upward with: "And besides, if I could, filial piety prevents." +The Menaechmi twins are eminently respectable, but they cheerfully purloin +mantles, bracelets and purses. Hanno of the <i>Poen.</i> should according to +specifications be a staid <i>pater familias</i>, but Plautus imputes to him a +layer of the <i>Punica fides</i> that he knew his public would take delight in +"booing." And the old gentleman enters into a plot (1090) to chaff +elaborately his newly-found long-lost daughters, whom he has spent a +lifetime in seeking, before disclosing his identity to them (1211 ff.). +Saturio's daughter in the <i>Per.</i> is at one time the very model of maidenly +modesty and wisdom (336 ff.), at others an accomplished intriguante and +demi-mondaine (549 ff., esp. 607 ff.). When the plot of the <i>Ep.</i> is +getting hopelessly tangled, of a sudden it is magically resolved as by a +deus ex machina and everybody decides to "shake and make up."</p> + +<p>Slaves ever fearful of the mills or quarries are yet prone to the most +abominable "freshness" towards their masters. The irrepressible Pseudolus +in reading a letter from Calidorus' mistress says (27 ff.):</p> + +<p>"What letters! Humph! I'm afraid the Sibyl is the only person capable of +interpreting these.</p> + +<p>"CAL. Oh why do you speak so rudely of those lovely letters written on a +lovely tablet with a lovely hand?</p> + +<p>"PS. Well, would you mind telling me if hens have hands? For these look to +me very like hen-scratches.</p> + +<p>"CAL. You insulting beast! Read, or return the tablet!</p> + +<p>"PS. Oh, I'll read all right, all right. Just focus your mind on this.</p> + +<p>"CAL. <i>(Pointing vacantly to his head.</i>) Mind? It's not here.</p> + +<p>"PS. What! Go get one quick then!<sup><a href="#foot162">162</a></sup>."</p> + +<p>In order that the machinations of these cunning slaves may mature, it is +usually necessary to portray their victims as the veriest fools. Witness +the cock-and-bull story by which Stasimus, in <i>Trin.</i> 515 ff., convinces +Philto that his master's land is an undesirable real estate prospect. +Dordalus in <i>Per.</i> (esp. 493 ff.) exhibits a certain amount of caution in +face of Toxilus' "confidence game," but that he should be victimized at +all stamps him as a caricature.</p> + +<p>LeGrand is certainly right in pronouncing the cunning slave a pure +convention, adapted from the Greek and so unsuitable to Roman society that +even Plautus found it necessary to apologize for their unrestrained +gambols, on the ground that 'that was the way they did in Athens!'<sup><a href="#foot163">163</a></sup></p> + +<p>Certain of the characters are caricatures <i>par excellence</i>, embodiments of +a single attribute. Leaena of the <i>Cur.</i> is the perpetually thirsty +<i>lena</i>: "Wine, wine, wine!"<sup><a href="#foot164">164</a></sup> Cleaerata of the <i>As.</i> is a plain +caricature, but is exceptionally cleverly drawn as the <i>lena</i> with the +mordant tongue. Phronesium's thirst in the <i>Truc.</i>, is gold, gold, gold! +The <i>danista</i> of the <i>Most.</i> finds the whole expression of his nature in +the cry of "Faenus!"<sup><a href="#foot165">165</a></sup> Assuredly, he is the progenitor of the modern +low-comedy Jew: "I vant my inderesd!" Calidorus of the <i>Ps.</i> and +Phaedromus of the <i>Cur.</i> are but bleeding hearts dressed up in clothes. +The <i>milites gloriosi</i> are all cartoons;<sup><a href="#foot166">166</a></sup> and the perpetually +moralizing pedagogue Lydus of the <i>Bac.</i> becomes funny, instead of +egregiously tedious, if acted as a broad burlesque.</p> + +<p>The panders<sup><a href="#foot167">167</a></sup> are all manifest caricatures, too, especially the famous +Ballio of the <i>Ps.</i>, whom even Lorenz properly describes as "der +Einbegriff aller Schlechtigkeit," though he deprecates the part as "eine +etwas zu grell and zu breit angefuhrte Schilderung."<sup><a href="#foot168">168</a></sup> "Ego scelestus," +says Ballio himself.<sup><a href="#foot169">169</a></sup> He calmly and unctuously pleads guilty to every +charge of "liar, thief, perjurer," etc., and can never be induced to lend +an ear until the cabalistic charm "Lucrum!" is pronounced (264).</p> + +<p>The famous miser Euclio has given rise to an inordinate amount of +unnecessary comment. Lamarre<sup><a href="#foot170">170</a></sup> is at great pains to defend Plautus from +"le reproche d'avoir introduit dans la peinture de son principal +personnage <Euclio> des traits outres et hors de nature." Indeed, he +possesses few traits in accord with normal human nature. But curiously +enough, as we learn from the <i>argumenta</i> (in view of the loss of the +genuine end of the <i>Aul.</i>), Euclio at the <i>denouement</i> professes himself +amply content to bid an everlasting farewell to his stolen hoard, and +bestows his health and blessing on "the happy pair." This apparent +conversion, with absolutely nothing dramatic to furnish an introduction or +pretext for it, has caused Langen to depart from his usual judicious +scholarship. After much hair-splitting he solemnly pronounces it +"psychologically possible."<sup><a href="#foot171">171</a></sup> LeGrand points out<sup><a href="#foot172">172</a></sup> that his change +of heart is not a conversion, but merely a professed reconciliation to the +loss. But there is no need for all this pother. The simple truth is that +Plautus was through with his humorous complication and was ready to top it +off with a happy ending. It is the forerunner of modern musical comedy, +where the grouchy millionaire papa is propitiated at the last moment +(perhaps by the pleadings of the handsome widow), and similarly consents +to his daughter's marriage with the handsome, if impecunious, ensign.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>3. Looseness of dramatic construction.</b></p> + +<p>Lorenz with commendable insight has pointed out<sup><a href="#foot173">173</a></sup> that Τύχη, +the goddess of Chance, is the motive power of the Plautine plot, as +distinguished from the μοῖρα of tragedy. A student of Plautus +readily recognizes this point. The entire development of the <i>Rud.</i> and +<i>Poen.</i> exemplifies it in the highest degree. Hanno in the <i>Poen.</i>, in +particular, meets first of all, in the strange city of Calydon, the very +man he is looking for! When Pseudolus is racking his wits for a stratagem, +Harpax obligingly drops in with all the requisites. The ass-dealer in the +<i>As.</i> is so ridiculously fortuitous that it savors of childlike naiveté.</p> + +<p>Characters are perpetually entering just when wanted. We hear "Optume +advenis" and "Eccum ipsum video" so frequently that they become as +meaningless as "How d'ye do!"<sup><a href="#foot174">174</a></sup>; though, as shown above<sup><a href="#foot175">175</a></sup>, even this +very weakness could at moments be made the pretext for a mild laugh.</p> + +<p>For a complete catalogue of the formidable mass of inconsistencies and +contradictions that throng the plays, the reader is referred to the +<i>Plautinische Studien</i> of Langen, as aforesaid. It will be of passing +interest to recall one or two. In <i>Cas.</i> 530 Lysidamus goes to the "forum" +and returns <i>32 verses later</i> complaining that he has wasted the whole day +standing "advocate" for a kinsman. But this difficulty is resolved, if we +accept the theory of Prof. Kent (TAPA. XXXVII), that the change of acts +which occurs in between, is a conventional excuse for any lapse of time, +in Roman comedy as well as in Greek tragedy. But it is extremely doubtful +that Prof. Kent succeeds in establishing the truth of this view in the +case of Roman comedy. We see no convincing reason for departing from the +accepted theory, as expressed by Duff (<i>A Literary History of Rome</i>, pp. +196-7): "In Plautus' time a play proceeded continuously from the lowering +of the curtain at the beginning to its rise at the end, save for short +breaks filled generally by simple music from the <i>tibicen</i> (<i>Ps.</i> 573). The +division into scenes is ancient and regularly indicated in manuscripts of +Plautus and Terence."</p> + +<p>Langen seems surprised<sup><a href="#foot176">176</a></sup> when Menaechmus Sosicles, on beholding his +twin for the first time (<i>Men.</i> 1062), though he was the object of a six +years' search, wades through some twenty lines of amazed argument before +Messenio (with marvelous cunning!) hits on the true explanation. It is of +course conceived in a burlesque spirit. What would become of the comic +action if Menaechmus II simply walked up to Menaechmus I and remarked: +"Hello, brother, don't you remember me?"</p> + +<p>That the seven months of <i>Most.</i> 470 miraculously change into six months +in 954 is the sort of mistake possible to any writer. In the <i>Amph.</i> 1053 +ff., Alcmena is in labor apparently a few minutes after consorting with +Jupiter; but the change of acts <i>may</i> account for the lapse of time, here +as in <i>Cas.</i> 530 ff.</p> + +<p>But after the exhaustive work of Langen, we need linger no longer in this +well-ploughed field. We repeat, the evidence all points irresistibly to +the conclusion that Plautus is wholly careless of his dramatic machinery +so long as it moves. The laugh's the thing!</p> + +<p>The <i>St.</i> is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' +mind. The virtue of the Penelope-like Pamphila and Panegyris proves too +great a strain and unproductive of merriment. The topic gradually vanishes +as the drolleries of the parasite Gelasimus usurp the boards. He in turn +gives way to the hilarious buffoonery of the two slaves. The result is a +succession of loose-jointed scenes<sup><a href="#foot177">177</a></sup>. The <i>Aul.</i> too is fragmentary and +episodical. The <i>Trin.</i> is insufferably long-winded, with insufficient +comic accompaniment. The <i>Cis.</i> is a wretched piece of vacuous +inanity<sup><a href="#foot178">178</a></sup>.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>4. Roman admixture and topical allusions.</b></p> + +<p>Plautus' frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the +interjection of Roman references--what De Quincey calls "anatopism"--is +another item of careless composition too well known to need more than +passing mention. The repeated appearance of the <i>Velabrum,</i><sup><a href="#foot179">179</a></sup> or +<i>Capitolium,</i><sup><a href="#foot180">180</a></sup> or <i>circus,</i><sup><a href="#foot181">181</a></sup> or <i>senatus</i>, or <i>dictator</i>,<sup><a href="#foot182">182</a></sup> or +<i>centuriata comitio,</i><sup><a href="#foot183">183</a></sup> or <i>plebiscitum,</i><sup><a href="#foot184">184</a></sup> and a host of others in +the Greek investiture, becomes after a while a matter of course to us. We +see however no need to quarrel with <i>forum</i>; it was Plautus' natural +translation for ἀγορά. But it all adds inevitably and +relentlessly to our argument--Plautus was heedless of the petty demands of +technique and realism. His attention was too much occupied in devising +means of amusement.</p> + +<p>The occasional topical allusions belong in the same category as above; for +example, the allusion to the Punic war (<i>Cis.</i> 202),<sup><a href="#foot185">185</a></sup> the <i>lex +Platoria</i> (<i>Ps.</i> 303, <i>Rud.</i> 1381-2), Naevius' imprisonment (<i>Mil. </i> +211-2), Attalus of Pergamum (<i>Per.</i> 339, <i>Poen.</i> 664), Antiochus the Great +(<i>Poen.</i> 693-4). Again we have a modern parallel: the topics of the day +are a favorite resort of the lower types of present-day stage production.</p> + + +<p align="center"><b>5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery.</b></p> + +<p>But the most extreme stage of intimate jocularity is reached when the last +sorry pretense of drama is discarded and the dramatic machinery itself +becomes the subject of jest. So in the <i>Cas.</i> 1006 the cast is warned: +Hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. In <i>Per.</i> 159-60 Saturio +wants to know where to get his daughter's projected disguise:</p> + +<p>"SAT. πόθεν ornamenta?</p> + +<p>TOX. Abs chorago sumito. Dare debet: praebenda aediles locaverunt." (Cf. +<i>Trin.</i> 858.)</p> + +<p>Even the <i>Ps.</i>, heralded as dramatically one of the best of the plays, +yields the following: Horum caussa haec agitur spectatorum fabula (720); +hanc fabulam dum transigam (562) and following speech; verba quae in +comoediis solent lenoni dici (1081-2); quam in aliis comoediis fit (1240); +quin vocas spectatores simul? (1332). In <i>St.</i> 715 ff., the action of the +play is interrupted while the boisterous slaves give the musician a drink. +From the <i>Poen.</i> comes a gem that will bear quoting at length (550 ff.):</p> + +<blockquote> Omnia istaec scimus iam nos, si hi spectatores sciant.<br /> +Horunc hic nunc causa haec agitur spectatorum fabula:<br /> +Hos te satius est docere ut, quando agas, quid agas sciant.<br /> +Nos tu ne curassis: scimus rem omnem, quippe omnes simul.<br /> +Didicimus tecum una, ut respondere possimus tibi.<sup><a href="#foot186">186</a></sup></blockquote> + +<p>This is the final degeneration into the realm of pure foolery. It is a +patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content." Once +more we venture to point a parallel on the modern stage, in the vaudeville +comedian who interlards his dancing with comments such as: "I hate to do +this, but it's the only way I can earn a living."</p> + +<p align="center"><b>6. Use of stock plots and characters.</b></p> + +<p>We must touch finally, but very lightly, on the commonplaces of stock +plots and characters. The whole array of puppets is familiar to us all: +the cunning slave, the fond or licentious papa, the spendthrift son and +their inevitable confrères appear in play after play with relentless +regularity. The close correspondence of many plots is also too familiar to +need discussion.<sup><a href="#foot187">187</a></sup> The glimmering of originality in the plot of the +<i>Cap.</i> called for special advertisement.<sup><a href="#foot188">188</a></sup> In the light of the +foregoing evidence, the pertinence of these facts for us, we reiterate, is +that Plautus merely adopted the New Comedy form as his comic medium, and, +while leaving his originals in the main untouched, took what liberties he +desired with them, with the single-minded purpose of making his public +laugh.<sup><a href="#foot189">189</a></sup></p> + + + + +<h2>In Conclusion</h2> + + + +<p>In contrast to these grotesqueries certain individual scenes and plays +stand out with startling distinctness as possessed of wit and humor of +high order. The description by Cleaereta of the relations of lover, +mistress and <i>lena</i> is replete with biting satire (<i>As.</i> 177 ff., 215 +ff.). The finale of the same play is irresistibly comic. In <i>Aul. </i> 731 +ff. real sparks issue from the verbal cross-purposes of Euclio and +Lyconides over the words "pot" and "daughter." The <i>Bac.</i> is an excellent +play, marred by padding. When the sisters chaff the old men as "sheep" +(1120 ff.), the humor is naturalistic and human. The <i>Cas.</i>, uproarious +and lewd as it is, becomes excruciatingly amusing if the mind is open to +appreciating humor in the broadest spirit. The discourse of Periplecomenus +(<i>Mil.</i> 637 ff.) is marked by homely satirical wisdom. In the <i>Ps.</i> the +badinage of the name-character is appreciably superior to most of the +incidental quips. Pseudolus generously compliments Charinus on beating him +at his own game of repartee (743). When Weise (<i>Die Komodien des Plautus</i>, +p. 181) describes <i>Ps.</i> IV. 7 as "eine der ausgezeichnetsten Scenen, die +es irgend giebt," his superlative finds a better justification than usual.</p> + +<p>When Menaechmus Sosicles sees fit "to put an antic disposition on," we +have a scene which, while eminently farcical, is signally clever and +dramatically effective. Witness the imitation by Shakespeare in <i>The +Comedy of Errors</i>, IV. 4, and in spirit by modern farce; for instance, in +<i>A Night Off</i>, when the staid old Professor feels the recrudescence of his +youthful aspirations to attend a prize-fight, he simulates madness as a +prelude to dashing wildly away.</p> + +<p>The following from <i>Rud.</i> (160 ff.) is theatrical but tremendously +effective and worthy of the highest type of drama. Sceparnio, looking +off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat. He +addresses Daemones: + +"SC. But O Palaemon! Hallowed comrade of Neptune ... what scene meets my +eye?</p> + +<p>DAE. What do you see?</p> + +<p>SC. I see two poor lone women sitting in a bit of a boat. How the poor +creatures are being tossed about! Hoorah! Hoorah! Fine! The waves are +whirling their boat past the rocks into the shallows. A pilot couldn't +have steered straighter. I swear I never saw waves more high. They're safe +if they escape those breakers. Now, now, danger! One is overboard! Ah, the +water's not deep: she'll swim out in a minute. Hooray! See the other one, +how the wave tossed her out! She is up, she's on her way shoreward; she's +safe!"</p> + +<p>Sceparnio clasps his hands, jumps up and down, grasps the shaking Daemones +convulsively and communicates his excitement to the audience. It is a +piece of thrilling theatrical declamation and must have wrought the +spectators up to a high pitch. In general, the <i>Rud.</i> is a superior play.</p> + +<p>In <i>Cas.</i> 229 ff. there is developed a piece of faithful and entertaining +character-drawing, as the old roué Lysidamus fawns upon his militant +spouse Cleostrata, with the following as its climax:</p> + +<p>"CLE. (<i>Sniffling.</i>) Ha! Whence that odor of perfumes, eh?</p> + +<p>LYS. The jig's up."</p> + +<p>In the whole panorama of Plautine personae the portrayal of Alcmena in the +<i>Amph.</i> is unique, for she is drawn with absolute sincerity and speaks +nothing out of character. Certainly no parody can be made out of the nobly +spoken lines 633-52, which lend a genuine air of tragedy to the professed +<i>tragi(co)comoedia</i> (59, 63); unless we think of the lady's unwitting +compromising condition (surely too subtle a thought for the original +audience). Note also the exalted tone of 831-4, 839-42. But all through +this scene Sosia is prancing around, prating nonsense, and playing the +buffoon, so that perchance even here the nobility becomes but a foil for +the revelry. And in 882-955 his royal godship Jove clowns it to the lady's +truly minted sentiments.</p> + +<p>No, we are far from attempting to deny to Plautus all dramatic technique, +skill in character painting and cleverness of situation, but he was never +hide-bound by any technical considerations. He felt free to break through +the formal bonds of his selected medium at will. He had wit, esprit and +above all a knowledge of his audience; and of human nature generally, or +else he could not have had such a trenchant effect on the literature of +all time.</p> + +<p>At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive +estimate of the mise-en-scène. Enough has been said, we believe, in our +discussion of the criticism and acting and in our analysis of his dramatic +values, to show that the aberrations of Plautus' commentators have been +due to their failure to reach the crucial point: the absolute license with +which his plays were acted and intended to be acted is at once the +explanation of their absurdities and deficiencies. This was true in a far +less degree of Terence, who dealt in plots more <i>stataria</i> and less +<i>motoria</i>.<sup><a href="#foot190">190</a></sup> Though using the same store of models, he endeavored to +produce an artistically constructed play, which should make some honest +effort to "hold the mirror up to nature." We are convinced that even his +extensive use of <i>contaminatio</i> was designed to evolve a better plot. The +extravagance of Plautus is toned down in Terence to a reasonable +verisimilitude and a far more "gentlemanly" mode of fun-making that was +appropriate to one in the confidence of the aristocratic Scipionic circle. +But when all is said and done, Terence lacks the vivid primeval +"Volkswitz" of Plautus. We dare only skirt the edges of this extensive +subject.<sup><a href="#foot191">191</a></sup></p> + +<p>Above all, our noble jester <i>succeeds</i> in his mission of laugh-producing. +But his methods are not possessed in the main of dramatic respectability. +And it must be apparent that our analysis and citations have covered the +bulk of the plays.</p> + +<p>We conclude then that the prevalence of inherent defects of composition +and the lack of serious motive, coupled with the author's constant and +conscious employment of the implements of broad farce and extravagant +burlesque, impel us inevitably to the conclusion that we have before us a +species of composition which, while following a dramatic form, is not +inherently drama, but a variety of entertainment that may be described as +a compound of comedy, farce and burlesque; while the accompanying music, +which would lend dignity to tragedy or grand opera, merely heightens the +humorous effect and lends the color of musical comedy or opera +bouffe.<sup><a href="#foot192">192</a></sup> Körting is right in calling it mere entertainment, Mommsen is +right in calling it caricature, but we maintain that it is professedly +mere entertainment, that it is consciously caricature and if it fulfills +these functions we have no right to criticise it on other grounds. If we +attempt a serious critique of it as drama, we have at once on our hands a +capricious mass of dramatic unrealities and absurdities: bombast, +burlesque, extravagance, horse-play, soliloquies, asides, direct address +of the audience, pointless quips, and so on. The minute we accept it as a +consciously conceived medium for amusement only, we have a highly +effective theatrical mechanism for the unlimited production of laughter. +And, in fact, every shred of evidence, however scant, goes to show that +the histrionism must have been conceived in a spirit of extreme +liveliness, abandon and extravagance in gesture and declamation, that +would not confine the actor to faithful portrayal in character, but would +allow him scope and license to resort to any means whatsoever to bestir +laughter amongst a not over-stolid audience.</p> + + + + + + + +<h2>Footnotes</h2> + + + +<p><a name="foot1"></a>1. E.g., Casina in the <i>Cas.</i>, Silenium in the <i>Cis.</i>, +Planesium in the <i>Cur.</i>, Adelphasium and Anterastylis in the +<i>Poen.</i>, Palaestra in the <i>Rud.</i></p> + +<p><a name="foot2"></a>2. V. infra, part II, sec. I. B. I.</p> + +<p><a name="foot3"></a>3. E.g., Lorcnz's Introd. to <i>Most.</i> and <i>Pseud.</i> V. infra, +part I, § i.</p> + +<p><a name="foot4"></a>4. We are not concerned in this question with technical discussion as to +the position of the banquet table on the stage, the nature of the dog of +the <i>Most.</i> and the like, but with the delivery and movements of the +actors themselves.</p> + +<p><a name="foot5"></a>5. De Off. I. 29.104.</p> + +<p><a name="foot6"></a>6. X. 1.99. Cf. Ritschl's citations of Varro: <i>Parerga</i>, p. 71 ff. +Cf. Epig. quoted by Varro and attributed to Plautus himself, ap. Gel. +N.A., I. 24.1-3. But that this was a patent literary forgery is proved by +Gudeman in TAPA. XXV, p. 160.</p> + +<p><a name="foot7"></a>7. N.A., VI. 17.4.</p> + +<p><a name="foot8"></a>8. I.7.17.</p> + +<p><a name="foot9"></a>9. XIX. 8.6.</p> + +<p><a name="foot10"></a>10. <i>A.P.</i>, 270 ff. Cf. <i>Ep.</i> II. I.170 ff. and Fay, ed. +<i>Most.</i>, Intro. § 2.</p> + +<p><a name="foot11"></a>11. <i>De Com.</i> III. 6, Donatus ed. Wessner. For full quotation, v. +infra, Part II, Sec. II. A. 3, Note 50.</p> + +<p><a name="foot12"></a>12. <i>Excerpta de Com.</i> V. 1.</p> + +<p><a name="foot13"></a>13. For a complete list, see <i>Testimonia</i> prefixed to Goetz and +Schoell's ed. of Plautus.</p> + +<p><a name="foot14"></a>14. P. 217 M.</p> + +<p><a name="foot15"></a>15. 404, 412, 823.</p> + +<p><a name="foot16"></a>16. Ed. <i>Men.</i> (Leipzig, 1891), ad 410.</p> + +<p><a name="foot17"></a>17. Cf. opening lines of Eurip. <i>Iph. in Taur.</i></p> + +<p><a name="foot18"></a>18. Pp. 13--19. V. Langen, <i>Plautinische Studien</i>, pp. 139-142. Cf. +also comments of Brix to <i>Menaechmi</i> passim.</p> + +<p><a name="foot19"></a>19. Op. cit., p. 146.</p> + +<p><a name="foot20"></a>20. Cf. Gel. N. A., III. 3-14 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot21"></a>21. V. infra, Part II, under 'Careless Composition'.</p> + +<p><a name="foot22"></a>22. <i>Beschluss der Critik iiber die Gefangenen des Plaulus</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="foot23"></a>23. 23: Op. cit., fin.</p> + +<p><a name="foot24"></a>24. <i>La Litterature latine depuis la fondation de Rome</i> (Paris, +1899), Bk. II. chap. 3. sec. 15, p. 362.</p> + +<p><a name="foot25"></a>25. Introd. to ed. <i>Mosl.</i>, p. 37.</p> + +<p><a name="foot26"></a>26. Bk. II, Ch. 4.</p> + +<p><a name="foot27"></a>27. Lamarre, op. cit., Bk. II, Ch. 4, Sec. 12, p. 475.</p> + +<p><a name="foot28"></a>28. <i>Théâtre de Plaute</i> (Paris, 1845), Introd. p. 18.</p> + +<p><a name="foot29"></a>29. <i>Opuscula Philologica</i>, Vol. II p. 743.</p> + +<p><a name="foot30"></a>30. <i>0pusc.</i> II. 733 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot31"></a>31. In <i>Opusc.</i> III. 455, Ritschl relates that Varro wrote six books +on drama, with Plautus as the especial object of his interest: <i>de +originibus scaenicis, de scaenicis actionibus, de actibus scaenicis, de +personis, de descriptionibus, quaestiones Plautinae</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="foot32"></a>32. Langen, op. cit., p. 127.</p> + +<p><a name="foot33"></a>33. <i>Opusc.</i> II. 746.</p> + +<p><a name="foot34"></a>34. Op. cit., p. 165.</p> + +<p><a name="foot35"></a>35. Op. cit., p. 167.</p> + +<p><a name="foot36"></a>36. <i>Mil.</i> 522 ff. (All citations from Plautus are based on the text +and numbering of the lines in the text of Goetz and Schoell).</p> + +<p><a name="foot37"></a>37. <i>History of Rome</i>, (Transl. Dickson, Scribner, N.Y., 1900), Vol. +III, p. 143.</p> + +<p><a name="foot38"></a>38. E.g., LeGrand, <i>Daos</i>, V. supra. Cf. also N. 80, Part II.</p> + +<p><a name="foot39"></a>39. P. 190, trans. John Black (London, 1846), Lecture XIV.</p> + +<p><a name="foot40"></a>40. <i>Theatre of the Greeks</i>, p. 443.</p> + +<p><a name="foot41"></a>41. P. 197.</p> + +<p><a name="foot42"></a>42. Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30.</p> + +<p><a name="foot43"></a>43. V. supra.</p> + +<p><a name="foot44"></a>44. P. 620. But cf. Note 37.</p> + +<p><a name="foot45"></a>45. Cf. further Plessis, <i>La poésie latine</i> (Paris, 1909), p. 54 +ff.; Patin, <i>Études sur la poésie latine</i> (Paris, 1869), Vol. II, p. +224 ff.; Ribbeck, <i>Geschichte der römischen Dichtung</i> (Stuttgart, +1894), Vol. I, p. 57 ff.; Tyrrell, <i>Early Latin Poetry</i>, p. 44 ff. A +very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, <i>A Literary History of +Rome</i> (N.Y., 1909), p. 183 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot46"></a>46. <i>History of Rome</i>, Vol. III, p. 139. Cf. note 37.</p> + +<p><a name="foot47"></a>47. Cf. Prol. <i>Poen.</i> 28-9.</p> + +<p><a name="foot48"></a>48. Prol. <i>Poen.</i>, II ff. + +<a name="foot49"></a>49. <i>Plaudere</i>, πάλιν, <i>sibilare</i> or <i>exsibilare, +explodere, eicere</i> were expressions used to indicate approval or +disapproval. Cf. the discussion of Oehmichen, article <i>Bühnenwesen</i> +in Von Müller's <i>Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft</i>, +5ter Band, 3te Abteilung, § 73. 2, p. 271.</p> + +<p><a name="foot50"></a>50. Cf. Prol. <i>Poen.</i> 36 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot51"></a>51. Cf. Tac. <i>Ann.</i> I. 77. V. Oehmichen, op. cit., § 39.3, p. 220.</p> + +<p><a name="foot52"></a>52. V. Prol. <i>Amph.</i> 52-3:</p> + +<blockquote>Quid contraxistis frontem?<br /> +Quia tragoediam Dixi futuram hanc?</blockquote> + +<p><a name="foot53"></a>53. <i>Parad.</i> III. 2.26. Cf. <i>Or.</i> 51.173, <i>de Or.</i> III. +50.196: <i>"theatra tota reclamant</i>"; Hor. <i>Ep.</i> II. 1.200 ff.; +Suet. <i>Nero</i>, 24.1.</p> + +<p><a name="foot54"></a>54. Cic. <i>de Or.</i> I.61.259, I.27.124.</p> + +<p><a name="foot55"></a>55. <i>Hist. Rome</i>, ed. cit., Vol. III, p. 140.</p> + +<p><a name="foot56"></a>56. <i>Cist.</i> 785: Qui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet. Cf. +<i>Trin.</i> 990. <i>Amph.</i> 83-4, (if this is not merely an imitation +of the Greek original).</p> + +<p><a name="foot57"></a>57. Tac. <i>Ann.</i> 1.77.</p> + +<p><a name="foot58"></a>58. <i>Amph.</i> 65 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 36 ff., Ter. <i>Phor.</i> 16 ff., +Cic. <i>ad Att.</i> IV. 15.6, Hor. <i>Ep.</i> II. 1.181.</p> + +<p><a name="foot59"></a>59. <i>Cas.</i> 17 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 706 ff. But others argue that these +passages are only translations from the Greek. V. Leo in <i>Hermes</i>, +1883, p. 561, F. Ostermayer, <i>De hist. fab. in com. Pl.</i> (Greifswald, +1884), p. 7. Ritschl (<i>Parerga</i>, p. 229) argues that the passages +refer to cases of extraordinary public approval, not to formal contests. +Cf. Var. <i>L.L.</i> V. 178.</p> + +<p><a name="foot60"></a>60. Cic. <i>pro. Ros. Com.</i> 10.28-9, Plin. <i>N. H.</i> 7.39.128, Dio +77.21. Cf. Sen. <i>Ep.</i> 80.7.</p> + +<p><a name="foot61"></a>61. Körting, op. cit., p. 244 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot62"></a>62. Cic. <i>de Or.</i> I.59.251, Suet. <i>Nero</i> 20, Quint. XI. 3.19.</p> + +<p><a name="foot63"></a>63. I.ii.i-2, I.ii.12.</p> + +<p><a name="foot64"></a>64. Quint. XI.3.iii.</p> + +<p><a name="foot65"></a>65. Cic. <i>Or.</i> 31.109.</p> + +<p><a name="foot66"></a>66. Quint. XI.3.178, Juv. III. 98-9.</p> + +<p><a name="foot67"></a>67. Cic. <i>de Off.</i> I.31.114, <i>ad Att.</i> IV.15.6.</p> + +<p><a name="foot68"></a>68. Ap. Athen. XIV. 615 A.</p> + +<p><a name="foot69"></a>69. For a full discussion of the ancient actor v. Pauly-Wissowa, +<i>Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft</i>, s. v. +<i>histrio</i>; Friedlander in Marquardt-Mommsen <i>Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer</i>, VI. p. 508 ff.; J. van Wageningen, <i>Scaenica Romana</i>; +Warnecke, <i>Die Vortragskunst der romischen Schauspieler</i>, in <i>Neue +Jahrbucher</i>, 1908, p. 704 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot70"></a>70. Cf. <i>de Or.</i> III.56.214, III.22.83, Quint. XI. 3.125, 181-2.</p> + +<p><a name="foot71"></a>71. Quint. XI.3.112.</p> + +<p><a name="foot72"></a>72. Cf. Quint. XI.3.89.</p> + +<p><a name="foot73"></a>73. Cic. <i>ad Att.</i> VI.1.8.</p> + +<p><a name="foot74"></a>74. Cf. <i>de Or.</i> III.26.102, Quint. XI.3.71, 89.</p> + +<p><a name="foot75"></a>75. For further treatment of the gestures of orators see Pauly-Wissowa, +<i>Real-Encyclopadie</i>, s. v. <i>histrio</i>; Warnecke in <i>Neue +Jahrbucher</i>, 1910, p. 593; Sittl, <i>Die Gebarden der Griechen und +Romer</i>, Chap. XI; Mart. Cap. 43. In the other rhetoricians of the later +Empire there is much copying of Cicero and Quintilian, but nothing of +significance for our purpose, unless it be the comparison of the rigid +training recommended to the embryo orator. For further citations, v. +Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit.</p> + +<p><a name="foot76"></a>76. 0p. cit., p. 203.</p> + +<p><a name="foot77"></a>77. <i>Wiener Studien</i>, Vol. XIV, p. 120.</p> + +<p><a name="foot78"></a>78. <i>Scaen. Rom.</i>, p. 52. Cf. Karsten in <i>Mnem.</i> XXXII, (1904), +pp. 209-251, 287-322, who concludes that at least four hands aided in the +commentaries.</p> + +<p><a name="foot79"></a>79. E.g., Donat. ad <i>And.</i> 88, <i>Eun.</i> 187, 986, <i>Phor.</i> +315.</p> + +<p><a name="foot80"></a>80. A11 the passages in Donatus dealing with gesture have been collected +by Leo, <i>Rheinisches Museum</i> XXXVIII, p. 331 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot81"></a>81. E.g., Donat. ad <i>And.</i> 180, 363, 380-1, <i>Eun.</i> 209, 559, +974, <i>Ad.</i> 84, 499, 661, 795, 951, <i>Hec.</i> 612, 689, <i>Phor.</i> +49, 315. Cf. <i>Ad.</i> 285: superbe ac magnifice. Cf. Schol. ad +<i>And.</i> 332: Vultuose hoc dicitur, hoc est cum gestu. Cf. also +Warnecke in <i>Neue Jahrbücher</i>, 1910, note 75.</p> + +<p><a name="foot82"></a>82. Cf. XI.3.103, <i>Auct. ad Her.</i> III.15.27.</p> + +<p><a name="foot83"></a>83. Their precise age and antiquity have been disputed with some +acrimony. With Sittl cf. Bethe, <i>Praef. Cod. Ambros.</i> p. 64; van +Wageningen, op. cit., p. 50 ff.; Leo in <i>Rhein. Mus.</i> XXXVIII, p. 342 +ff. V. reproductions in Wieseler, <i>Theatergebäude und Denkmäler des +Bühnenwesens bei den Griechen und Römern,</i> Tafel X; and Bethe, ed. of +Codex Ambrosianus.</p> + +<p><a name="foot84"></a>84. <i>Neue Jahr.</i>, Sup. Band I (1832), p. 447 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot85"></a>85. Quint. VI.3.29, Mart. Cap., Chap. 43, p. 543 ed. Kopp.</p> + +<p><a name="foot86"></a>86. V. reproductions in Baumeister, <i>Denkmäler des klassischen +Altertums</i>, s. v. "Lustspiel" and Wieseler, op. cit., note 83.</p> + +<p><a name="foot87"></a>87. Donat. <i>de Com.</i> VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names +have been interchanged.</p> + +<p><a name="foot88"></a>88. <i>Ars Gram.</i> III, p. 489, 10 K; +Festus, s.v. <i>personata</i>, p. 217. Cf. Cic. <i>de Nat. Deo.</i> I. +28.79. Ribbock, <i>Romische Tragodie</i> p. 661, and Dziatzko in +<i>Rhein. Mus.</i> XXI. 68, have made a violent effort to reconcile the +conflicting statements by arguing that Roscius belonged to the troupe of +Minucius. This is denied by Weinberger, <i>Wien. Stud.</i> XIV. 126. For +further discussion v. van Wageningen, <i>Scaen. Rom.</i> p. 34 ff.; Leo in +<i>Rhein. Mus.</i> XXXVIII. 342; Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, +<i>Ueber Antike Theatermasken</i>; Teuffel, <i>Romische +Litteraturgeschichte</i> §16. Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s.v. +<i>histrio</i>, pp. 2120-21. A recent article by Saunders (A.J.P., XXXII, +p. 58) gives an admirable summing-up of the whole controversy, with +substantial proof that at any rate the performers of Plautus' day were +unmasked.</p> + +<p><a name="foot89"></a>89. Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, <i>Costume in +Roman Comedy</i>; Marquardt-Mommsen, <i>Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer</i>, VI. p. 525; Pauly-Wissowa, l.c. Cf. Cic. <i>ad Fam.</i> +VII. 6.</p> + +<p><a name="foot90"></a>90. Cf. <i>Mil.</i> 629 ff., 923, <i>Ps.</i> 967, <i>Rud.</i> 125 f., 313 +f., 1303, <i>Trin.</i> 861 f., <i>Truc.</i> 286 ff.; Ter., <i>Phor.</i> +51.</p> + +<p><a name="foot91"></a>91. V. van Wageningen, op. cit. pp. 40 f.</p> + +<p><a name="foot92"></a>92. <i>De Or.</i> III. 22.83.</p> + +<p><a name="foot93"></a>93. II. 10.13. Cf. XI. 3.91.</p> + +<p><a name="foot94"></a>94. I. II. 1-2</p> + +<p><a name="foot95"></a>95. Donat. ad <i>And.</i> 505, <i>Eun.</i> 224, 288, 403, <i>Ad.</i> 187, +395.</p> + +<p><a name="foot96"></a>96. Ad <i>And.</i> 194, 301, <i>Eun.</i> 467, 986, <i>Hec.</i> 98, 439, +640, <i>Ad.</i> 101. Cf. <i>Ad.</i> 96.; cum admiratone indignantis; 97; +intento digito et infestis in Micionem oculis.</p> + +<p><a name="foot97"></a>97. Ad <i>Eun.</i> 1055.</p> + +<p><a name="foot98"></a>98. Ad <i>And.</i> 633, <i>Eun.</i> 233, 451, <i>Hec.</i> 63, <i>Ad.</i> +259.</p> + +<p><a name="foot99"></a>99. Ad <i>Phor.</i> 145.</p> + +<p><a name="foot100"></a>100. Ad <i>Ad.</i> 200.</p> + +<p><a name="foot101"></a>101. Ad <i>Eun.</i> 187.</p> + +<p><a name="foot102"></a>102. VII. 2.8-10.</p> + +<p><a name="foot103"></a>103. Cf. Diom. 291, 23 ff., K; Ribbeck, <i>Rom. Trag.</i> p. 634, +believes that this was the rule, but he is apparently alone in the +opinion. Cf. Budensteiner in Bursian's <i>Jahresbericht</i> CVI, p. 162 +ff., who agrees with the proof of van Eck, <i>Quaest. Sten. Rom.</i> +(Amsterdam 1892), that it was an isolated intance.</p> + +<p><a name="foot104"></a>104. We are not even remotely concerned with metrical analysis. For that +phase, with a discussion as to the effect of the various metrical systems, +see Klotz, <i>Grundzuge der altromischen Metrik</i>, esp. p. 370 ff. Cf. +Duff, <i>A Lit. Hist. of Rome</i>, p. 196. Note Donat, <i>de Com.</i> +VIII. 9 and Diom. 491, 23K.</p> + +<p><a name="foot105"></a>105. For arguments as to the divisions of the three classes, v., besides +Klotz, Ritschl, <i>Parerga</i>, p. 40; Conradt, <i>Die metrische +Komposition der Komodien des Terenz</i> (Berlin 1876); Bucheler in <i>Neue +Jahr. fur Phil.</i> CXLI (1871), p. 273 ff.; Dziatzko in <i>Rhein. +Mus.</i> XXVI (1871), pp. 97-100: G. Hermann, <i>de Canticis in Romanorum +Fabulis, Opusc.</i> I. 290; which have all been landmarks in the +discussion. Cf. also Teuffel, <i>Rom. Lit.</i>, § 16. Sec. 5, etc.</p> + +<p><a name="foot106"></a>106. Cf. Cic. <i>de Or.</i> II.46.193.</p> + +<p><a name="foot107"></a>107. Cf. <i>As.</i> 265, 587, 640, 403, <i>Bac.</i> 611, <i>Cap.</i> 637, +<i>Cas.</i> 845 ff., <i>Cis.</i> 53 ff., <i>Cur.</i> 278, 309, 311, +<i>Ep.</i> 623 ff., <i>Men.</i> 828 f., 910, <i>Mer.</i> 599 f., +<i>Mil.</i> 200 ff. (quoted infra, Part II), 798-9 (Palaestrio must shout +at Periplecomenus to provoke such a reply), <i>Most.</i> 265 ff., 594, +<i>Per.</i> 307 f., <i>Ps.</i> 911, 1287, <i>St.</i> 271, 288 f., +<i>Trin.</i> 1099, <i>Truc.</i> 276, 476 ff., 549, 593 f., 599 ff., 822. +Cf. also Ter. <i>Phor.</i> 210-11 and Moliere's imitation in <i>Les +Fourberies de Scapin</i>, l. 4.</p> + +<p><a name="foot108"></a>108. Cf. Sittl, <i>Gebarden</i>, p. 201 and Warnecke's citations from the +Scholiast to Aristophanes in <i>Neue Jahr.</i> 1910, p. 592.</p> + +<p><a name="foot109"></a>109. <i>Daos</i>, p. 617.</p> + +<p><a name="foot110"></a>110. A.J.P. VIII. 15 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot111"></a>111. Cf. <i>As.</i> 554 ff., <i>Bac.</i> 710 ff., <i>Cap.</i> 159 ff. +<i>Cur.</i> 572 ff., <i>Ep.</i> 437 ff., <i>Men.</i> 1342., <i>Per.</i> +753 ff., <i>Ps.</i> 761 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 718 ff., etc.</p> + +<p><a name="foot112"></a>112. For further examples of bombast and mock-heroics v. <i>As.</i> +405-6, <i>Bac.</i> 792 f., 842 ff., <i>Cis.</i> 640 ff., <i>Cur.</i> 96 +ff. 439 ff., <i>Ep.</i> 181 ff. (in similar vein most of the soliloquies +of the name part), <i>Her.</i> 469 ff., 601 ff., 830 ff., <i>Mil.</i> 459 +ff., 486 ff., 947 ff., <i>Per.</i> 251 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 470 ff., 1294 +ff., <i>Ps.</i> 1063 f., <i>Truce.</i> 482 ff., 602 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot113"></a>113. V. <i>Amph.</i> 370 ff., <i>As.</i> 431, <i>Cas.</i> 404 ff., +<i>Cur.</i> 192 ff., 624 ff., <i>Mil.</i> 1394 ff., <i>Mos.</i> i ff., +<i>Per.</i> 809 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 382 ff., <i>Rud.</i> 706 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot114"></a>114. V. Frag. IV, G. & S., ap. Non. p. 543.</p> + +<p><a name="foot115"></a>115. Cf. <i>Bac.</i> 581 ff., 1119, <i>Cap.</i> 830 ff., <i>Most.</i> 898 +ff., <i>Rud.</i> 414, <i>St.</i> 308 ff., <i>Truc.</i> 254 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot116"></a>116. Cf. also <i>Bac.</i> 925 ff., <i>Per.</i> 251 ff., <i>Men.</i> 409 +ff. (v. supra, Part I, § I, s.v. <i>Festus, Brix</i>). On <i>Bac.</i> 933, +v. Ribbeck, <i>Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta</i>, on Enn., frag. +<i>Androm.</i> 81; Kiessling, <i>Analecta Plautina</i>, I. 14 f.; +Ostermayer, <i>De historia fabulari in comoediis Plautinis</i>, p. 9. On +<i>Men.</i> 808 ff., v. Kiessling, II. 9.</p> + +<p><a name="foot117"></a>117. Cf. further <i>As.</i> 606 ff., <i>Cur.</i> 147 ff., <i>Most.</i> +233 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 275 ff. and passim, <i>Truc.</i> 434 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot118"></a>118. Cf. <i>Ep.</i> 580 ff. Cf. also "bombast," supra A. 1, and "copious +abuse" infra, A. 3. c. Cf. also wall-painting labeled "Der erzurnte +Hausherr," in Baumeister, <i>Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums</i>, s. +v. <i>Lustspiel</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="foot119"></a>119. Cf. <i>Mil.</i> 596 ff., <i>Most.</i> 454 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 517 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot120"></a>120. Cf. <i>Mer.</i> 748 ff., <i>Men.</i> 607 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot121"></a>121. Cf. further <i>Most.</i> 265 ff., 456 ff. and note Donat. ad +<i>Phor.</i> 210-11: hic locus magis actoris quam lectoris est.</p> + +<p><a name="foot122"></a>122. Cf. <i>Most.</i> 38 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 1309 ff. Cf. also "Lavishing +of terms of endearment," supra, A. 3. c.</p> + +<p><a name="foot123"></a>123. Cf. also <i>Poen.</i> 426 ff., <i>Rud.</i> 938 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot124"></a>124. Cf. similarly <i>Cap.</i> 121 ff., 177 ff., <i>Cas.</i> 725 ff., +<i>Most.</i> 909, 999 f. Cf. infra II. B.5. + +<a name="foot125"></a>125. <i>Plaut. Stud.</i> pp. 121 f. Cf. pp. 101, 137 f., 158 f., 217, 229 +f.</p> + +<p><a name="foot126"></a>126. <i>Die Kom. des Pl.</i>, pp. 70-71.</p> + +<p><a name="foot127"></a>127. <i>Daos</i>, p. 430-1.</p> + +<p><a name="foot128"></a>128. Prol. <i>Haut.</i> 32-40, Prol. <i>Eun.</i> 35-40. Cf. Eugraphius ad +<i>Haut.</i> 31: quid tale hic est, cum servus currit, cum populus +discedit, quod domino insano oboediat servus? Cf. also ad <i>Haut.</i> 37; +Donatus ad <i>Phor.</i> 1.4.</p> + +<p><a name="foot129"></a>129. <i>And.</i> 338 ff., <i>Phor.</i> 179 ff., 841 ff., <i>Ad.</i> 299 +ff. Weissman agrees with Donat. that in the last passage humor is not the +object. Cf. <i>ancilla currens</i> in <i>Eun.</i> 643 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot130"></a>130. Cf. <i>servi currentes</i> supra. Cf. also <i>Aul.</i> 811 ff., +<i>Ep.</i> 195 ff., <i>Mer.</i> 865 ff., <i>Ps.</i> 243 ff., <i>St.</i> +330 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 1068 ff., <i>Truc.</i> 115 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot131"></a>131. For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. +<i>Bac.</i> 534, <i>Ep.</i> 526 ff., <i>Rud.</i> 331 ff., et al. Cf. +Weise, op. cit., p. 72 f.</p> + +<p><a name="foot132"></a>132. Further comments infra II. B. 3.</p> + +<p><a name="foot133"></a>133. Cf. <i>As.</i> 403, and passim.</p> + +<p><a name="foot134"></a>134. Cf. <i>As.</i> 447, <i>Cur.</i> 111, <i>Men.</i> 125, 478 f., 909, +<i>Mer.</i> 364, 379, <i>Mil.</i> 275, <i>Most.</i> 548, <i>Per.</i> 99, +<i>Poen.</i> 840, <i>Ps.</i> 445, 615, 908, <i>Rud.</i> 97, <i>St.</i> 88, +<i>Trin.</i> 45, 567, <i>Truc.</i> 499, etc.</p> + +<p><a name="foot135"></a>135. <i>Daos, p. 431 ff.</i> See Dieterich, <i>Pulcinella, PI. II</i>. +Note esp. <i>As. 851 ff.</i></p> + +<p><a name="foot136"></a>136. Cf. <i>Per. 81 ff., 599 ff., Poen. 210 ff., et al.</i></p> + +<p><a name="foot137"></a>137. V. <i>Amph.</i> 952-3, <i>As.</i> 118 ff., 243 ff., <i>Aul.</i> 67 +ff., 667 ff., 701 ff., <i>Bac.</i> 170 ff., 349 ff., 573 ff., 761 ff., +<i>Cas.</i> 504 ff., <i>Cis.</i> 120 ff., <i>Cur.</i> 216 ff., 591 ff., +<i>Mer.</i> 544 ff., 588 ff., <i>Mil.</i> 464 ff., <i>Most.</i> 931 ff., +1041 ff., <i>Rud.</i> 1191 ff., <i>St.</i> 674 ff., et al.</p> + +<p><a name="foot138"></a>138. V. Cas. 424 ff., 759 ff., <i>Ep.</i> 81 ff., <i>Men.</i> 1039 ff., +<i>Ps.</i> 1017 ff., 1052 ff., 1102 ff., <i>Rud.</i> 892 ff., 1281 ff., +<i>St.</i> 641 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 199 ff., 1115 ff., <i>Truc.</i> 322 ff., +335 ff., 645 ff., 699 ff.</p> + +<p>Cf. the treatment of Le Grand, <i>Daos</i>, p. 412 ff., where he has an +analysis from a different point of view. The soliloquy and aside are +evidently not so frequent in New Comedy.</p> + +<p><a name="foot139"></a>139. <i>Daos</i> p. 379. Cf. p. 550.</p> + +<p><a name="foot140"></a>140. <i>Aul.</i> 587 ff., <i>Men.</i> 966 ff. Cf. <i>Most.</i> 858 ff. +and <i>As.</i> 545 ff., a duologue in <i>canticum</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="foot141"></a>141. <i>Bac.</i> 640 ff. Cf. <i>Ps.</i> 767 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot142"></a>142. <i>Cap.</i> 461 ff., Cf. <i>Per.</i> 53 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot143"></a>143. <i>Men.</i> 77 ff., 446 ff., <i>St.</i> 155 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot144"></a>144. <i>Cur.</i> 371 ff., (Cf. 494 ff.), <i>Men.</i> 571 ff., +<i>Poen.</i> 823 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot145"></a>145. <i>Ep.</i> 225 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot146"></a>146. <i>Cas.</i> 217 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 223 ff. (Cf. 660 ff.)</p> + +<p><a name="foot147"></a>147. <i>Men.</i> 753 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot148"></a>148. <i>Aul.</i> 475 ff. (496-536 branded as spurious by Weise, op. cit., +pp. 42-44).</p> + +<p><a name="foot149"></a>149. <i>Mer.</i> 817 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot150"></a>150. <i>Poen.</i> 210 ff. (though not a solo), <i>Truc.</i> 22 ff., 210 +ff., 551 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot151"></a>151. <i>Ps.</i> 790 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot152"></a>152. <i>Truc.</i> 482 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot153"></a>153. <i>Mer.</i> 825 ff., <i>Rud.</i> 593 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot154"></a>154. <i>Mosl.</i> 85 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot155"></a>155. <i>Ps.</i> 1246 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot156"></a>156. <i>St.</i> 683 to end.</p> + +<p><a name="foot157"></a>157. <i>Ps.</i> 133 ff. For further passages of the episodical type, cf. +<i>Bac.</i> 925 ff. (v. supra under "bombast," I. A. 1), <i>Poen.</i> 449 +ff., <i>Rud.</i> 906 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 820 ff. (v. supra under +"burlesque," I. A. 3).</p> + +<p><a name="foot158"></a>158. Cf. further <i>Amph.</i> 463, 998, <i>Bac.</i> 1072, <i>Cap.</i> 69 +ff., <i>Cas.</i> 879, <i>Cis.</i> 146, 678, <i>Men.</i> 880, <i>Mer.</i> +313, <i>Mil.</i> 862, <i>Most.</i> 280, 354, 708 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 921 f., +<i>Ps.</i> 124, <i>St.</i> 224,446, 674 ff., <i>Truc.</i> 109 ff., 463 +ff., 965 ff. Cf. infra II. B. 5.</p> + +<p><a name="foot159"></a>159. In Donat. ed. Wessner.</p> + +<p><a name="foot160"></a>160. V. <i>As., Bac., Cap., Cis., Cur., Ep., Men., Mer., Most., Per., +Rod., St.</i> Cf. <i>Cas.</i> 1013 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 1370 f.</p> + +<p><a name="foot161"></a>161. V. <i>Bac.</i> 235-367, <i>Cap.</i> 835-99, <i>Cis.</i> 203 ff., +540-630, 705 ff., <i>Cur.</i> 251-73 and passim (this play is full of +bandying of quips), <i>Ep.</i> 1 ff., <i>Men.</i> 137-81, 602-67, +<i>Mer.</i> 474 ff., 708 ff., 866 ff., <i>Most.</i> 633 ff., 717 ff., 885 +ff., <i>Per.</i> 1 ff., 201 ff., <i>Poen.</i> 210 ff., <i>Ps.</i> 653 ff. +and passim, <i>Rud.</i> 485 ff. (the jokes here are unusually good), 780 +ff., <i>St.</i> 579 ff., <i>Trin.</i> 39 ff., 843 ff., <i>Truc.</i> 95 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot162"></a>162. Cf. Sosia im <i>Amph.</i> (esp. 659 ff.), Libanus in <i>As.</i> 1 +ff., Palinurus in <i>Cur.</i>, Acanthio in <i>Mer.</i> (esp. 137 ff.), +Milphio in <i>Poen.</i>, Sceparnio in <i>Rud.</i> (esp. 104 ff.) and +Trachalio, Pinacium in <i>St.</i> (esp. 331 ff.), Stasimus in <i>Trin.</i></p> + +<p><a name="foot163"></a>163. <i>St.</i> 446 ff., Prol. <i>Cas.</i> 67 ff. For an exhaustive +discussion of the 'truth to life' of the characters, v. LeGrand, +<i>Daos</i>, Part I, Chap. V.</p> + +<p><a name="foot164"></a>164. V. esp. 96 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot165"></a>165. 603 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot166"></a>166. Pyrgopolinices in <i>Mil.</i>, Therapontigonus in <i>Cur.</i>, the +<i>miles</i> in <i>Ep.</i>, Anthemonides in <i>Poen.</i> Stratophanes in +<i>Truc</i>, is not so violent.</p> + +<p><a name="foot167"></a>167. Cappadox in <i>Cur.</i>, Dordalus in <i>Per.</i>, Lycus in +<i>Poen.</i>, Labrax in <i>Rud.</i> Similarly the <i>lenae</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="foot168"></a>168. Introd. to ed. of <i>Ps.</i></p> + +<p><a name="foot169"></a>169. 355. Cf. 360 ff., 974 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot170"></a>170. <i>Hist. de la lit. lat.</i> Bk. II, Ch. III., Sec. 4. p. 307.</p> + +<p><a name="foot171"></a>171. <i>Plaut. Stud.</i>, p. 105.</p> + +<p><a name="foot172"></a>172. <i>Daos</i>, pp. 557 f. Cf. 218 f.</p> + +<p><a name="foot173"></a>173. Introd. to <i>Ps.</i> Cf. <i>Daos</i>, p. 452 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot174"></a>174. E.g., <i>Amph.</i> 957, <i>Bac.</i> 844, <i>Cas.</i> 308, +<i>Men.</i> 898, <i>Mil.</i> 1137, 1188, <i>Per.</i> 301, 543, +<i>Poen.</i> 576, <i>Rud.</i> 1209, <i>St.</i> 400-1, <i>Trin.</i> 482.</p> + +<p><a name="foot175"></a>175. Part II, Sec. I. B. 2.</p> + +<p><a name="foot176"></a>176. P. 157.</p> + +<p><a name="foot177"></a>177. Cf. <i>Daos</i>, p. 60.</p> + +<p><a name="foot178"></a>178. Cf. in general the conclusions of LeGrand, <i>Daos</i>, p. 550, and +his admirable analysis (Part II) of "La structure des comedies." He has +recognized the existence of a number of the characteristics treated above, +but his discussion is in different vein and with a different object in +view.</p> + +<p><a name="foot179"></a>179. <i>Cap.</i> 489, <i>Cur.</i> 483.</p> + +<p><a name="foot180"></a>180. <i>Cur.</i> 269, et al.</p> + +<p><a name="foot181"></a>181. <i>Mil.</i> 991.</p> + +<p><a name="foot182"></a>182. <i>Ps.</i> 416, et al.</p> + +<p><a name="foot183"></a>183. <i>Ps.</i> 1232.</p> + +<p><a name="foot184"></a>184. <i>Ps.</i> 748. For a fairly complete collection, v. LeGrand, +<i>Daos</i>, p. 44 ff. Cf. Middleton and Mills, <i>Students' Companion to +Latin Authors</i>, p. 20 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot185"></a>185. Cf. West in A.J.P. VIII. 15. Cf. note 1, Part II, supra.</p> + +<p><a name="foot186"></a>186. Cf. <i>Amph.</i> 861 ff., <i>As.</i> 174 f., <i>Cap.</i> 778, +<i>Cur.</i> 464, <i>Her.</i> 160, <i>Poen.</i> 1224.</p> + +<p><a name="foot187"></a>187. Cf. <i>Daos</i>, Part I, Chap. III: Les personnages, and p. 303 ff.; +Mommsen, <i>Hist.</i> pp. 141 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot188"></a>188. Prol, 53 ff.</p> + +<p><a name="foot189"></a>189. For a discussion of the relation of Plautus to his originals, v. +Schuster, <i>Quomodo Plautus Attica exemplaria transtulerit</i>; LeGrand, +<i>Daos</i>, passim; Ostermayer, <i>de hist. fab. in com. Pl.</i>; +Ritschl, <i>Par.</i> 271, etc. The efforts to distinguish Plautus from his +models have so far been fragmentary and abortive and will not advance +appreciably until a complete play that he adapted has been found. At any +rate, the discussion has no real bearing on our subject, since we can +consider only the plays as actually transmitted; their sources cannot +affect our argument. The comparisons in <i>Daos</i> seem to indicate that +Plautus did not debase his originals so much as Mommsen, Körting, Schlegel +and others had thought. Even in 1881, Kiessling (<i>Anal. Plaut.</i> II. +9) boldly expresses the opinion: "Atque omnino Plautus multo pressius +Atticorum exemplarium vestigia secutus est quam hodie vulgo arbitrantur". +Cf. Kellogg in PAPA. XLIV (1913).</p> + +<p><a name="foot190"></a>190. Euanthius, <i>de Com.</i> IV. 4.</p> + +<p><a name="foot191"></a>191. For an interesting comparison of Plautus and Terence, v. Spengel, +<i>Über die lateinische Komödie</i>, (Munich 1878).</p> + +<p><a name="foot192"></a>192. The importance of the music is indicated by the transmission of the +composer's name in all extant <i>didascaliae</i>, esp. those of Terence. +V. Klotz, <i>Altröm. Met.</i> p. 384 ff.</p> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by +Wilton Wallace Blancke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + +***** This file should be named 9970-h.htm or 9970-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/7/9970/ + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +Author: William Wallace Blancke + +Posting Date: December 7, 2011 [EBook #9970] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: November 5, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + +University of Pennsylvania + +The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +By + +Wilton Wallace BlanckA(C), A.M., Ph.D. +Professor of Latin in the Central High School of Philadelphia + +A Thesis + +Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial fulfillment +of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy + +1918 + + + + +Foreword + + + +This dissertation was written in 1916, before the entrance of the United +States into The War, and was presented to the Faculty of the University of +Pennsylvania as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its +publication at this time needs no apology, for it will find its only +public in the circumscribed circle of professional scholars. They at least +will understand that scholarship knows no nationality. But in the fear +that this may fall under the eye of that larger public, whose interests +are, properly enough, not scholastic, a word of explanation may prove a +safeguard. + +The Germans have long been recognized as the hewers of wood and drawers of +water of the intellectual world. For the results of the drudgery of minute +research and laborious compilation, the scholar must perforce seek German +sources. The copious citation of German authorities in this work is, then, +the outcome of that necessity. I have, however, given due credit to German +criticism, when it is sound. The French are, generically, vastly superior +in the art of finely balanced critical estimation. + +My sincere thanks are due in particular to the Harrison Foundation of the +University for the many advantages I have received therefrom, to +Professors John C. Rolfe and Walton B. McDaniel, who have been both +teachers and friends to me, and to my good comrades and colleagues, +Francis H. Lee and Horace T. Boileau, for their aid in editing this essay. + +Wilton Wallace BlanckA(C). +1918. + + + + +Part 1 + +A RA(C)sumA(C) of the Criticism and of the Evidence Relating to the Acting +of Plautus + + + + +Introduction + + + +This investigation was prompted by the abiding conviction that Plautus as +a dramatic artist has been from time immemorial misunderstood. In his +progress through the ages he has been like a merry clown rollicking +amongst people with a hearty invitation to laughter, and has been rewarded +by commendation for his services to morality and condemnation for his +buffoonery. The majority of Plautine critics have evinced too serious an +attitude of mind in dealing with a comic poet. However portentous and +profound his scholarship, no one deficient in a sense of humor should +venture to approach a comic poet in a spirit of criticism. For criticism +means appreciation. + +Furthermore, the various estimates of our poet's worth have been as +diversified as they have been in the main unfair. Alternately lauded as a +master dramatic craftsman and vilified as a scurrilous purveyor of +unsavory humor, he has been buffeted from the top to the bottom of the +dramatic scale. More recent writers have been approaching a saner +evaluation of his true worth, but never, we believe, has his real position +in that dramatic scale been definitely and finally fixed; because +heretofore no attempt has been made at a complete analysis of his +dramatic, particularly his comic, methods. It is the aim of the present +dissertation to accomplish this. + +I doubt not that from the inception of our acquaintance with the pages of +Plautus we have all passed through a similar experience. In the beginning +we have been vastly diverted by the quips and cranks and merry wiles of +the knavish slave, the plaints of love-lorn youth, the impotent rage of +the baffled pander, the fruitless growlings of the hungry parasite's +belly. We have been amused, perhaps astonished, on further reading, at +meeting our new-found friends in other plays, clothed in different names +to be sure and supplied in part with a fresh stock of jests, but still +engaged in the frustration of villainous panders, the cheating of harsh +fathers, until all ends with virtue triumphant in the establishment of the +undoubted respectability of a hitherto somewhat dubious female +character.[1] + +Our astonishment waxes as we observe further the close correspondence of +dialogue, situation and dramatic machinery. We are bewildered by the +innumerable asides of hidden eavesdroppers, the inevitable recurrence of +soliloquy and speech familiarly directed at the audience, while every once +in so often a slave, desperately bent on finding someone actually under +his nose, careens wildly cross the stage or rouses the echoes by +unmerciful battering of doors, meanwhile unburdening himself of lengthy +solo tirades with great gusto;[2] and all this dished up with a sauce of +humor often too racy and piquant for our delicate twentieth-century +palate, which has acquired a refined taste for suggestive innuendo, but +never relishes calling a spade by its own name. + +If we have sought an explanation of our poet's gentle foibles in the +commentaries to our college texts, we have assuredly been disappointed. +Even to the seminarian in Plautus little satisfaction has been vouchsafed. +We are often greeted by the enthusiastic comments of German critics, which +run riot in elaborate analyses of plot and character and inform us that we +are reading _Meisterwerke_ of comic drama.[3] Our perplexity has perhaps +become focused upon two leading questions; first: "What manner of drama is +this after all? Is it comedy, farce, opera bouffe or mere extravaganza?" +Second: "How was it done? What was the technique of acting employed to +represent in particular the peculiarly extravagant scenes?"[4] + +There is an interesting contrast between the published editions of Plautus +and Bernard Shaw. Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate +network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of +the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find +nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such +editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken +lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at +least does not lie on the surface of the text. + +For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are +necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a rA(C)sumA(C) of the +evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a +consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and +stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the +plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We +hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading +questions. + + + +ASec.1. Critics of Plautus + + +Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things, +time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from +a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the +rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of +denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation. + +Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously. +Stylistically he was translated to the skies. [Sidenote: Cicero] Cicero[5] +imputes to him "iocandi genus, ... elegans, urbanum, ingeniosum, facetum." +[Sidenote: Aelius Stilo] Quintilian[6] quotes: "Licet Varro Musas Aelii +Stilonis sententia Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si latine +loqui vellent." [Sidenote: Gellius] The paean is further swelled by +Gellius, who variously refers to our hero as "homo linguae atque +elegantiae in verbis Latinae princeps,"[7] and "verborum Latinorum +elegantissimus,"[8] and "linguae Latinae decus."[9] [Sidenote: Horace] If +our poet is scored by Horace[10] it is probably due rather to Horace's +affectation of contempt for the early poets than to his true convictions; +or we may ascribe it to the sophisticated metricist's failure to realize +the existence of a "Metrica Musa Pedestris." As Duff says (_A Literary +History of Rome_, p. 197), "The scansion of Plautus was less understood in +Cicero's day than that of Chaucer was in Johnson's." (Cf. Cic. _Or._ 55. +184.) + +[Sidenote: Euanthius] We have somewhat of a reaction, too, against the +earlier chorus of praise in the commentary of Euanthius,[11] who condemns +Plautus' persistent use of direct address of the audience. If it is true, +as Donatus[12] says later: "Comoediam esse Cicero ait imitationem vitae, +speculum consuetudinis, imaginem veritatis," we find it hard to understand +Cicero's enthusiatic praise of Plautus, as we hope to show that he is very +far from measuring up to any such comic ideal as that laid down by Cicero +himself. + +But of course these ancient critiques have no appreciable bearing on our +argument and we cite them rather for historical interest and +retrospect.[13] [Sidenote: Festus] [Sidenote: Brix] While Festus[14] makes +a painful effort to explain the location of the mythical "Portus Persicus" +mentioned in the _Amph._,[15] Brix[16] in modern times shows that there is +no historical ground for the elaborate mythical genealogy in _Men._ 409 +ff. We contend that "Portus Persicus" is pure fiction, as our novelists +refer fondly to "Zenda" or "Graustark," while the _Men._ passage is a +patent burlesque of the tragic style.[17] + +[Sidenote: Becker] On the threshold of what we may term modern criticism +of Plautus we find W.A. Becker, in 1837, writing a book: "De Comicis +Romanorum Fabulis Maxime Plautinis Quaestiones." Herein, after deploring +the neglect of Plautine criticism among his immediate predecessors and +contemporaries, he attempts to prove that Plautus was a great "original" +poet and dramatic artist. Surely no one today can be in sympathy with such +a sentiment as the following (Becker, p. 95): "Et Trinummum, quae ita +amabilibus lepidisque personis optimisque exemplis abundat, ut quoties eam +lego, non comici me poetae, sed philosophi Socratici opus legere mihi +videar." I believe we may safely call the _Trinummus_ the least Plautine +of Plautine plays, except the _Captivi_, and it is by no means so good a +work. The _Trinummus_ is crowded with interminable padded dialogue, +tiresome moral preachments, and possesses a weakly motivated plot; a +veritable "Sunday-school play." + +But Becker continues: "Sive enim <Plautus> seria agit et praecepta pleno +effundit penu, ad quae componere vitarn oporteat; in sententiis quanta +gravitas, orationis quanta vis, quam probe et meditate cum hominum ingenia +moresque novisse omnia testantur." We feel sure that our Umbrian fun-maker +would strut in public and laugh in private, could he hear such an encomium +of his lofty moral aims. For it is our ultimate purpose to prove that +fun-maker Plautus was primarily and well-nigh exclusively a fun-maker. + +[Sidenote: Weise] K. H. Weise, in "Die Komodien des Plautus, kritisch nach +Inhalt und Form beleuchtet, zur Bestimmung des Echten und Unechten in den +einzelnen Dichtungen" (Quedlinburg, 1866), follows hard on Becker's heels +and places Plautus on a pinnacle of poetic achievement in which we +scarcely recognize our apotheosized laugh-maker. Every passage in the +plays that is not artistically immaculate, that does not conform to the +uttermost canons of dramatic art, is unequivocally damned as "unecht." In +his Introduction (p. 4) Weise is truly eloquent in painting the times and +significance of our poet. With momentary insight he says: "Man hat an ihm +eine immer frische und nie versiegende Fundgrabe des Achten Volkswitzes." +But this is soon marred by utterances such as (p. 14): "FAnde sich also in +der Zahl der Plautinischen Komodien eine Partie, die mit einer andern in +diesen Hinsichten in bedeutendem Grade contrastirte, so konnte man sicher +schliessen, dass beide nicht von demselben Verfasser sein kAnnten." He +demands from Plautus, as _ein wahrer Poet_, "Congruenz, und richtige +innere Logik <und> harmonische Construction" (p. 12), and finally declares +(p. 22): "Interesse, Character, logischer Bau in der Zusammensetzung, +Naturlichkeit der Sprache und des Witzes, Rythmus und antikes Idiom des +Ausdrucks werden die Kriterien sein mussen, nach dem wir uber die +Vortrefflichkeit und PlautinitAt plautinischer StA1/4cke zu entscheiden +haben." + +On this basis he ruthlessly carves out and discards as "unecht" every +passage that fails to conform to his amazing and extravagant ideals, in +the belief that "der Achte Meister Plautus konnte nur Harmonisches, nur +Vernunftiges, nur Logisches, nur relativ Richtiges dichten" (p. 79), +though even Homer nods. The _Mercator_ is banned _in toto_. To be sure, +Weise somewhat redeems himself by the statement (p. 29 f.): "Plautus +bezweckte ... lediglich nur die eigentliche und wirksamste Belustigung des +Publicums." But how he reconciles this with his previously quoted +convictions and with the declaration (p. 16): "Plautus ist ein sehr +religioser, sehr moralischer Schriftsteller," it is impossible to grasp, +until we recall that the author is a German. + +[Sidenote: Langen] Such criticism stultifies itself and needs no +refutation; certainly not here, as P. Langen in his _Plautinische Studien_ +(_Berliner Studien_, 1886; pp. 90-91) has conclusively proved that the +inconsistent is a feature absolutely germane to Plautine style, and has +collected an overwhelming mass of "Widerspruche, Inkonsequenzen und +psychologische Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" that would question the +"Plautinity" of every other line, were we to follow Weise's precepts. +Langen too uses the knife, but with a certain judicious restraint. + +We insist that the attempt to explain away every inconsistency as spurious +is a sorry refuge. + +[Sidenote: Langrehr] Langrehr in _Miscellanea Philologica_ (Gottingen, +1876), under the caption _Plautina_[18] gives vent to further solemn +Teutonic carpings at the plot of the _Epidicus_ and argues the play a +_contaminatio_ on the basis of the double intrigue. He is much exercised +too over the mysterious episode of 'the disappearing flute-girl.' + +Langen, who is in the main remarkably sane, refutes these conclusions +neatly.[19] How Weise and his confrA"res argue Plautus such a super-poet, +in view of the life and education of the public to whom he catered, let +alone the evidence of the plays themselves, and their author's status as +mere translator and adapter, must remain an insoluble mystery. The simple +truth is that a playwright such as Plautus, having undertaken to feed a +populace hungry for amusement, ground out plays (doubtless for a +living),[20] with a wholesome disregard for niceties of composition, +provided only he obtained his _sine qua non_--the laugh.[21] + +[Sidenote: Lessing] In our citation of opinions we must not overlook that +impressive mile-stone in the history of criticism, the discredited but +still great Lessing. In his "Abhandlung von dem Leben und den Werken des +M. Accius Plautus" Lessing deprecates the harsh judgment of Horace and +later detractors of our poet in modern times. Lessing idealizes him as the +matchless comic poet. That the _Captivi_ is "das vortrefflichste StA1/4ck, +welches jemals auf den Schauplatz gekommen ist," as Lessing declares in +the Preface to his translation of the play, is an utterance that leaves us +gasping. + +[Sidenote: Dacier] But Lessing's idea of the purpose of comedy is a +combination of Aristotelian and mid-Victorian ideals: "die Sitten der +Zuschauer zu bilden und zu bessern, ... wenn sie nAmlich das Laster +allezeit unglA1/4cklich und die Tugend am Ende glA1/4cklich sein lAsst."[22] It +is on the basis of this premise that he awards the comic crown to the +_Cap._[23] His extravagant encomium called forth from a contemporary a +long controversial letter which Lessing published in the second edition +with a reply so feeble that he distinctly leaves his adversary the honors +of the field. How much better the diagnosis of Madame Dacier, who is +quoted by Lessing! In the introduction to her translations of the +_Amphitruo_, _Rudens_ and _Epidicus_ (issued in 1683), she apologizes for +Plautus on the ground that he had to win approval for his comedies from an +audience used to the ribaldry of the _Saturae_. + +[Sidenote: Lorenz] Lorenz in his introductions to editions of the _Most._ +and _Pseud._ is another who seems to be carried away by the unrestrained +enthusiasm that often affects scholars oversteeped in the lore of their +author. Faults are dismissed as merely "Kleine Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" +(Introd. _Ps._, p. 26, N. 25.) "Jeder Leser," says he, "<wird gewiss> +darin beistimmen, dass ... der erste Act <des _Pseudolus_> eine so +gelungene Exposition darbietet, wie sie die dramatische Poesie nur +aufweisen kann." Such a statement must fall, by weight of exaggeration. In +appreciation of the portrayal of the name-part he continues: "Mit welch' +A1/4berwAltigender Herrschaft tritt hier gleich die meisterhaft geschilderte +Hauptperson hervor! Welche packende Kraft, welche hinreissende _verve_ +liegt in dem reichen Dialoge, der wie beseelt von der feurigen Energie des +begabten Menschen, der ihn lenkt, frAhlich rauschend dahin eilt, +A1/4bersprudelnd von einer Fulle erheiternder Scherze und schillernder +Spielereien!" + +In curious contrast to this fulsome outpouring stands the expressed belief +of Lamarre[24] that the character of Ballio overshadows that of Pseudolus. +In support of this view he cites Cicero (_Pro Ros. Com._ 7.20), who +mentions that Roscius chose to play Ballio. + +Lorenz in his enthusiasm exalts the _Epid._ to an ideal of comic +excellence (Introd. _Ps._ p. 27). He even goes so far as to contend that +Plautus lives up to the following characterization:[25] "Nicht blos durch +naturgetreue and lebhafte Charakterschilderungen und durch eine komisch +gehaltene, aber die Grenzen des Wahrscheinlichen und des GraziAsen nicht +A1/4berschreitende Zeichnung des tAglichen Lebens soll der Dichter des +Lustspiels seine Zuschauer interessiren und ihr heiteres GelAchter +hervorrufen, sondern auch so reiche Anwendung zu geben, durch die es in +den Dienst einer sittlichen Idee tritt, und so gleichsam die moralische +AtmosphAre ... zu reinigen." + +Such emotional superlatives merely create in the reader a cachinnatory +revulsion. Yes, Plautus was great, but he was great in a far different +way. He approached the Rabelaisian. It is doubtful if "die Grenzen des +GraziAsen" lay within his purview at all. + +[Sidenote: Lamarre] The treatment of Lamarre cited above contains[26] a +highly meritorious analysis of the Plautine characters, discussed largely +as a reflection of the times and people, both of New Comedy and of +Plautus, without imputing to our poet too serious motives of subtle +portrayal. But he too ascribes to Plautus a latent moral purpose: "En +faisant rire, il veut corriger"![27] + +[Sidenote: Naudet] This sounds ominously like an echo from Naudet[28] who, +in the course of lauding Plautus' infinite invention and variety of +embroidery, would translate him into a zealous social reformer by saying: +"L'auteur se proposait de faire beaucoup rire les spectateurs, mais il +voulait aussi qu'ils se corrigeassent en riant." All this is +disappointing. We should have expected Gallic esprit to rise superior to +such banality. + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed +by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled _Daos Tableau de la comedie +grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle_ (Annales de l'UniversitA(C) de +Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques +et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au +point de vue moral, la I1/2I-I+- dut Atre inoffensive (en son temps)." This is +the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis of the +extant remains of New Comedy and _Palliatae_. + +Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status +of a petty moralizer[29]. In particular, he lauds the _Aul_ unreservedly +as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of character delineation and pronounces it +immeasurably superior to MoliA"re's imitation, "L'Avare."[30] This whole +critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing +to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.[31] + +[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very +point in remarking[32] that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in +the _Cas_[33] implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic +worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and +remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen +still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the _Miles_[34]: +"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der +Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf +man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen. +Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack +_eines_ Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat." + +But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of +the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns[35], the +scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that +the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is +supposed to be conveying secret information.[36] If carried out in a +broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing. + +[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his _History_[37], in the course of an +interesting discussion on _palliatae_ and their Greek originals, has a far +saner point of view. He says of the authors of New Comedy, "They wrote not +like Eupolis and Aristophanes for a great nation; but rather for a +cultivated society which spent its time ... in guessing riddles and +playing at charades.... Even in the dim Latin copy, through which we +chiefly know it, the grace of the original is not wholly obliterated. <In +_palliatae_> persons and incidents seem capriciously or carelessly +shuffled as in a game of cards; in the original a picture from life, it +became in the reproduction a caricature." + +Naturally we are not concerned with any consideration of the value of his +estimate of New Comedy. Assuredly he rates it too highly, as later +investigations have indicated.[38] But here for the first time we are able +to quote a well-balanced appreciation of some essential features of +Plautine drama: a "capricious shuffling of incidents" and "caricature." In +fact it will be our endeavor to show that the _palliata_ was not a true +art form, but merely an outer shell or mold into which Plautus poured his +stock of witticisms. + +[Sidenote: Korting] Still more trenchant is the conclusion of Korting in +his _Geschichte des griechischen und rAmischen Theaters_ (P. 218 ff.): +"Die neue attische KomAdie und folglich auch ihr Abklatsch, die romische +Palliata, war nicht ein Lustspiel im hAchsten, im sittlichen Sinne des +Wortes, sondern ein blosses Unterhaltungsdrama. AmA1/4sieren wollten die +KomAdiendichter, nichts weiter. Jedes hAhere Streben lag ihnen fern. Wohl +spickten sie ihre Lustspiele mit moralischen Sentenzen.... Aber die +schAnen Sentenzen sind eben nur Zierat, sind nur Verbramung einer in ihrem +Kerne und Wesen durch und durch unsittlichen Dichtung ... Mit der +Wahrscheinlichkeit der Handlung wird es sehr leicht genommen: die +seltsamsten ZufAlle werden als so ziemlich selbstverstAndliche +MAglichkeiten hingestellt ... Es ginge das noch an, wenn wir in eine +phantastische MArchenwelt gefA1/4hrt werden, in welcher am Ende auch das +Wunderbarste mAglich ist, aber nein! es wird uns zugemutet, A1/4berzeugt zu +sein, dass alles mit natA1/4rlichen Dingen zugehe. + +"Alles in allem genommen, ist an dieser KomAdie, abgesehen von ihrer +formal musterhaften Technik, herzlich wenig zu bewundern.... An +Zweideutigkeiten, ObscAnitAten, Schimpfscenen ist Aoeberfluss vorhanden." + +With admirable clarity of vision, Korting has spied the vital spot and +illuminated it with the word "Unterhaltungsdrama." That amusement was the +sole aim of the comic poets we firmly believe. But if this was so, why +arraign them on the charge of trying to convince us that everything is +happening in a perfectly natural manner? The outer form to be sure is that +of everyday life, but this is no proof that the poets demanded of their +audiences a belief in the verisimilitude of the events depicted. Can we +have no fantastic fairyland without some outlandish accompaniment such as +a chorus garbed as birds or frogs? But we reserve fuller discussion of +this point until later. We might suggest an interesting comparison to the +nonsense verse of W. S. Gilbert, which represents the most shocking ideas +in a style even nonchalantly matter-of-fact. Does Gilbert by any chance +actually wish us to believe that "Gentle Alice Brown," in the poem of the +same name, really assisted in "cutting up a little lad"? + +Korting regains his usual clear-headedness in pronouncing 'that there is +little in the technique of _palliatae_ to excite our admiration.' Again we +insist (to borrow the jargon of the modern dramatic critic) it was but a +"vehicle" for popular amusement. + +[Sidenote: Schlegel] Wilhelm Schlegel, in his _History of the Drama_[39] +has the point of view of the dramatic critic, rather than the professional +scholar; while expressing a measure of admiration for the significance of +Plautus in literature, he is impelled to say: "The bold, coarse style of +Plautus and his famous jokes, savour of his familiarity with the vulgar +... <He> mostly inclines to the farcical, to overwrought and often +disgusting drollery." This is doubtless true, but, by making the +incidental a criterion for the whole, it gives a gross misconception to +one that has not read Plautus. + +[Sidenote: Donaldson] J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek +theatre[40], has plagiarized Schlegel practically _verbatim_, while giving +the scantest credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as being a +mere echo, or compilation of second-hand material. + +We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient comedy that +he enthusiastically superintended the translation and production of plays +of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel[41]: "I once witnessed at Weimar a +representation of the _Adelphi_ of Terence, entirely in ancient costume, +which, under the direction of Goethe, furnished us a truly Attic evening." + +[Sidenote: Scott] In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may +be interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar _par excellence_, +may be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's +_Amphitryon_ he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of +Amphitryon which has _had the honour_ to be deemed worthy of imitation by +MoliA"re and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and +inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that +of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to +which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious +literary technician![42] + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all +is certainly attained by LeGrand in _Daos_.[43] He appreciates clearly +that "la nouvelle comA(C)die n'a pas A(C)tA(C), en toute circonstance stance, une +comA(C)die distinguA(C)e. Elle n'a pas dA(C)daignA(C) constamment la farce et le gros +rire."[44] How much more then would this apply to _palliatae_! + +We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of +criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which +Plautus has been subjected.[45] The ancients overrated him stylistically, +but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz +and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of +Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and +therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that +offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the +_Captivi_. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our +poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit +without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness. +Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his +inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but +Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while +aiming solely at provoking laughter. + +From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the +prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his +conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy +situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's +original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a +grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him +for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any +illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent and consummate +technique? Did he for a single instant imagine himself the inspired +reformer of public morality? Did he believe that his style was elegant and +polished? Indeed, he must have effected an appreciable refinement of the +vernacular of his age to produce his lively verse, but without losing the +robust vitality of "Volkswitz." Or is it true that nothing further than +amusement lay within his scope? + +If so, we may at least posit that almost unbounded license must be allowed +the pen which aims simply to raise a laugh. We do not fulminate against a +treatise on Quaternions because it lacks humor. If the drawings of +cartoonists are anatomically incorrect, we are smilingly indulgent. Do we +condemn a vaudeville skit for not conforming to the Aristotelian code of +dramatic technique? Assuredly we do not rise in disgust from a musical +comedy because "in real life" a bevy of shapely maidens in scant attire +never goes tripping and singing blithely though the streets. If then we +can establish that Plautus regarded his adapted dramas merely as a rack on +which to hang witticisms, merely as a medium for laugh-provoking sallies +and situations, we have at once Plautus as he pretended to be, and in +large measure the answer to the original question: "What manner of drama +is this?" + +We say only "in large measure," because it is part of our endeavor to +settle accurately the position of our author in the dramatic scale, +considered of necessity from the modern viewpoint. We cannot believe that +he had any pretensions to refined art in play building, or rather +rebuilding, or to any superficial elegance of style, or to any moralizing +pose. We believe him an entertainer pure and simple, who never restricted +himself in his means except by the outer conventions and form of the Greek +New Comedy and the Roman stage, provided his single aim, that of affording +amusement, was attained. To establish this belief, and at the same time to +interpret accurately the nature of his plays and the means and effect of +their production, is our thesis. + +If then we run the gamut of the dramatic scale, we observe that as we +descend from the higher forms, such as tragedy, psychological drama and +"straight comedy," to the lower, such as musical comedy and burlesque, the +license allowed playwright and actor increases so radically that we have a +difference of kind rather than of degree. Certain conventions of course +are common to all types. The "missing fourth side" of the room is a +commonplace recognized by all. If we ourselves are never in the habit of +communicating the contents of our letters, as we write, to a doubtless +appreciative atmosphere, we never cavil at such an act on the stage. The +stage whisper and aside, too, we accept with benevolent indulgence; but it +is worth noting that in the attempted verisimilitude of the modern +"legitimate" drama, the aside has well nigh vanished. As we go down the +scale through light comedy and broad farce these conventions multiply +rapidly. + +With the introduction of music come further absurdities. Melodious voicing +of our thoughts is in itself essentially unnatural, to say the least. +Grand opera, great art form as it may be, is hopelessly artificial. +Indeed, so far is it removed from the plane of every day existence that we +are rudely jolted by the introduction of too commonplace a thought, as +when Sharpless in the English version of "Madame Butterfly" warbles +mellifluously: "Highball or straight?" And when we reach musical comedy +and vaudeville, all thought of drama, technically speaking, is abandoned +in watching the capers of the "merry-merry" or the outrageous "Dutch" +comedian wielding his deadly newspaper. + +It is important for our immediate purposes to note: first, (as aforesaid), +that the amount of license allowed author and actor increases immeasurably +as we go down the scale; second, that the degree of familiarity with the +audience and cognizance of the spectator's existence varies inversely as +the degree of dramatic value. Thus, at one end of the scale we have, for +instance, Mrs. Fiske, whose fondness for playing to the centre of the +stage and ignoring the audience is commented upon as a mannerism; at the +other, the low comedian who says his say or sings his song directly at the +audience and converses gaily with them as his boon companions. Now it will +be shown that familiar address of the audience and the singing of monodies +to musical accompaniment are essential features of Plautus' style, and +many other implements of the lower types of modern drama are among his +favorite devices. If then we can place Plautus toward the bottom of the +scale, we relieve him vastly of responsibility as a dramatist and of the +necessity of adherence to verisimilitude. Where does he actually belong? +The answer must be sought in a detailed consideration of his methods of +producing his effects and in an endeavor to ascertain how far the audience +and the acting contributed to them. + + + +ASec.2. The Performance + + +[Sidenote: The Audience] As it is perfectly patent that every practical +playwright must cater to his public, the audience is an essential feature +in our discussion. The audience of Plautus was not of a high class. +Terence, even in later times, when education had materially progressed, +often failed to reach them by over-finesse. Plautus with his bold brush +pleased them. Surely a turbulent and motley throng they were, with the +native violence of the sun-warmed Italic temperament and the abundant +animal spirits of a crude civilization, tumbling into the theatre in the +full enjoyment of holiday, scrambling for vantage points on the sloping +ground, if such were handy, or a good spot for their camp-stools. In view +of the uncertainty as to the actual site of the original performances, +this portraiture is "atmospheric" rather than "photographic." (See +Saunders in TAPA. XLIV, 1913). At any rate, we have ample evidence of the +turbulence of the early Roman audience. (Ter. Prol. _Hec._ 39-42, and +citations immediately following). Note the description of Mommsen:[46] +"The audience was anything but genteel.... The body of spectators cannot +have differed much from what one sees in the present day at public +fireworks and gratis exhibitions. Naturally, therefore, the proceedings +were not too orderly; children cried,[47] women talked and shrieked, now +and then a wench prepared to push her way to the stage; the ushers had on +these festivals anything but a holiday, and found frequent occasion to +confiscate a mantle or to ply the rod."[48] + +Impatient if the play be delayed, and voicing their disapproval by lusty +clapping, stamping, whistling and cat-calls, they are equally ready with +noisy approval if the dramatic fare tickle their palate.[49] The +_tibicen_, as he steps forth to render the overture, is greeted +uproariously as an old favorite. The manager perhaps appears and announces +the names of those taking part, each one of whom is doubtless applauded or +hissed in proportion to his measure of popularity. Differences of opinion +as to the merits of an individual actor may culminate in the partisans' +coming to blows.[50] Horace (_Ep._ II. I. 200 ff.) comments on the +turbulence of the audiences of his day too; while under the Empire +factions for and against particular actors grew up, as in the circus.[51] +Late-comers of course often disturbed the Prologus in his lines. The +continual reiteration that we find in such prologues as the _Amph._, +_Cap._ and _Poen._ was naturally designed as a safeguard against such +disturbance. Yet these prologues were undoubtedly composed, as Ritschl has +shown (_Par._ 232 ff.), shortly after 146 B.C., and the turbulence of the +original audience must have been far greater. + +To win the favor of such a crowd, which would groan if instead of the +expected comedy a tragedy should be announced,[52] what methods were +necessary? Slap-sticks, horse-play, broad slashing swashbuckling humor, +thick colors daubed on with lavish brush! + +By Cicero's time the public had attained to such a degree of +sophistication that the slightest slip on the part of the wretched actor +was greeted by a storm of popular disapproval. "Histrio si paulum se movit +extra numerum, aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut +longior, exsibilatur, exploditur," says Cicero.[53] The actor dare not +even have a cold, for on the slightest manifestation of hoarseness, he was +hooted off, though favorites such as Roscius might be excused on the plea +of indisposition.[54] The Scholiast Cruquius to Hor. _Ser._ I. 10.37 ff. +notes: "Poemata ... in theatris exhibita imperitae multitudinis applausum +captare." + +It is evident from all this that, while the Roman public had made +considerable advances in education, their demonstrative temperament had +not cooled. It seems eminently fair to deduce that the far ruder and less +cultivated audiences of Plautus' day were even more violent in their +manifestations of pleasure and displeasure, but that their criterion of +taste was solely the amount of amusement derived from the performance and +that they bothered themselves little about niceties of rhythm. To the +Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production. +Again we reiterate, only the bold brush could have pleased them. + +That the plays of Plautus attained a permanent position in ihe theatrical +repertoire of Rome is of course well known; but he wrote primarily for his +own age, and in a difficult environment. Not only did he have to please a +highly volatile and inflammable public, but he must have been forced to +exercise tact to avoid offending the patrician powers, as the imprisonment +of Naevius indicates. Mommsen has an apt summary:[55] "Under such +circumstances, where art worked for daily wages and the artist instead of +receiving due honour was subjected to disgrace, the new national theatre +of the Romans could not present any development either original or even at +all artistic." + +[Sidenote: The Actor] This brief discussion of the relation between public +and playwright will suffice for our purposes. In the course of it we have +insensibly encroached upon the next topic: the relation of public and +actor. Who after all is the chief factor in the success or failure of a +drama, in spite of the oft misquoted adage, "The play's the thing?" The +actor! The actor, who can mouth and tear a passion to tatters, or swing a +piece of trumpery into popular favor by the brute force of his dash and +personality. That this was true in Plautus' day, no less than in our own, +is plainly indicated by the personal allusion inserted in the _Bac._ +(214-5): + + Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo, + Nullam aeque invitus specto, _si agit Pellio_. + +The servile status of the ancient actor is an index to the energy of his +performance, if to nothing else. Failure meant a beating, success a drink +at least.[56] Augustus humanely abrogated the whipping of actors, but an +attempt was made in Tiberius' time to renew the practice.[57] On the other +hand, there seem to have been prizes awarded to successful actors,[58] as +well as to the poet;[59] but this practice surely arose after Plautus' +lifetime. At any rate, whatever was the nature of the reward, in his day +the large emoluments won by Roscius and other popular favorites were +impossible.[60] The effort demanded by the elaborate education of the +actor,[61] in which naturally gesticulation was the most vital element, +was out of all proportion to the precarious reward. A rigid course of +training was prescribed and strenuous exercises were required, for both +actor and orator to keep the voice in proper form.[62] Indeed, Quintilian +advises the budding orator to take instruction in voice production and +gesticulation from the comic actor.[63] For the comic actor was at all +times recognized as livelier and more vivid in his performance than the +tragedian.[64] The two were usually sharply differentiated.[65] +Specialization arose, too, and we hear of actors who confined their +efforts to feminine roles,[66] though naturally every performer was cast +for parts to which his physique was best suited.[67] + +It is doubtful whether such an elaborate system had been developed in +Plautus' time, but this much is certain: the comedian was on the stage +lively, energetic and constantly spurred on by the fear of punishment from +the _dominus gregis_ and the violent disapproval of a fickle, tempestuous +and withal exacting public. Polybius[68] relates that the visit of a +troupe of Greek actors to Rome was a failure because of their over-staid +deportment, until, learning the desires of the volatile Italians, they +improvised a vastly more vivid pantomime depicting a mock battle, with +huge success. Assuredly the early Roman comedian must have acted with +greater abandon and clownish drollery, if not with the elaborate +histrionic technique of the later actor.[69] We have heard Dr. Charles +Knapp relate that the performance of the _Ajax_ of Sophocles by a troupe +of modern Greek players went with amazing and incredible rapidity and +vivacity. It is all of a piece. We must inevitably associate vivid +temperament with the sons of the Mediterranean in all ages. Yet we have +just seen that the Greeks of old were too self-contained for their Italian +brethren. + +[Sidenote: The Histrionism] With this brief discussion of the condition, +incentive and motive of the Plautine actor, let us pass on to a more +detailed consideration of his methods and technique. Naturally by far the +most important part of this was gesture. Here again, while some of our +evidence is somewhat unreliable, practically every shred of extant +testimony indicates an extreme liveliness and vivacity. In the +rhetoricians frequent warning is issued to the forensic neophyte to avoid +the unrestraint of theatrical gesticulation. Cicero says (_De Or._ I. 59. +251): "Nemo suaserit studiosis dicendi adulescentibus in gestu discendo +histrionum more elaborare." Quintilian echoes (I. 11. 3): "Ne gestus quidem +omnis ac motus a comediis petendus est.... Orator plurimum ... aberit a +scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius." And in the _Auctor +ad Herennium_ we find (III. 15. 26): "Convenit igitur in vultu et pudorem +nec acrimoniam esse, in gestu et venustatem nec turpitudinem, ne aut +histriones aut operarii videamur esse."[70] That the nature and liveliness +of gesture on the stage was determined by the character portrayed, it is +almost needless to say.[71] + +Cicero's analysis (_de Or._ III. 59. 220) of the difference between +theatrical and forensic gesture implies that the former illustrates +individual words and ideas, while the latter comprehends more broadly the +general thought and sentiment.[72] It is most unfortunate that we have +lost Cicero's treatise _De Gestu Histrionis_.[73] + +By Cicero's time a more restrained mode of acting was evidently considered +good taste; witness _de Off._ (I. 36. 130): "Histrionum non nulli gestus +ineptus non vacant, et quae sunt recta et simplicia laudantur."[74] But +the passages cited above bear ample testimony to the vigor of histrionic +gesticulation even at this later and far more cultivated epoch. Again we +repeat, what must have been the energy and abandon of the original +Plautine actor?[75] + +Apart from the rhetoricians, the most fruitful literary source of our +information on gesture is Donatus' commentary on Terence. The +trustworthiness of this has been the subject of much argument. Sittl[76] +accuses him of speaking merely from the standpoint of a professor of +rhetoric, as comedies of Terence were no longer given in the time of +Donatus. Weinberger in his "Beitrage zu den Buhnenaltherthumern aus Donats +Terenz-commentar,"[77] admonishes us to be very careful not to put too +high a value on the commentary. Van Wageningen[78] is of the opinion that +much of the work was inspired by Donatus' having seen in his own time +unmasked actors play. To this view color is lent by Donatus' note to +_And._ 716: "Sive haec <Mysis> personatis viris agitur, ut apud veteres, +sive per mulierem, ut nunc videmus." + +If this is true, it makes Donatus' work of more significance to us, as it +would imply a harking back to the play of feature of the unmasked +performances of Plautus' day. But while it is certain that Donatus had +other sources than the Terentian text for his annotations,[79] it is +equally certain that practically everything he has to say relative to +gesture and stage business is readily to be deduced from the text and is +in the main interesting only as a compilation.[80] However, everything he +says continues to point persistently to lively gesture and action; and +this too in Terentian comedy, where the text makes far less rigorous +demands on the actor's muscles than in Plautus' works. + +Donatus remarks occasionally that certain words must have been accompanied +by especially expressive gesture and byplay, evidently of feature, as +_vultuose, cum gestu_ and similar phrases are used to indicate this.[81] +His note to _And._ 722 is: "Haec scaena actuosa est: magis enim in gestu +quam in oratione est constituta." Of gestures emphatic and yet not foreign +to everyday life Quintilian notes (XI. 3. 123): "Femur ferire--et usitatum +et indignantis decet"; a movement plainly employed in _Mil._ 204 and +_Truc._ 601. But, says Quintilian further (ib.): "Complodere manus +scaenicum est et pectus caedere."[82] + +One of the notable "hits" of the ancient stage is recorded by Donatus ad +_Phor._ 315: Ambivius (as Phormio) entered "oscitans temulenter atque +aurem minimo scalpens digitulo ... et labia lingens ut ebrius et ructans." +But Ambivius' potations resulted in an extremely spirited and lifelike +imitation of the parasite character and he was forthwith forgiven his +drunkenness. + +Passing mention must be made of the Terentian Mss. illustrations, though +they add but little weight to the foregoing. For a complete list of their +sources and editions see Sittl, "GebArden der Griechen und RAmer," Chap. +XI, p. 203 ff.[83] But whatever be the exact date of the original, in our +extant copies the old traditional gestures are lost and the gesture of +everyday life supplied. In fact, in the analyses appended by Leo, van +Wageningen and Warnecke, in the works cited above, we arrive at little but +that the gestures natural to any Italian-born person in a like situation +are reproduced, such as "gestus abeuntis, cogitantis, parasiti," etc. It +is almost too much to make any of this a basis for argument as to +classical and pre-classical stage-craft. It is at least significant that +every character with hands free is gesticulating and the scene from _Eun._ +IV. 6-7 is evidently full of vigorous action. + +An old and discursive article[84] by T. Baden, containing a description +and analysis of the gestures and posture of a number of familiar figures +from comedy exemplified in some collections of statuettes (chiefly those +in Borgia's Museum of Baden's time), is open to the same objection as the +above. The gestures of slave, pander, parasite, etc., described in the +article are lively and expressive to be sure, but contain little to +differentiate them from those of daily life. + +While much of our evidence is still to come, we believe that we are +already justified in the deduction that the actor contemporary with +Plautus must have indulged in the extravagances of the players in the +Atellan farces and the mimes. The _mimus_ of the Empire, we know, +specialized in ridiculous facial contortions.[85] + +We must not forget too the vivacity indicated by the comic scenes among +the Pompeian and Herculanean wall-paintings,[86] which have a close +kinship with the Terentian MSS. pictures. Nor must we lose sight of the +fact that all our pictorial _reliquiae_ portray the later masked +characters, and hence play of feature, which must have been a notable +concomitant of the original Plautine performance, is entirely obscured. + +As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent of our +poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order. Whether we +agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first introduced for comedy +and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius Prothymus respectively,[87] +or with Diomedes' explanation[88] that Roscius adopted them to disguise +his pronounced squint, it is certain that they were not worn in Plautus' +time, when wigs and make-up were employed for characterization.[89] In +fact, the early performances of Plautus, unless we except the original +Terentian productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman +comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the practice of +lively grimace and facial play. + +The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward +appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries of make-up +that rival those of the Old Comedy. From _As._ 400-1 we learn that Saurea +was: + + Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ventriosus, + Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte. + +In the _Mer._ Lysimachus is described as a veritable _thensaurus +mali_ (639-40): + + Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum, + Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum. + +Curculio was one-eyed: "Unocule, salve" (Cur. 392). Pseudolus must have +been a joy to the groundlings _(Ps._ 1218 ff.): + + Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger, + Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum + Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes. + Pseudolus fuit ipsus. + +His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization. +(Cf. Ter. _Phor._ 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer, +he inquires (_Rud._ 316 ff.): + + Ecquem + Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum, + Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?[90] + +The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in +vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this +respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One +must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as +on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too +slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore, +deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and +developed their Greek and Etruscan models.[91] When Livius Andronicus +first fathered _palliatae_, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as +the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his +audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him, +and he doubtless seized upon the _palliata_ form as the natural medium for +the exploitation of his talents. By Cicero's time considerable technical +equipment was required; the actor must be an adept in gesticulation, +gymnastic and dancing.[92] Appreciable refinement had been reached in +Quintilian's age, for he scores the comic actor who departs too far from +reality and pronounces the ideal player him who declaims with a measured +artistic heightening of everyday discourse.[93] It is noteworthy that this +practically coincides with the accepted standard of modern realistic +acting. But the Plautine actor could never have felt himself trammeled by +any such narrow and sophisticated restrictions, as we believe the evidence +accumulated above amply proves. At any rate, the delineation of different +roles must have been at all times strictly in character. The need of +feminine vocal tones, unless another jest is intended is indicated by +_Rud._ 233: + + Certe vox muliebris auris tetigit meas. + +And Quintilian admonishes the youth who is taking lessons from a comic +actor in voice-production not to carry his precepts so far as to imitate +the female falsetto, the senile tremolo, the obsequiousness of the slave, +the stuttering accents of intoxication or the intonations of love, greed, +fear.[94] + +Where Donatus gives instructions as to the vocal expression with which +certain lines are to be delivered, as in the case of his comments on +gesture, they are almost painfully evident from the context. He cites for +instance irony[95], anger[96], exhaustion [97], amazement [98], +sympathy[99], pity[100]. He appears as the lineal ancestor of the modern +"coach" of amateur theatricals in somewhat naively remarking[101] that +upon leaving Thais for two days, Phaedria must pronounce "two days" as if +"two years" were written. + +Another phase of the delivery of the dialogue that deserves passing +mention is song and musical accompaniment. Livy's anecdote[102] of the +employment by Livius Andronicus of a boy to sing for him while he +gesticulated is almost universally accepted as an exceptional instance, +prompted by the failing of Livius' voice through age[103]. We are now +fairly well informed of the tripartite diversion of the dialogue into +_canticum_ or song proper, recitative, and _diverbium_ or spoken +utterance[104], with the incidental accompaniment of the _tibia_. Though +there may be some dispute as to the apportionment of the various classes, +the general truth is established.[105] The important feature of this for +our purpose is that, if the ancient tragedy with its music and dancing was +rather comparable to modern grand opera than to drama proper, the song and +musical accompaniment of comedy lend it a strong flavor of the opera +bouffe and even of the musical comedy of to-day. In Part II we shall draw +numerous other parallels between this style of composition and the plays +of Plautus. West, in A.J.P. VIII. 33, notes one of the few comparisons to +"comic opera" that we have seen. Fay, in the Introduction to his ed. of +the _Most._ (ASec. 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early +schools." + +One feature of the performance still remains to be discussed--the +"stage-business," that is, the movements of the actors apart from mere +gesticulation and dialogue. Much of this too will find a place in Part II, +in the treatment of special peculiarities, but in general we note here +that the text itself contains many indications that are as plain as +printed stage directions regarding the movements being made or about to be +made by the characters. Examples of the more significant follow: _Amph._ +308: Cingitur: Certe expedit se; 312: Perii, pugnos ponderat. (Sosia +speaks aside of Mercury and similarly during the succeeding scene); 903: +Potin ut abstineas manum?; 955: Aperiuntur aedis. This motif is +commonplace and frequent; 958: Vos tranquillos video; 1130: quam valide +tonuit; _As._ 39: Age, age, usque excrea; _Bac._ 668: quod sic terram +optuere?; _Cap._ 557: Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuitur?; 594: +Ardent oculi;[106] 793: Hic homo pugilatum incipit; _Ep._ 609: illi +caperrat frons severitudine; _Mer._ 138: iam dudum spato sanguinem; _Mil._ +1324: Nefle; _Most._ 1030: vocis non habeo satis. (He must have been +shouting); _Ps._ 458: Statum vide hominis, Callipho, quam basilicum; 955: +transvorsus ... cedit, quasi cancer solet: _Trin._ 623 f.: celeri +graducunt uterque: ille rcprehendit hunc priorem pallio.[107] + +This practice of indicating business in the lines, of making the +play act, is common to all the older types of drama, Elizabethan as +well as classic. A single striking example from Shakespeare will +furnish a parallel, in the well-known lines from _Macbeth_: + + The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon, + Where gott'st thou that goose look? (V. 3). + +The modern playwright robs his lines of their vividness and +throws the onus on the actor through the medium of his interpolated +direction, a custom which reaches its most exaggerated form +in the plays of Bernard Shaw, as mentioned above. + +[Sidenote: Thesis] We have now made a perceptible advance towards getting +an answer to our original questions: "What manner of drama is this?" and +"How was it done?" The comments of the most eminent critics on the former +question have left us rather bewildered by their diversity. Almost to a +man they have taken Plautus too seriously or else have arraigned him for +not conforming to their preconceived code of comedy, without questioning +whether it were Plautus' own or not. This has really nullified their +efforts to explain away the peculiarities and absurdities of his style. +Some _solvent_ of these difficulties is needed. + +As to the second question, we have examined briefly the extant evidence +regarding the actor's employment of gesture and business, his delivery of +the dialogue, make-up and character delineation, and found a disappointing +paucity, but a general and irresistible trend towards liveliness, vivacity +and broad undiluted comedy that must have been the sort of dramatic fare +demanded by the primeval appetite of the Plautine audience. But again we +find ourselves falling short of a satisfying answer to our question. +Again, some _solvent_ is needed. As the last resort, we turn to the +evidence of the plays themselves and the unbounded realm of subjective +criticism. + +From the earliest times gesture and business in Aristophanes and the Old +Comedy were marked by the riotous license of all the media of that notable +epoch[108] of comedy. From the broad spirit of its frank and vivid +burlesque not even the most stolidly Teutonic of humorless critics ever +thought of demanding a "picture of life." But with the abandonment of the +purpose of political propaganda, the consequent disappearance of the +chorus with its burlesque trappings (largely through motives of state +economy), and the establishment in the New Comedy of a type of dramatic +machinery that had a specious outer shell of reflection of characters and +events in daily life, the critics instantly seem to demand the standard of +dramatic technique of Aristotle and Freytag and condemn all departures +from this standard. In reality, we believe that the kinship of Plautus +with Aristophanes is much closer than has usually been realized. + +Is, then, the change from Old to New Comedy as great as has been +represented? Does not the change consist rather in the outer form and in +the ideas expounded than in the spirit of the histrionism and mimicry? And +must not the vigor, from what we have seen, have been intensified in +Plautus? LeGrand alone seems to have caught the essence of this:[109] "Que +dire de la mimique? D'aprA"s les indications contenues dans le texte mAme +des comA(C)dies, d'aprA"s les commentaires--notamment ceux de Donat, d'aprA"s +les monuments figurA(C)s--en particulier les images des manuscrits, elle +devait Atre en general trA"s vive, souvent trop vive pour le goA"t des +modernes.... Et puis, ils s'addressaient a des spectateurs mA(C)ridionaux, +coutumiers dans la vie quotidienne d'une gesticulation plus animA(C)e que la +nAtre." And this is said as a combined estimate of New Comedy and +_palliatae_. + +We are now prepared to advance a definite thesis, that shall gather up the +random threads of argument and suggestion scattered through the foregoing +pages and shall, we hope, provide a conclusive and final answer to both of +our original questions. If we can establish: that our author's sole aim +was to feed the popular hunger for amusement; that, while after leaving +much of his Greek originals practically untouched, he considered them in +effect but a medium for the provocation of laughter, but a vessel into +which to pour a highly seasoned brew of fun; that to this end his actors +went before the public, potentially speaking slap-stick in hand, equipped +by nature with liveliness of grimace and gesture and prepared to act with +verve, unction and an abandon of dash and vigor that would produce a riot +of merriment; that his dramatic machinery is hopelessly crippled and that +his evident intentions and effects are hopelessly lost unless interpreted +in this spirit: then we relegate Plautine drama to a low plane of broad +farce, where verisimilitude to life becomes wholly unnecessary because +undesirable; where the canons of dramatic art become inoperative; where, +contrary to what KArting says, we are not asked to believe that +"everything is happening in a perfectly natural manner"; where the poet +may stick at nothing provided the laugh be forthcoming; where all the +apparently absurd conventions of _palliatae_ cease to be absurd, vanish +into thin air and become unamenable to literary criticism, inasmuch as +they are all only part of the laugh-compelling scheme. This is the +_solvent_ that we propose. To establish this, let us proceed to an +examination of the internal mechanism of the plays. + + + + +Part II + +An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus + + + +The salient features that characterize the plays of Plautus include both +his consciously employed means of producing his comic effects, and the +peculiarities and abnormalities that evidence his attitude of mind in +writing them. We should make bold to catalogue them as follows: + +I. Machinery characteristic of the lower types of modern drama--farce, low + comedy, musical comedy, burlesque shows, vaudeville, and the like. + + A. Devices self-evident from the text. + 1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + 2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + 3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + a. True burlesque. + b. True farce. + c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + + B. Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad + farcical spirit. + 1. The running slave. + 2. Wilful blindness. + 3. Adventitious entrance. + +II. Evidences of loose composition which prove a disregard of + technique and hence indicate that entertainment was the sole aim. + + A. Solo speeches and passages. + 1. Asides and soliloquies. + 2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + 3. Direct address of the audience. + + B. Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition. + 1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + 2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + 3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + 4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + 5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + 6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +Let us illustrate these points by typical passages and endeavor to insert +such stage-directions as would indicate how the most telling effects could +be produced and hence aid the reader in visualizing the actual +performance. + + +I. Machinery Characteristic of the Lower Types of Modern Drama + +A. _Devices self-evident from the text._ + +1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + +It is a little difficult to sublimate this entirely from burlesque, but +its true nature is instanced by the opening lines of the _Miles_, where +the vainglorious Pyrgopolinices, with many a sweep and strut, addresses +his attendants, who are probably staggering under the weight of an +enormous shield: + +"Have a care that the effulgence of my shield be brighter than e'er the +sun's rays in a cloudless sky: when the time for action comes and the +battle's on, I intend it shall dazzle the eyesight o' m' foes. (_Patting +his sword_). Verily I would condole with this m' sword, lest he lament and +be cast down in spirit, forasmuch as now full long hath he hung idle by m' +side, thirsting, poor lad, to meet his fellow 'mongst the foe," and so on. + +In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device. So +we find Pseudolus addressing the audience in ringing blustering tones and +with grandiose gesture (_Ps._ 584 ff.): + +"It now becomes my aim today to lay siege to this town and capture it." +(Ballio the procurer is the town). "I shall hurl all my legions against +it. If I take it, ... good luck to you, my citizens, for part of the booty +shall be yours." + +This finds a close counterpart in the _Mil._ 219 ff., a passage which +West[110] thinks was deliberately inserted to rouse the populace into +demanding that Scipio be at once despatched to Africa. + +Periplecomenus is urging Palaestrio to find a stratagem. Actually he +probably addresses the pit: + +"Don't you see that the enemy are upon you and investing your rear? Call a +council of war, reach out for stores and reinforcements in this crisis: +haste, haste, no time to waste! Make a detour through some pass, forestall +your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops! Cut off the enemy's base of +supplies!" etc. + +Whether this passage had an ulterior purpose or not, the motif is +frequent.[111] So we find Chrysalus in _Bac._ 925 ff. holding the stage +for an entire scene with an elaborate comparison of himself to Ulysses, +the brains of the Greek host, overcoming his master Nicobulus who +represents Priam. + +In general the mocking assumption of an heroic attitude recurs with +sufficient frequency to stamp it as a staple of comic effect. Many +passages would become tiresome and meaningless instead of amusing unless +so interpreted. The soliloquy of Mnesilochus in _Bac._ 500 ff. could be +made interesting only by turgid ranting. Similarly in _Bac._ 530 ff. and +612 ff.[112] + + +2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + +By this we mean what can in nowise be so clearly defined as by +"rough-house." For instance, the turbulent Euclio in _Aul._ delivers +bastings impartially to various _dramatis personae_ and as a climax drives +the cooks and music-girl pell-mell out of the house, doubtless accompanied +by deafening howling and clatter (415 ff.). Similarly in the _Cas._ (875 +ff.) Chalinus routs Olympio and the lecherous Lysidamus. We may well +imagine that such scenes were preceded as well as accompanied by a fearful +racket within (a familiar device of our low comedy and extravaganza), the +effect probably heightened by tempestuous _melodrama_ on the _tibiae_, as +both the scenes cited are in _canticum_. + +In the _Men._ we are treated to a free fight, in which the valiant +Messenio routs the _lorarii_ by vigorous punches, while Menaechmus plants +his fist in one antagonist's eye (_Men._ 1011 ff.): + +(Menaechmus of Epidamnus is seized by _lorarii_; as he struggles, +Messenio, slave of Menaechmus Sosicles, rushes into the fray to his +rescue). "MES. I say! Gouge out that fellow's eye, the one that's got you +by the shoulder, master. Now as for these rotters, I'll plant a crop of +fists on their faces. (_Lays about._) By Heaven, you'll be everlastingly +sorry for the day you tried to carry my master off. Let go! + +MEN. (_Joining in with a will._) I've got this fellow by the eye! + +MES. Bore it out! A hole's good enough for his face! You villians, you +thieves, you robbers! (_General melA(C)e. Lorarii weaken._) + +LOR. We're done for! Oh Lord, please! + +MES. Let go then! + +MEN. What right had you to lay hands on me? Give them a good beating up! +(_Lorarii break and scatter wildly under the ferocious onslaught._) + +MES. Come, clear out! To the devil with you all! That for _you_! +(_Strikes._) You're the last; here's _your_ reward! (_Strikes again._)" + +The lines themselves are sufficiently graphic and need but little +annotation. Other pugilistic activities crop up at not infrequent +intervals in the text,[113] and in _Ps._ 135 ff. Ballio generously plies +the whip. In the lacuna of the _Amph._ after line 1034, Mercury probably +bestows a drenching on Amphitruo.[114] In _As._ III. 3, especially 697 +ff., Libanus makes his master Argyrippus "play horsey" with him, doubtless +with indelicate buffonery. With invariable energy, even so simple a matter +as knocking on doors is made the excuse for raising a violent disturbance, +as in _Amph._ 1019 f. and 1025: Paene effregisti, fatue, foribus +cardines.[115] And this idea is actually parodied in _As._ 384 ff. No, +Plautus did not allow his public to languish for want of noise. + + +3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + +Under this head we include such conscious strivings for comic as are +frankly and plainly exaggerated and hyper-natural. + + +a. True burlesque. + +This is in effect pure parody, cartooning. Patent burlesque of tragedy +appears in _Trin._ 820 ff. (_Charmides returns from abroad._) + +"CHAR. To Neptune, ruler of the deep, and puissant brother unto Jove and +Nereus, do I in joy and gladness cry my praises and gratefully proclaim my +gratitude; and to the briny waves, who held me in their power, yea, even +my chattels and my very life, and from their realms restored me to the +city of my birth," etc., etc. + +To tickle the ears of the groundlings, this must have been delivered in +grandiloquent mimicry with all the paraphernalia of the tragic style. +Horace notes a kindred manifestation of this tendency (to which he himself +is pleasingly addicted), in _Ep._ II. 3.93 f.: + + Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit + Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore. + +Tragic burlesque is again beautifully exemplified in _Ps._ 702 ff. The +versatile Pseudolus after a significant aside: "I'll address the fellow in +high-sounding words," says to his master Calidorus: + +"Hail! Hail! Thee, thee, O mighty ruler, thee do I beseech who art lord +over Pseudolus. Thee do I seek that thou mayst obtain thrice three times +triple delights in three various ways, joys earned by three tricks and +three tricksters, cunningly won by treachery, fraud and villainy, which in +this little sealed missive have I but erstwhile brought to thee.... + +CHAR. The rascal's spouting like a tragedian." + +When Sosia, in the first scene of _Amph._ (203 ff.), turgidly describes +the battle between the Thebans and Teleboans, he is parodying the +Messenger of tragedy. Another echo from tragedy is heard at the end of the +play, when Jupiter appears in the role of deus ex machina.[116] + +Burlesque of character and calling puts in an occasional appearance. The +recreant Sosia in _Amph._ 958 ff. mimics the dutiful slave. _As._ 259 ff. +contains an ironical treatment of augury, while in 751 ff. the poet has +his satirical fling at the legal profession. + + +b. True farce. + +This is of course the comedy of situation and finds its mainstay in +mistaken identity. The _Men._ and _Amph._ with their doubles are +farce-comedies proper, but the element of farce forms the motive power of +nearly all the plots; for example, the shuffling-up of Acropolistis, +Telestis and the _fidicina_ in _Ep._, the quarrel between Mnesilochus and +Pistoclerus in _Bac._ resulting from the former's belief that his friend +had stolen his sweetheart, the exchange of names between Tyndarus and +Philocrates in _Cap._, the entrapping of Demaenetus with the _meretrix_ at +the dA(C)nouement of _As._, etc., etc. It is understood, we presume, that the +modern farce occupies no exalted position in the comic scale, is +distinguished by the grotesquerie of its characters, incidents and +dialogue, and is indulgently permitted to stray far from the paths of +realism. Even in Shakespearian farce, note the exaggerated antics of the +two Dromios in "The Comedy of Errors." It is significant then that farce +is a staple of our plays. + +The farcical element is strikingly exemplified in _Amph._ 365-462, where +Mercury persuades Sosia that he is not himself. Impersonation and +assumption of a role is another noteworthy and frequent medium of plot +motivation. In _As._ 407 ff. Leonida tries to palm himself off as the +_atriensis_. Note the violent efforts of the two slaves to wheedle the +cunning ass-dealer (449 ff.). In _Cas._ 815 ff. Chalinus enters disguised +as the blushing bride. In _Men._ 828 ff. Menaechmus Sosicles pretends +madness in a clever scene of uproarious humor. In the _Mil._ (411 ff.) +Philocomasium needs only to change clothing to appear in the role of her +own hypothetical twin sister, and in 874 ff. and 1216 ff. the _meretrix_ +plays _matrona_. Sagaristio and the daughter of the _leno_ impersonate +Persians (_Per._ 549 ff.), Collabiscus becomes a Spartan (_Poen._ 578 +ff.), Simia as Harpax gets Ballio's money (_Ps._ 905 ff.), the sycophant +is garbed as messenger (_Trin._ 843 ff.), Phronesium elaborately pretends +to be a mother (_Truc._ 499 ff.). A swindle is almost invariably the +object in view. But we have said enough on this score: no one who knows +the plays at all can fail to recognize the predominance of farce. Compare +on the modern stage the sudden appearance of "the long-lost cousin from +Chicago." + + +c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + +This group of course often contains marked features of burlesque and +farce, and hence shows a close kinship with the foregoing. + +The extravagance of the love-sick swain is a fruitful source of this +species of caricature. The ridiculous Calidorus, always wearing his heart +on his sleeve, rolls his eyes, brushes away a tear and says (_Ps._ 38 +ff.): "But for a short space have I been e'en as a lily of the field. +Suddenly sprang I up, as suddenly I withered." The irreverent Pseudolus +replies: "Oh, shut up while I read the letter over." Calidorus finds his +counterpart in Phaedromus of the _Cur._, who, accompanied by his slave, +approaches milady's abode (_Cur._ 10 ff.): + +"PH. (_In languishing accents, with eyes cast upward_): Shall I not take +sweets to the sweet: what is culled by the toil of the busy bees to my own +little honey?... (_They advance to milady's doorway which he sprinkles +with wine_, 88 ff.): Come, drink, ye portals of pleasure, quaff and deign +to be propitious unto me. + +PALINURUS SER. (_Addressing the door with mimicry of Phaedromus' airs._) +Do you want some olives or sweetmeats or capers? + +PH. (_Continuing._) Arouse your portress; hither send her unto me. +(_Lavishes the wine._) + +PAL. (_In great alarm, grasping his arm._) You're spilling the wine! +What's got hold of you? + +PH. Unhand me! (_Gently shakes himself loose._) Lo! The temple of joys +untold is opening. Did not the hinge creak? 'Tis charming! + +PAL. (_Turning aside in disgust._) Why don't you give it a kiss?" + +In each case the impertinent slave provides the foil. When the lovers +succeed in meeting, they are interlocked in embrace from 172 to 192, +probably invested with no small amount of suggestive "business." This +would doubtless hardly be tolerated by the "censor" today. Another variety +of lover's extravagance is the lavishing of terms of endearment, as we +find in _Cas._ 134 ff.[117] + +When this feature of "extravagance" enters the situation instead of the +dialogue, we have episodes such as the final scene of the _Ps._, where the +name character is irrelevantly introduced (1246) in a state of +intoxication which, with copious belching in Simo's face, culminates in a +rebellion of the overloaded stomach (1294). We can scarcely doubt that +such business was carried out in ultra-graphic detail and rewarded by +copious guffaws from the populace. In sharp contrast to this, the +drunkenness of Callidamates in _Most._ 313 ff. is depicted with unusual +artistry, but still from the very nature of such a scene it may be labeled +"extravagant." + +Manifestation of violent anger is another source of exaggerated stage +business. _Ep._ 512 ff. should be interpreted somewhat as follows: + +"(_The deluded Periphanes has just discovered that the fidicina is an +impostor and not his daughter._) FID. (_Sweetly._) Do you want me for +anything else? + +PER. (_Stamping foot and shaking fists in a passion._) The foul fiend take +you to utter perdition! Clear out, and quickly too! + +FID. (_In alarm._) Won't you give me back my harp? + +PER. Nor harp nor pipes! So hurry up and get out of here, if you know +what's good for you! + +FID. (_Stamping her foot in tearful rage._) I'll go, but you'll have to +give them back later just the same and it will be all the worse for you. + +PER. (_Striding up and down in wildest anger._) What!... shall I let her +go unpunished? Nay, even if I have to lose as much again, I'll lose it +rather than let myself be mocked and despoiled with impunity!" and so +on.[118] + +Other random scenes that may be classed as "extravagant" are found in +Strobilus' cartoon of Euclio (_Aul._ 300 ff.), Demipho's discovery in the +distance of a mythical bidder for the girl (_Mer._ 434 ff.), Charinus' +playing "horsey" and taking a trip in his imaginary car (_Mer._ 930 ff.), +and the loud "boo-hoo" to which Philocomasium gives vent (_Mil._ 1321 +ff.). These all might be classed under either "farce" or "burlesque," but +they seem to come more exactly under the kindred head of "extravagance." + +A familiar figure in modern farce-comedy is the comic conspirator with +finger on lip, tiptoeing round in fear of listeners. He finds his +prototype in _Trin._ (146 ff.): + +"(_Callicles and Megaronides converse._) + +CAL. (_In a mysterious whisper._) Look around a bit and make sure there's +nobody spying on us--and please look around every few seconds. (_They +pause and peer in every direction, perhaps creeping round on tiptoe._) + +MEG. Now, I am all ears. + +CAL. When you're through, I'll talk. (_Pauses and nods._) Just before +Charmides went abroad, he showed me a treasure, (_stops and looks over his +shoulders_) in his house here, in one of the rooms. (_Starts, as if at a +noise._) Look around! (_They repeat the search and return again._) + +MEG. There's nobody."[119] + +Another old stage friend is the detected plotter trying to lie out of an +embarrassing situation. He is lineally descended from Tranio in the +_Most._ Tranio has just induced his master Theopropides to pay forty minae +to the money-lender on the pretext that Theopropides' son Philolaches has +bought a house (659 ff.): + +"TH. In what neighborhood did my son buy this house? + +TR. (_Aside to audience in comic despair, with appropriate gesture._) See +there now! I'm a goner! + +TH. (_Impatiently._) Will you answer my question? + +TR. Oh yes, but (_Stammering and displaying symptoms of acute +embarrassment_) I--I'm trying to think of the owner's name. (_Groans._) + +TH. Well, hurry up and remember it! + +TR. (_Rapidly, aside._) I can't see anything better to do than tell him +his son bought the house of our next-door neighbor here. (_With a shrug._) +Thunder, I've heard that a _steaming_ lie is the best kind. +(_Mock-heroically._) 'Tis the will of the gods, my mind's made up. + +TH. (_Who has been frowning and stamping in impatience._) Well, well, +well! Haven't you thought of it yet? + +TR. (_Aside._) Curses on him!... (_Finally turning and bursting out +suddenly._) It's our next-door neighbor here--your son bought the house +from him. (_He sees that the lie goes and sighs with relief._)"[120] + +Another variation on this theme is the futile effort of the plotter to get +rid of a character armed with incriminating evidence. Again we quote +_Most._ (573 ff.), where Tranio is conversing with Theopropides. The +money-lender from whom young Philolaches has borrowed appears on the other +side of the stage. Tranio espies him. He must keep him away from the old +man. With a hurried excuse he flies across to meet Misargyrides. + +"TR. (_Taking Misargyrides' arm and attempting to steer him off-stage._) I +was never so glad to see a man in my life. + +MIS. (_Suspiciously, holding back._) What's the matter? + +TR. (_Confidentially._) Just step this way. (_Looks back apprehensively at +Theopropides, who is regarding them suspiciously._) + +MIS. (_In a loud and offensive voice._) Won't my interest be paid? + +TR. I know you have a good voice; don't shout so loud. + +MIS. (_Louder._) Hang it, but I _will_ shout! + +TR. (_Groans and glances over shoulder again._) Run along home, there's a +good fellow. (_Urges him toward exit._)", etc. + +Tranio has a chance for very lively business: a sickly smile for the +usurer, lightning glances of apprehension towards Theopropides, with an +occasional intimate groan aside to the audience. Other farcical scenes of +the many that may be cited as calling for particularly vivacious business +and gesture are, e.g., _Cas._ 621 ff., where Pardalisca befools Lysidamus +by timely fainting, _Rud._ 414 ff., where Sceparnio flirts with Ampelisca, +and the quarrel scene, _Rud._ 485 ff.[121] + +The last four passages quoted in translation are by no means lacking in +artistic humor and a measure of reality, but they imply a pronounced +heightening of the actions and emotions of everyday life and lose their +humor unless presented in the broad spirit that stamps them as belonging +to the plane of farce. We now pass on to motives where the dialogue aims +at effects manifestly unnatural and where verisimilitude is sacrificed to +the joke, as we have seen it is in the employment of "bombast," "true +burlesque," etc. + +The first of these motives is a stream of copious abuse, as in _Per._ 406 +ff., where Toxilus _servos_ and Dordalus _leno_ exchange Rabelaisian +compliments. + +"TOX. (_Hopping about with rabid gestures._) You filthy pimp, you +mud-heap, you common dung-hill, you besmirched, corrupt, law-breaking +decoy, you public sewer, ... robber, mobber, jobber, ...! + +DOR. (_Who has been dancing around in fury, shaking his fist until +exhausted by his paroxysms._) Wait--till--(_Puffing_)--I--get--my +breath--I'll--answer you! You dregs of the rabble, you slave-brothel, you +'white-slave' freer, you sweat-of-the-lash, you chain gang, you king of +the treadmill, ... you eat-away, steal-away run-away....!" etc.[122] + +Perhaps we have here the forerunner of the shrewish wife in modern +vaudeville, who administers to her shrinking consort a rapid-fire +tongue-lashing. Another phase of this profuse riot of words appears in the +formidable Persian name that Sagaristio, disguised as a Persian, adopts in +the _Per._ (700 ff.): + +"DORDALUS. What's your name? + +SAG. Listen then, and you shall hear: False-speaker-us Girl-seller-son +Much-o'-nothing-talk-son Money-gouge-out-son Talk-up-to you-son +Coin-wheedle-out-son What-I-once-get-son Never-give-up-son: there you are! + +DOR. (_With staring eyes and gasping breath._) Ye Gods! That's a +variegated name of yours! + +SAG. (_With a superior wave of the hand._) It's the Persian fashion." + +The second point in this category is own cousin to the above. We should +label it persistent interruption and repetition. An excellent instance is +_Trin._ 582 ff., when Stasimus, Lesbonicus and Philto have just hatched a +plot. Philto departs. + +"LES. (_To Stasimus._) You attend to my instructions. I'll be there +presently. Tell Callicles to meet me. + +ST. Now you just clear out! (_Pushes him after Philto._) + +LES. (_Calls out as he is being shoved away._) Tell him to see what has to +be done about the dowry. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Raising his voice._) For I'm determined not to marry her off +without a dowry. + +ST. Won't you clear out? + +LES. (_Still louder._) And I won't let her suffer harm by reason.---- + +ST. Get out, I say! + +LES. (_Shouts._)--of my carelessness. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. It seems right that my own sins-- + +ST. Clear out! + +LES.--should affect me alone. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Mock heroically._) Oh father, shall I ever behold you again? + +ST. Out, out, out! (_With a final shove._) (_Exit Lesbonicus._) At last, I +'ve got him away! (_Breathes hard._)" + +The fun, if fun there be, lies in the hammer-like repetition of "I modo," +a sort of verbal buffoonery. A clever actor could din this with telling +effect. The device is employed several times. In _Most._ 974 ff. the word +is _aio_, in _Per._ 482 ff. _credo_, in _Poen._ 731 ff. _quippini_, in +_Ps._ 484 ff. I1/2I+-I I cubedII, in _Rud._ 1212 ff. _licet_ and 1269 ff. +_censeo_. The last two examples are the lengthiest.[123] + +The third of these motives is the introduction of clearly unnatural +dialogue, wholly incidental and foreign to the action, for the sake of +lugging in a joke. The _As._ (38 ff.) yields the following conversation +between Demaenetus _senex_ and his slave Libanus: + +"LI. By all that's holy, as a favor to me, spit out the words you have +uttered. + +DE. All right, I'll be glad to oblige you. (_Coughs._) + +LI. Now, now, get it right up! (_Pats him on the back._) + +DE. More? (_Coughs._) + +LI. Gad, yes, please! Right from the bottom of your throat: more still! +(_Pats._) + +DE. Well, how far down then? + +LI. (_Unguardedly._) Down to Hades is my wish! + +DE. I say, look out for trouble! + +LI. (_Diplomatically._) For your wife, I mean, not for you. + +DE. For that speech I bestow upon you freedom from punishment."[124] + +The childish bandying of words in _Truc._ 858 ff. is egregiously tiresome +in the reading, but in action could have been made to produce a modicum of +amusement if presented in the broad burlesque spirit that we believe was +almost invariably employed. This gives us a clue to the next topic. + + + +B. _Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad farcical +spirit._ + + +This includes peculiarities that have usually been commented on as +weaknesses or conventions, or else been given up as hopeless +incongruities, but which we hope to prove also yield their quota of +amusement if clownishly performed. The foremost of these is the famous + + +1. Running Slave or Parasite. + +We all know him: rushing madly cross stage at top-speed (if we take the +literal word of the text for it), with girded loins, in search of somebody +right under his nose, the while unburdening himself of exhaustive periods +that, however great the breadth of the Roman stage, would carry him +several times across and back: as Curculio in 279 ff.: + +"Make way for me, friends and strangers, while I carry out my duty here. +Run, all of you, scatter and clear the road! I'm in a hurry and I don't +want to butt into anybody with my head, or elbow, or chest, or knee.... +And there's none so rich as can stand in my way, ... none so famous but +down he goes off the sidewalk and stands on his head in the street," and +so on for ten lines or more. After he has found his patron Phaedromus, he +is apparently so exhausted that he cries: "Hold me up, please, hold me up! +(_Wobbles and falls panting into Phaedromus' arms._) + +PH.... Get him a chair ... quick!" + +When Leonida enters (_As._ 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out +of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in _Trin._ 1008 ff., though his mission is +also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals! + +Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the +dissertation of Weissman, _De servi currentis persona apud comicos +Romanes_ (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the _modus operandi_ +is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,[125] but +offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:[126] "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist +ein RAtsel fur uns." LeGrand[127] follows Weise's conclusion that it is an +imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use, +while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: _agoranomus_, +_demarchus_, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from +fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the +device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been +performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,[128] but +makes use of it himself.[129] + +Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the +usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the +slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He +fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very +man he is so violently seeking. He cites as the genuine occurrences of the +_servus_ or _parasitus currens_, besides the passages mentioned above, +_Cap._ 781 ff., _Ep._ 1 ff., 192 ff., _Mer._ 111 ff., _Per._ 272 ff., +_St._ 274 ff. Furthermore, he argues convincingly that this was an +independent Roman development without a prototype on the Greek stage and +neatly refutes Weise and LeGrand by proving that there are no extant Greek +fragments sufficient to furnish a ground for any but the most tenuous +argument. Above all, he correctly interprets the poet's aim with the +dictum: "Praeterquam quod hac persona optime utitur ad actionem bene +continuandam id maxime spectat ut per eam _spectatorum risum_ captet." And +this from a German youth of twenty-two! + +It is in his attempt to explain the mechanism that we believe Weissman +fails. He essays an exegesis of each passage, though the separate +explanations are naturally similar. It will suffice to quote one, that to +_As._ 267 ff.: "Hoc nullo modo aliter mihi declarari posse videtur nisi +sic: Oratio Leonidae currentis maior est quam ut arbitrari possimus +currentem semper eum habuisse eam. Ex versu 290 Leonidam de celeritate sua +remisisse plane apparet. Quod semel solum eum fecisse cum non satis mihi +esse videatur, saepius--bis vel ter--per breve tempus eum cursum suum +interrupisse, circumspexisse, Libanum autem non spectavisse (hoc consilium +poetae erat, licentia poetica est) et hoc modo per totam scaenam cursum +suum direxisse arbitror." + +It will be observed that for lack of any tangible evidence he very +properly makes use of subjective reasoning. Now it has long been the +opinion of the writer that the maximum of comic effect (and that this was +the purpose of the _servus currens_ there can surely be no doubt) could +best be obtained by the actor's making a violent and frenzied pretense of +running while scarcely moving from the spot. Consider the ludicrous +spectacle of the rapidly moving legs and the flailing arms, with the +actor's face turned toward the audience, as he declaims sonorously of his +haste to perform his vital errand, while making but a snail's progress. +Truly then his plea of exhaustion would not be without excuse! This is an +explanation at once simpler, more potentially comic, more in accord with +what we predicate as the spirit of Plautus, and furthermore we have seen +roars of laughter created by the similar device of a low comedian in a +modern extravaganza. Taking advantage of the same subjective license, we +see nothing in Weissman's theory to offset our opinion. But, what is more, +our subjective reconstruction is given color by a shred of tangible +evidence. Suetonius (_Tib._ 38) refers to a popular quip on the emperor +that compares him to an actor on the classic Greek stage: "Biennio +continuo post ademptum imperium pedem porta non extulit; ... ut vulgo iam +per iocum Callip(p)ides vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem +mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est." That this Callipides was +the a1/2'IEuroI?I--III"I(R)I, mentioned by Xenophon (_Sym._ III. 11), Plutarch +(_Ages._ 21 and _Apophth. Lacon._: s. v. _Ages._), Cicyero (_Ad. Att._ +XIII. 12) and possibly by Aristotle (_Poet._ 26.), seems highly plausible. +Compare the _saltus fullonius_ (Sen. _Ep._ 15.4). + +Most amusing of all is Plautus' introduction of a parody on the parody, +when Mercury rushes in post-haste crying (_Amph._ 984 ff.): + +"Make way, give way, everybody, clear the way! I tell you all: don't you +get so bold as to stand in my road. For, egad! I'd like to know why I, a +god, shouldn't have as much right to threaten the rabble as a mere slave +in the comedies!" + +And perhaps _St._ 307 is a joke on the running slave: Sed spatium hoc +occidit: brevest curriculo: quam me paenitet? That violent haste was +considered a slavish trait is evidenced by _Poen._ 523-3. + + +2. Wilful blindness. + +In the scene recently quoted (_Cur._ 279 ff.), Curculio, after his violent +exertions in search of his patron, is for a time apparently unable to +discover him, though he is on the stage all the time. This species of +blindness must be wilfully designed as a burlesque effect and again finds +its echo in low comedy types of today. The breadth and depth of the Roman +stage alone will not account for this either; indeed, its very size could +be utilized to heighten the humor, as the actor peers hither and yon in +every direction but the right one. So Curculio (front) may pass directly +by Phaedromus (rear) without seeing him, to the huge delight of the +audience, and turn back again, while saying (301 ff.): + +"Is there anybody who can point out Phaedromus, my guardian angel, to me? +The matter's very urgent: I must find this chap at once. + +PALINURUS. (_To Phaedromus._) It's you he's looking for. + +PH. What do you say we speak to him? Hello, Curculio, I want you! + +CUR. (_Stopping and again looking vainly round._) Who's calling? Who says +"Curculio"? + +PH. Somebody that wants to see you. + +CUR. (_At last recognizing him when almost on top of him._) Ah! You don't +want to see me any more than I want to see you." + +Acanthio in _Mer._ 130 ff. is still more blind to the presence of Charinus +and raises a deal more fuss, as he enters in the wildest haste looking for +Charinus, who is of course in plain sight. Acanthio, with labored +breathing and the remark that he would never make a piper, probably passes +by Charinus and goes to the house. + +"AC. What am I standing here for, anyway? I'll make splinters of these +doors without a single qualm. (_Hammers violently. Charinus approaches, +vainly trying to attract his attention._) Open up, somebody! Where's my +master Charinus, at home or out? (_Still hammering._) Isn't anybody +supposed to have the job of tending door? + +CH. (_Shouting._) Here I am, Acanthio! You're looking for me, aren't you? + +AC. (_Still punishing the door._) I never saw such slovenly management. + +CH. (_Finally grabbing and shaking him._) What the deuce has got hold of +you?"[130] And so in the case of practically all the _servi currentes_. + +The opening scene of the _Per._ (13 ff.) between two slaves apparently +unable to distinguish each other's features from opposite sides of the +stage affords an opportunity for a similar species of farcical by-play. +Toxilus and Sagaristio stroll slowly in from the different side-entrances, +alternately soliloquizing. Suddenly, when probably fairly close, both look +up and peer curiously at each other: + +"TOX. (_Shading his eyes with his hand._) Who's that standing over there? + +SAG. Who's this standing over here? + +TOX. Looks like Sagaristio. + +SAG. I bet it's my friend Toxilus. + +TOX. He's the fellow, all right. + +SAG. That's the chap, I'm sure. + +TOX. I'll go over to him. + +SAG. I'll go up and speak to him. (_They draw closer._) + +TOX. Sagaristio, I hope the gods are good to you. + +SAG. Toxilus, I hope the gods give you everything you want. How are you? + +TOX. So so."[131] + +Note that this is _canticum_ and the effect of the two "sing-songing" +slaves on the audience must have been much the same as, upon us, the +spectacle of a vaudeville "duo," entering from opposite wings and singing +perchance a burlesque of grand opera at each other. + + +3. Adventitious entrance. + +This is of a piece with the above, but is usually due to a weakness of +composition, to the goddess IIII., who is the presiding deity of +the plots of New Comedy.[132] However, there are times when appreciable +fun can be extracted from this, if the actor speak in a bland jocular +tone, taking the audience into his confidence, as _Trin._ 400 f.: + +"PHILTO. But the door of the house to which I was going is opening. Isn't +that nice? Lesbonicus, the very man I'm looking for, is coming out with +his slave." + +And _Aul._ 176 f.: + +"MEGADORUS. I'd like to see Euclio, if he's at home. Ah, here he comes! +He's on his way home from some place or other."[133] + +We believe that enough has been said to prove that the favorite devices of +the lower types of modern stage-production form the back-bone of Plautus' +methods of securing his comic effects. Let us pass on without more ado to +a discussion of points that establish equally well that he was careless of +every other consideration but the eliciting of laughter. + + + + +II. Evidences of Loose Composition Which Prove a Disregard of Technique +and Hence Indicate that Entertainment Was the Sole Aim + + +A. _Solo speeches and passages_. + + +1. Asides and soliloquies. + +As it is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of stage +characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic +composition have always been recognized as the only feasible conventional +mode of conveying them. According to the strictest canons of dramatic art, +the ideally constructed play should be entirely free from this weakness. +Mr. Gillette is credited with having written in "Secret Service" the first +aside-less play. But this is abnormal and rather an affectation of +technical skill. The aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of +Plautus we + +have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends the +conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition, pointing plainly +to a poverty of technique and hence further strengthening the conception +of entertainment as the author's sole purpose. And often too, as we shall +point out, this very form can be used for amusement. To attempt a complete +collection of these passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, +comprising a formidable percentage of all the verses. + +And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and spiritless as +merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual conversation with +himself that shows a noble regard for the value of his own society. This +is attested by many passages, such as _Amph._ 381: Etiam muttis?; _Aul._ +52: At ut scelesta sola secum murmurat; _Aul._ 190: Quid tu solus tecum +loquere?; _Bac._ 773: Quis loquitur prope?; _Cap._ 133: Quis hic +loquitur?[134] + +One character standing aside and commenting on the main action is a +familiar situation and often productive of good fun. An excellent example +is _Most._ 166 ff., where Philematium is performing her conventionally +out-door toilet with the aid of her duenna Scapha. Philolaches stands on +the other side of the stage and interjects remarks: + +"PHILEM. Look at me please, Scapha dear; is this gown becoming? I want to +please Philolaches, the apple of my eye.... + +SC. Why deck yourself out, when your charm lies in your charming manners? +It isn't gowns that lovers love, but what bellies out the gowns. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) God bless me, but Scapha's clever; the hussy has +horse-sense.... + +PHILEM. (_Pettishly._) Well, then? + +SC. What is it? + +PHILEM. Look me over anyhow and see how this becomes me. + +SC. The grace of your figure makes everything you wear becoming. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) Now for that speech, Scapha, I'll give you some present +before the day is out--and so on for a whole long scene. + +The quips are amusing in an evident burlesque spirit. Such a scene was +easily done on the broad Roman stage, whether it was a heritage from the +use of the orchestra in Greek comedy, as LeGrand thinks,[135] or not. In +similar vein, clever by-play on the part of the cunning Palaestrio would +make a capital scene out of _Mil. 1037 ff._[136] A perfectly unnatural but +utterly amusing scene of the same type is _Amph. 153-262_, where Mercury +apostrophizes his fists, and the quaking Sosia (cross-stage) is frightened +to a jelly at the prospect of his early demise. In Cap. 966, Ilegio, staid +gentleman that he is, introduces an exceeding "rough" remark in the middle +of a serious scene. The aside of Pseudolus in _Ps. 636 f._ could be +rendered as a good-natured burlesque as follows: + +"HARPAX. What's your name? + +PS. (_Hopping forward and addressing audience with hand over mouth._) The +pander has a slave named Surus. I'll say I'm he. (_Hopping back and +addressing Harpax._) I'm Surus." Many other scenes were doubtless rendered +by one character's thus stepping aside and confiding his ideas to the +spectators, as for example _Aul. 194 ff._ and _Trin. 895 ff._ Often our +characters blurt out their inmost thoughts to the public, as in _Cas. 937 +ff._, with eavesdroppers conveniently placed, else what would become of +the plot? + +The soliloquy is constantly used to keep the audience acquainted with the +advance of the plot[137], or to paint in narrative intervening events that +connect the loose joints of the action. This is of course wholly +inartistic, but may often find its true office in keeping a noisy, +turbulent and uneducated audience aware of "what is going on." In many +cases the soliloquy is in the nature of a reflection on the action and +seems to bear all the ear-marks of a heritage from the original function +of the tragic chorus[138]. It devolved upon the actor by sprightly mimicry +to relieve, in these scenes, the tedium that appeals to the reader. So in +_Cap._ 909 ff. the _canticum_ of the _puer_ becomes more than a mere +stopgap, if he acts out vividly the violence of Ergasilus; and in _Bac._ +1067 ff. the soliloquy would acquire humor, if confidentially directed at +the audience. In _As._ 127 ff., as Argyrippus berates the _lena_ within, +it must be delivered with an abundance of pantomime. + + +2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + +Frequently the soliloquy takes the form of a long solo passage directed at +the audience, while the action halts for a whole scene to allow the actor +to regale his public with the poet's views on the sins of society, +economic topics of the day, or topics of the by-gone days in Athens, and +the like. The resemblance to the interpolated song and dance of musical +comedy is most striking. The comparison is the more apt, as about +two-thirds of the illustrative scenes referred to in the next paragraph +are in _canticum_. It is a pity that the comic chorus had disappeared, or +the picture were complete. That it is often on the actor's initial +appearance that he sings his song or speaks his piece, strengthens the +resemblance. But this is a natural growth under the influence of two +publics, the Greek and the Roman, notably fond of declamation and oratory. +LeGrand believes this a characteristic directly derived from a narrative +form of Middle Comedy embodied in certain extant fragments.[139] + +The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues +of the loyal slave are extolled[140], or the knavery of the cunning +slave[141]. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the +decline of his profession[142], or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in +haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food[143]. Bankers, lawyers +and panders come in for their share of satire[144]. Our favorite topic +today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the +boards of ancient Athens and Rome[145]. In _Mil._ 637 ff, Periplecomenus +descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The +delights or pains of love[146], the ruminations of old age[147], marriage +reform[148] and divorce[149], the views of _meretrices_ and their victims +on the arts of their profession[150], the habits of cooks[151], the pride +of valor and heroic deeds[152] are fruitful subjects. In _Cur._ 462 ff. +the _choragus_ interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the +manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of +dreams[153], and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a +house[154]. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in _Rud._ 185 ff., +which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's +Chorus (_Rud._ 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to +intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at +all. In this category also belong the revels of the drunken Pseudolus with +his song and dance[155], and the final scene of the _St._[156], where, the +action of the slender plot over, the comedy slaves royster and dance with +the harlot. When Ballio drives his herd before him, as he berates them +merrily to the tune of a whip, we have an energetic and effective +scene[157]. + + +3. Direct address of the audience. + +It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of +the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of +dramatic production (v. Part I, ASec. 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside +and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on +terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the +frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct +address of the audience, when they are called by name. In _Truc._ 482 +Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum +praedicem.... In _Poen Truc._ 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic, +spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the +action of the _Ps._ (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi +hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (_Amph._ 449-550 passim), probably +with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain +the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the +close of the _Men._ (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites +the spectators to attend. + +When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild +lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (_Aul._ 715 ff.): + +"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that +stole it. (_Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking +"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him._) What do _you_ say? I know +I can trust _you_. I can tell by your face you're honest. (_To the whole +audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue._) What's the matter? +What are you laughing at?" etc. + +MoilA"re has imitated this scene very closely in _L'Avare_ (IV. 7), with a +super-Plautine profusion of verbiage. + +In _Mil._ 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal +conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the +throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid, +pointed pantomime: + +"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (_To audience, pointing to +Palaestrio._) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in +anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would +summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his +left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha! +He whacks his right thigh!" etc. + +It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in _Amph._ 861 ff. strolls in and +speaks his little piece to the pit: + +"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the +fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and +become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."[158] + +Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (_de Com._ III. +6)[159]: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam +loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum. + +Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole +_grex_, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the +plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today[160], +unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was +over. + + + +B. _Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition_. + + +We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies, +contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in +his _Plautinische Studien_. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the +situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus' +style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is +often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that +Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with +more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at +intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently. + + +1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + +Strong evidence of loose construction and lack of a technical dramatic +ideal is contained in the large number of scenes padded out with pointless +badinage, often tiresome, often wholly episodical in nature, as the +monodies, and putting for a time a complete check on the plot. The most +striking of these is _Aul._ 631 ff., when Euclio, suspecting Strobilus of +the theft of his gold, pounces upon him and belabors him: + +"STR. (_Howling and dancing and making violent efforts to free himself._) +What the plague has got hold of you? What have you to do with me, you +dotard? Why pick on me? Why are you grabbing me? Don't beat me! (_Succeeds +in breaking loose._) + +EUC. (_Shaking stick at him._) You first-class jailbird, do you dare ask +me again? You're not a thief, but three thieves rolled into one! + +STR. (_Whining and nursing bruises_) What did I steal from you? + +EUC. (_Still threatening._) Give it back here, I say? + +STR. (_Trembling and edging off._) What is it you want me to give back? + +EUC. (_Watching him narrowly._) You ask? + +STR. I tell you, I didn't take a thing from you. + +EUC. (_Impatiently._) All right, but hand over what you did take! +(_Pause._) Well, well! + +STR. Well, what? + +EUC. You can't get away with it. + +STR. (_Bolder._) Look here, what do you want?... + +EUC. (_Angrier and angrier._) Hand it over, I say! Stop quibbling! I'm not +trifling now! + +STR. Now what shall I hand over? Speak out! Why don't you give the thing a +name? I swear I never touched or handled anything of yours. + +EUC. Put out your hands. + +STR. There you are! I've done so. See them? + +EUC. (_Scrutinizing his hands closely._) All right. Now put out the third +too. + +STR. (_Aside, growing angry._) The foul fiends of madness have possessed +this doddering idiot. (_Majestically._) Confess you wrong me? + +EUC. (_Dancing in frenzy._) To the utmost, since I don't have you strung +up! And that's what'll happen too, if you don't confess. + +STR. (_Shouting._) Confess what? + +EUC. What did you steal from here? (_Pointing to his house._) + +STR. Strike me if I stole anything of yours, (_Aside to audience_) and if +I don't wish I'd made off with it. + +EUC. Come now, shake out your cloak. + +STR. (_Doing so._) As you please. + +EUC. (_Stooping to see if anything falls out._) Haven't got it under your +shirt? (_Pounces upon him and ransacks clothing._) + +STR. (_Resignedly._) Search me, if you like;" and so on with "Give it +back," What is it? "Put out your right hand," etc., etc. + +MoliA"re again imitated almost slavishly (_L'Avare_, V. 3). Longwinded as +the thing is, it is clear that the liveliness of the action not only +relieves it, but could make it immensely amusing. At least it is superior +to the average vaudeville skit of the present day. It must not be +forgotten too that, as Plautus was in close touch with his players, he +could have done much of the stage-directing himself and might even have +worked up some parts to fit the peculiar talents of certain actors, as is +regularly done in the modern "tailormade drama." + +There are numbers of scenes of the sort quoted above, where the apparent +monotony and verbal padding could be converted into coin for laughter by +the clever comedian. _Amph._ 551-632 could be worked up poco a poco +crescendo e animato; in _Poen._ 504 ff., Agorastocles and the _Advocati_ +bandy extensive rhetoric; in _Trin._ 276 ff., the action is suspended +while Philto proves himself Polonius' ancestor in his long-winded +sermonizing to Lysiteles and his insistent _laudatio temporis acti_; in +_St._ 326 ff., as Pinacium, the _servus currens_, finally succeeds in +"arriving" out of breath (he has been running since 274), bursting with +the vast importance of his news, he postpones the delivery of his tidings +till 371 while he indulges in irrelevant badinage. This is pure +buffoonery. And we can instance scene upon scene where the self-evident +padding can either furnish an excuse for agile histrionism, or become +merely tiresome in its iteration[161]. The danger of the latter was even +recognized by our poet, when, at the end of much word-fencing, Acanthio +asks Charinus if his desire to talk quietly is prompted by fear of waking +"the sleeping spectators" (_Mer._ 160). This was probably no exaggeration. + +When the padding takes the form of mutual "spoofing," the scene assumes an +uncanny likeness to the usual lines of a modern "high-class vaudeville +duo." Note Leonida and Libanus, the merry slaves of the _As._ in 297 ff., +Toxilus and Sagaristio in the _Per._, Milphio and Syncerastus in the +_Poen._ (esp. 851 ff.), Pseudolus and Simia in _Ps._ 905 ff., Trachalio +and Gripus in _Rud._ 938 ff., Stichus and Sagarinus in the final scene of +the _St._, and in _Ps._ 1167 ff. Harpax is unmercifully "chaffed" by Simo +and Ballio. Or, in view of the surrounding drama, we might better compare +these roysterers to the "team" of low comedians often grafted on a musical +comedy, where their antics effectually prevent the tenuous plot from +becoming vulgarly prominent. + + +2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + +The Plautine character is never a consistent human character. He is rather +a personified trait, a broad caricature on magnified foibles of some type +of mankind. There is never any character development, no chastening. We +leave our friends as we found them. They may exhibit the outward +manifestation of grief, joy, love, anger, but their marionette nature +cannot be affected thereby. That we should find inconsistencies in +character portrayal under these circumstances, is not only to be expected, +but is a mathematical certainty. The poet cares not; they must only dance, +dance, dance! + +Persistent moralizers, such as Megaronides in the _Trin._, who serve but +as a foil from whom the revelry "sticks fiery off," descend themselves at +moments to bandying the merriest quips (Scene I.). In _Ep._ 382 ff., the +moralizing of Periphanes is counterfeit coinage. Gilded youths such as +Calidorus of the _Ps._ begin by asking (290 f.): "Could I by any chance +trip up father, who is such a wide-awake old boy?", and end by rolling +their eyes upward with: "And besides, if I could, filial piety prevents." +The Menaechmi twins are eminently respectable, but they cheerfully purloin +mantles, bracelets and purses. Hanno of the _Poen._ should according to +specifications be a staid _pater familias_, but Plautus imputes to him a +layer of the _Punica fides_ that he knew his public would take delight in +"booing." And the old gentleman enters into a plot (1090) to chaff +elaborately his newly-found long-lost daughters, whom he has spent a +lifetime in seeking, before disclosing his identity to them (1211 ff.). +Saturio's daughter in the _Per._ is at one time the very model of maidenly +modesty and wisdom (336 ff.), at others an accomplished intriguante and +demi-mondaine (549 ff., esp. 607 ff.). When the plot of the _Ep._ is +getting hopelessly tangled, of a sudden it is magically resolved as by a +deus ex machina and everybody decides to "shake and make up." + +Slaves ever fearful of the mills or quarries are yet prone to the most +abominable "freshness" towards their masters. The irrepressible Pseudolus +in reading a letter from Calidorus' mistress says (27 ff.): + +"What letters! Humph! I'm afraid the Sibyl is the only person capable of +interpreting these. + +"CAL. Oh why do you speak so rudely of those lovely letters written on a +lovely tablet with a lovely hand? + +"PS. Well, would you mind telling me if hens have hands? For these look to +me very like hen-scratches. + +"CAL. You insulting beast! Read, or return the tablet! + +"PS. Oh, I'll read all right, all right. Just focus your mind on this. + +"CAL. _(Pointing vacantly to his head._) Mind? It's not here. + +"PS. What! Go get one quick then![162]." + +In order that the machinations of these cunning slaves may mature, it is +usually necessary to portray their victims as the veriest fools. Witness +the cock-and-bull story by which Stasimus, in _Trin._ 515 ff., convinces +Philto that his master's land is an undesirable real estate prospect. +Dordalus in _Per._ (esp. 493 ff.) exhibits a certain amount of caution in +face of Toxilus' "confidence game," but that he should be victimized at +all stamps him as a caricature. + +LeGrand is certainly right in pronouncing the cunning slave a pure +convention, adapted from the Greek and so unsuitable to Roman society that +even Plautus found it necessary to apologize for their unrestrained +gambols, on the ground that 'that was the way they did in Athens!'[163] + +Certain of the characters are caricatures _par excellence_, embodiments of +a single attribute. Leaena of the _Cur._ is the perpetually thirsty +_lena_: "Wine, wine, wine!"[164] Cleaerata of the _As._ is a plain +caricature, but is exceptionally cleverly drawn as the _lena_ with the +mordant tongue. Phronesium's thirst in the _Truc._, is gold, gold, gold! +The _danista_ of the _Most._ finds the whole expression of his nature in +the cry of "Faenus!"[165] Assuredly, he is the progenitor of the modern +low-comedy Jew: "I vant my inderesd!" Calidorus of the _Ps._ and +Phaedromus of the _Cur._ are but bleeding hearts dressed up in clothes. +The _milites gloriosi_ are all cartoons;[166] and the perpetually +moralizing pedagogue Lydus of the _Bac._ becomes funny, instead of +egregiously tedious, if acted as a broad burlesque. + +The panders[167] are all manifest caricatures, too, especially the famous +Ballio of the _Ps._, whom even Lorenz properly describes as "der +Einbegriff aller Schlechtigkeit," though he deprecates the part as "eine +etwas zu grell and zu breit angefuhrte Schilderung."[168] "Ego scelestus," +says Ballio himself.[169] He calmly and unctuously pleads guilty to every +charge of "liar, thief, perjurer," etc., and can never be induced to lend +an ear until the cabalistic charm "Lucrum!" is pronounced (264). + +The famous miser Euclio has given rise to an inordinate amount of +unnecessary comment. Lamarre[170] is at great pains to defend Plautus from +"le reproche d'avoir introduit dans la peinture de son principal +personnage <Euclio> des traits outres et hors de nature." Indeed, he +possesses few traits in accord with normal human nature. But curiously +enough, as we learn from the _argumenta_ (in view of the loss of the +genuine end of the _Aul._), Euclio at the _denouement_ professes himself +amply content to bid an everlasting farewell to his stolen hoard, and +bestows his health and blessing on "the happy pair." This apparent +conversion, with absolutely nothing dramatic to furnish an introduction or +pretext for it, has caused Langen to depart from his usual judicious +scholarship. After much hair-splitting he solemnly pronounces it +"psychologically possible."[171] LeGrand points out[172] that his change +of heart is not a conversion, but merely a professed reconciliation to the +loss. But there is no need for all this pother. The simple truth is that +Plautus was through with his humorous complication and was ready to top it +off with a happy ending. It is the forerunner of modern musical comedy, +where the grouchy millionaire papa is propitiated at the last moment +(perhaps by the pleadings of the handsome widow), and similarly consents +to his daughter's marriage with the handsome, if impecunious, ensign. + + +3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + +Lorenz with commendable insight has pointed out[173] that IIII., the +goddess of Chance, is the motive power of the Plautine plot, as +distinguished from the I1/4I?a?-II+- of tragedy. A student of Plautus readily +recognizes this point. The entire development of the _Rud._ and _Poen._ +exemplifies it in the highest degree. Hanno in the _Poen._, in particular, +meets first of all, in the strange city of Calydon, the very man he is +looking for! When Pseudolus is racking his wits for a stratagem, Harpax +obligingly drops in with all the requisites. The ass-dealer in the _As._ +is so ridiculously fortuitous that it savors of childlike naivetA(C). + +Characters are perpetually entering just when wanted. We hear "Optume +advenis" and "Eccum ipsum video" so frequently that they become as +meaningless as "How d'ye do!"[174]; though, as shown above[175], even this +very weakness could at moments be made the pretext for a mild laugh. + +For a complete catalogue of the formidable mass of inconsistencies and +contradictions that throng the plays, the reader is referred to the +_Plautinische Studien_ of Langen, as aforesaid. It will be of passing +interest to recall one or two. In _Cas._ 530 Lysidamus goes to the "forum" +and returns _32 verses later_ complaining that he has wasted the whole day +standing "advocate" for a kinsman. But this difficulty is resolved, if we +accept the theory of Prof. Kent (TAPA. XXXVII), that the change of acts +which occurs in between, is a conventional excuse for any lapse of time, +in Roman comedy as well as in Greek tragedy. But it is extremely doubtful +that Prof. Kent succeeds in establishing the truth of this view in the +case of Roman comedy. We see no convincing reason for departing from the +accepted theory, as expressed by Duff (_A Literary History of Rome_, pp. +196-7): "In Plautus' time a play proceeded continuously from the lowering +of the curtain at the beginning to its rise at the end, save for short +breaks filled generally by simple music from the _tibicen_ (_Ps._ 573). The +division into scenes is ancient and regularly indicated in manuscripts of +Plautus and Terence." + +Langen seems surprised[176] when Menaechmus Sosicles, on beholding his +twin for the first time (_Men._ 1062), though he was the object of a six +years' search, wades through some twenty lines of amazed argument before +Messenio (with marvelous cunning!) hits on the true explanation. It is of +course conceived in a burlesque spirit. What would become of the comic +action if Menaechmus II simply walked up to Menaechmus I and remarked: +"Hello, brother, don't you remember me?" + +That the seven months of _Most._ 470 miraculously change into six months +in 954 is the sort of mistake possible to any writer. In the _Amph._ 1053 +ff., Alcmena is in labor apparently a few minutes after consorting with +Jupiter; but the change of acts _may_ account for the lapse of time, here +as in _Cas._ 530 ff. + +But after the exhaustive work of Langen, we need linger no longer in this +well-ploughed field. We repeat, the evidence all points irresistibly to +the conclusion that Plautus is wholly careless of his dramatic machinery +so long as it moves. The laugh's the thing! + +The _St._ is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' +mind. The virtue of the Penelope-like Pamphila and Panegyris proves too +great a strain and unproductive of merriment. The topic gradually vanishes +as the drolleries of the parasite Gelasimus usurp the boards. He in turn +gives way to the hilarious buffoonery of the two slaves. The result is a +succession of loose-jointed scenes[177]. The _Aul._ too is fragmentary and +episodical. The _Trin._ is insufferably long-winded, with insufficient +comic accompaniment. The _Cis._ is a wretched piece of vacuous +inanity[178]. + + +4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + +Plautus' frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the +interjection of Roman references--what De Quincey calls "anatopism"--is +another item of careless composition too well known to need more than +passing mention. The repeated appearance of the _Velabrum,_[179] or +_Capitolium,_[180] or _circus,_[181] or _senatus_, or _dictator_,[182] or +_centuriata comitio,_[183] or _plebiscitum,_[184] and a host of others in +the Greek investiture, becomes after a while a matter of course to us. We +see however no need to quarrel with _forum_; it was Plautus' natural +translation for a1/4EuroI cubedI?II. But it all adds inevitably and relentlessly to +our argument--Plautus was heedless of the petty demands of technique and +realism. His attention was too much occupied in devising means of +amusement. + +The occasional topical allusions belong in the same category as above; for +example, the allusion to the Punic war (_Cis._ 202),[185] the _lex +Platoria_ (_Ps._ 303, _Rud._ 1381-2), Naevius' imprisonment (_Mil. _ +211-2), Attalus of Pergamum (_Per._ 339, _Poen._ 664), Antiochus the Great +(_Poen._ 693-4). Again we have a modern parallel: the topics of the day +are a favorite resort of the lower types of present-day stage production. + + +5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + +But the most extreme stage of intimate jocularity is reached when the last +sorry pretense of drama is discarded and the dramatic machinery itself +becomes the subject of jest. So in the _Cas._ 1006 the cast is warned: +Hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. In _Per._ 159-60 Saturio +wants to know where to get his daughter's projected disguise: + +"SAT. IEuroIOEII muI1/2 ornamenta? + +TOX. Abs chorago sumito. Dare debet: praebenda aediles locaverunt." (Cf. +_Trin._ 858.) + +Even the _Ps._, heralded as dramatically one of the best of the plays, +yields the following: Horum caussa haec agitur spectatorum fabula (720); +hanc fabulam dum transigam (562) and following speech; verba quae in +comoediis solent lenoni dici (1081-2); quam in aliis comoediis fit (1240); +quin vocas spectatores simul? (1332). In _St._ 715 ff., the action of the +play is interrupted while the boisterous slaves give the musician a drink. +From the _Poen._ comes a gem that will bear quoting at length (550 ff.): + + Omnia istaec scimus iam nos, si hi spectatores sciant. + Horunc hic nunc causa haec agitur spectatorum fabula: + Hos te satius est docere ut, quando agas, quid agas sciant. + Nos tu ne curassis: scimus rem omnem, quippe omnes simul. + Didicimus tecum una, ut respondere possimus tibi.[186] + +This is the final degeneration into the realm of pure foolery. It is a +patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content." Once +more we venture to point a parallel on the modern stage, in the vaudeville +comedian who interlards his dancing with comments such as: "I hate to do +this, but it's the only way I can earn a living." + + +6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +We must touch finally, but very lightly, on the commonplaces of stock +plots and characters. The whole array of puppets is familiar to us all: +the cunning slave, the fond or licentious papa, the spendthrift son and +their inevitable confrA"res appear in play after play with relentless +regularity. The close correspondence of many plots is also too familiar to +need discussion.[187] The glimmering of originality in the plot of the +_Cap._ called for special advertisement.[188] In the light of the +foregoing evidence, the pertinence of these facts for us, we reiterate, is +that Plautus merely adopted the New Comedy form as his comic medium, and, +while leaving his originals in the main untouched, took what liberties he +desired with them, with the single-minded purpose of making his public +laugh.[189] + + + + +In Conclusion + + + +In contrast to these grotesqueries certain individual scenes and plays +stand out with startling distinctness as possessed of wit and humor of +high order. The description by Cleaereta of the relations of lover, +mistress and _lena_ is replete with biting satire (_As._ 177 ff., 215 +ff.). The finale of the same play is irresistibly comic. In _Aul. _ 731 +ff. real sparks issue from the verbal cross-purposes of Euclio and +Lyconides over the words "pot" and "daughter." The _Bac._ is an excellent +play, marred by padding. When the sisters chaff the old men as "sheep" +(1120 ff.), the humor is naturalistic and human. The _Cas._, uproarious +and lewd as it is, becomes excruciatingly amusing if the mind is open to +appreciating humor in the broadest spirit. The discourse of Periplecomenus +(_Mil._ 637 ff.) is marked by homely satirical wisdom. In the _Ps._ the +badinage of the name-character is appreciably superior to most of the +incidental quips. Pseudolus generously compliments Charinus on beating him +at his own game of repartee (743). When Weise (_Die Komodien des Plautus_, +p. 181) describes _Ps._ IV. 7 as "eine der ausgezeichnetsten Scenen, die +es irgend giebt," his superlative finds a better justification than usual. + +When Menaechmus Sosicles sees fit "to put an antic disposition on," we +have a scene which, while eminently farcical, is signally clever and +dramatically effective. Witness the imitation by Shakespeare in _The +Comedy of Errors_, IV. 4, and in spirit by modern farce; for instance, in +_A Night Off_, when the staid old Professor feels the recrudescence of his +youthful aspirations to attend a prize-fight, he simulates madness as a +prelude to dashing wildly away. + +The following from _Rud._ (160 ff.) is theatrical but tremendously +effective and worthy of the highest type of drama. Sceparnio, looking +off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat. He +addresses Daemones: + +"SC. But O Palaemon! Hallowed comrade of Neptune ... what scene meets my +eye? + +DAE. What do you see? + +SC. I see two poor lone women sitting in a bit of a boat. How the poor +creatures are being tossed about! Hoorah! Hoorah! Fine! The waves are +whirling their boat past the rocks into the shallows. A pilot couldn't +have steered straighter. I swear I never saw waves more high. They're safe +if they escape those breakers. Now, now, danger! One is overboard! Ah, the +water's not deep: she'll swim out in a minute. Hooray! See the other one, +how the wave tossed her out! She is up, she's on her way shoreward; she's +safe!" + +Sceparnio clasps his hands, jumps up and down, grasps the shaking Daemones +convulsively and communicates his excitement to the audience. It is a +piece of thrilling theatrical declamation and must have wrought the +spectators up to a high pitch. In general, the _Rud._ is a superior play. + +In _Cas._ 229 ff. there is developed a piece of faithful and entertaining +character-drawing, as the old rouA(C) Lysidamus fawns upon his militant +spouse Cleostrata, with the following as its climax: + +"CLE. (_Sniffling._) Ha! Whence that odor of perfumes, eh? + +LYS. The jig's up." + +In the whole panorama of Plautine personae the portrayal of Alcmena in the +_Amph._ is unique, for she is drawn with absolute sincerity and speaks +nothing out of character. Certainly no parody can be made out of the nobly +spoken lines 633-52, which lend a genuine air of tragedy to the professed +_tragi(co)comoedia_ (59, 63); unless we think of the lady's unwitting +compromising condition (surely too subtle a thought for the original +audience). Note also the exalted tone of 831-4, 839-42. But all through +this scene Sosia is prancing around, prating nonsense, and playing the +buffoon, so that perchance even here the nobility becomes but a foil for +the revelry. And in 882-955 his royal godship Jove clowns it to the lady's +truly minted sentiments. + +No, we are far from attempting to deny to Plautus all dramatic technique, +skill in character painting and cleverness of situation, but he was never +hide-bound by any technical considerations. He felt free to break through +the formal bonds of his selected medium at will. He had wit, esprit and +above all a knowledge of his audience; and of human nature generally, or +else he could not have had such a trenchant effect on the literature of +all time. + +At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive +estimate of the mise-en-scA"ne. Enough has been said, we believe, in our +discussion of the criticism and acting and in our analysis of his dramatic +values, to show that the aberrations of Plautus' commentators have been +due to their failure to reach the crucial point: the absolute license with +which his plays were acted and intended to be acted is at once the +explanation of their absurdities and deficiencies. This was true in a far +less degree of Terence, who dealt in plots more _stataria_ and less +_motoria_.[190] Though using the same store of models, he endeavored to +produce an artistically constructed play, which should make some honest +effort to "hold the mirror up to nature." We are convinced that even his +extensive use of _contaminatio_ was designed to evolve a better plot. The +extravagance of Plautus is toned down in Terence to a reasonable +verisimilitude and a far more "gentlemanly" mode of fun-making that was +appropriate to one in the confidence of the aristocratic Scipionic circle. +But when all is said and done, Terence lacks the vivid primeval +"Volkswitz" of Plautus. We dare only skirt the edges of this extensive +subject.[191] + +Above all, our noble jester _succeeds_ in his mission of laugh-producing. +But his methods are not possessed in the main of dramatic respectability. +And it must be apparent that our analysis and citations have covered the +bulk of the plays. + +We conclude then that the prevalence of inherent defects of composition +and the lack of serious motive, coupled with the author's constant and +conscious employment of the implements of broad farce and extravagant +burlesque, impel us inevitably to the conclusion that we have before us a +species of composition which, while following a dramatic form, is not +inherently drama, but a variety of entertainment that may be described as +a compound of comedy, farce and burlesque; while the accompanying music, +which would lend dignity to tragedy or grand opera, merely heightens the +humorous effect and lends the color of musical comedy or opera +bouffe.[192] KArting is right in calling it mere entertainment, Mommsen is +right in calling it caricature, but we maintain that it is professedly +mere entertainment, that it is consciously caricature and if it fulfills +these functions we have no right to criticise it on other grounds. If we +attempt a serious critique of it as drama, we have at once on our hands a +capricious mass of dramatic unrealities and absurdities: bombast, +burlesque, extravagance, horse-play, soliloquies, asides, direct address +of the audience, pointless quips, and so on. The minute we accept it as a +consciously conceived medium for amusement only, we have a highly +effective theatrical mechanism for the unlimited production of laughter. +And, in fact, every shred of evidence, however scant, goes to show that +the histrionism must have been conceived in a spirit of extreme +liveliness, abandon and extravagance in gesture and declamation, that +would not confine the actor to faithful portrayal in character, but would +allow him scope and license to resort to any means whatsoever to bestir +laughter amongst a not over-stolid audience. + + + + + + + +Footnotes + + + +[1]: E.g., Casina in the _Cas._, Silenium in the _Cis._, +Planesium in the _Cur._, Adelphasium and Anterastylis in the +_Poen._, Palaestra in the _Rud._ + +[2]: V. infra, part II, sec. I. B. I. + +[3]: E.g., Lorcnz's Introd. to _Most._ and _Pseud._ V. infra, +part I, ASec. i. + +[4]: We are not concerned in this question with technical discussion as to +the position of the banquet table on the stage, the nature of the dog of +the _Most._ and the like, but with the delivery and movements of the +actors themselves. + +[5]: De Off. I. 29.104. + +[6]: X. 1.99. Cf. Ritschl's citations of Varro: _Parerga_, p. 71 ff. +Cf. Epig. quoted by Varro and attributed to Plautus himself, ap. Gel. +N.A., I. 24.1-3. But that this was a patent literary forgery is proved by +Gudeman in TAPA. XXV, p. 160. + +[7]: N.A., VI. 17.4. + +[8]: I.7.17. + +[9]: XIX. 8.6. + +[10]: _A.P._, 270 ff. Cf. _Ep._ II. I.170 ff. and Fay, ed. +_Most._, Intro. ASec. 2. + +[11]: _De Com._ III. 6, Donatus ed. Wessner. For full quotation, v. +infra, Part II, Sec. II. A. 3, Note 50. + +[12]: _Excerpta de Com._ V. 1. + +[13]: For a complete list, see _Testimonia_ prefixed to Goetz and +Schoell's ed. of Plautus. + +[14]: P. 217 M. + +[15]: 404, 412, 823. + +[16]: Ed. _Men._ (Leipzig, 1891), ad 410. + +[17]: Cf. opening lines of Eurip. _Iph. in Taur._ + +[18]: Pp. 13--19. V. Langen, _Plautinische Studien_, pp. 139-142. Cf. +also comments of Brix to _Menaechmi_ passim. + +[19]: Op. cit., p. 146. + +[20]: Cf. Gel. N. A., III. 3-14 ff. + +[21]: V. infra, Part II, under 'Careless Composition'. + +[22]: _Beschluss der Critik iiber die Gefangenen des Plaulus_. + +[23]: 23: Op. cit., fin. + +[24]: _La Litterature latine depuis la fondation de Rome_ (Paris, +1899), Bk. II. chap. 3. sec. 15, p. 362. + +[25]: Introd. to ed. _Mosl._, p. 37. + +[26]: Bk. II, Ch. 4. + +[27]: Lamarre, op. cit., Bk. II, Ch. 4, Sec. 12, p. 475. + +[28]: _ThA(C)Actre de Plaute_ (Paris, 1845), Introd. p. 18. + +[29]: _Opuscula Philologica_, Vol. II p. 743. + +[30]: _Opusc._ II. 733 ff. + +[31]: In _Opusc._ III. 455, Ritschl relates that Varro wrote six books +on drama, with Plautus as the especial object of his interest: _de +originibus scaenicis, de scaenicis actionibus, de actibus scaenicis, de +personis, de descriptionibus, quaestiones Plautinae_. + +[32]: Langen, op. cit., p. 127. + +[33]: _Opusc._ II. 746. + +[34]: Op. cit., p. 165. + +[35]: Op. cit., p. 167. + +[36]: _Mil._ 522 ff. (All citations from Plautus are based on the text +and numbering of the lines in the text of Goetz and Schoell). + +[37]: _History of Rome_, (Transl. Dickson, Scribner, N.Y., 1900), Vol. +III, p. 143. + +[38]: E.g., LeGrand, _Daos_, V. supra. Cf. also N. 80, Part II. + +[39]: P. 190, trans. John Black (London, 1846), Lecture XIV. + +[40]: _Theatre of the Greeks_, p. 443. + +[41]: P. 197. + +[42]: Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30. + +[43]: V. supra. + +[44]: P. 620. But cf. Note 37. + +[45]: Cf. further Plessis, _La poA(C)sie latine_ (Paris, 1909), p. 54 +ff.; Patin, _A%tudes sur la poA(C)sie latine_ (Paris, 1869), Vol. II, p. +224 ff.; Ribbeck, _Geschichte der rAmischen Dichtung_ (Stuttgart, +1894), Vol. I, p. 57 ff.; Tyrrell, _Early Latin Poetry_, p. 44 ff. A +very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, _A Literary History of +Rome_ (N.Y., 1909), p. 183 ff. + +[46]: _History of Rome_, Vol. III, p. 139. Cf. note 37. + +[47]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 28-9. + +[48]: Prol. _Poen._, II ff. + +[49]: _Plaudere_, IEuroII"II1/2, _sibilare_ or _exsibilare, explodere, +eicere_ were expressions used to indicate approval or disapproval. +Cf. the discussion of Oehmichen, article _BA1/4hnenwesen_ in Von MA1/4ller's +_Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, 5ter Band, 3te +Abteilung, ASec. 73. 2, p. 271. + +[50]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 36 ff. + +[51]: Cf. Tac. _Ann._ I. 77. V. Oehmichen, op. cit., ASec. 39.3, p. 220. + +[52]: V. Prol. _Amph._ 52-3: + + Quid contraxistis frontem? + Quia tragoediam Dixi futuram hanc? + +[53]: _Parad._ III. 2.26. Cf. _Or._ 51.173, _de Or._ III. +50.196: _"theatra tota reclamant_"; Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.200 ff.; +Suet. _Nero_, 24.1. + +[54]: Cic. _de Or._ I.61.259, I.27.124. + +[55]: _Hist. Rome_, ed. cit., Vol. III, p. 140. + +[56]: _Cist._ 785: Qui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet. Cf. +_Trin._ 990. _Amph._ 83-4, (if this is not merely an imitation +of the Greek original). + +[57]: Tac. _Ann._ 1.77. + +[58]: _Amph._ 65 ff., _Poen._ 36 ff., Ter. _Phor._ 16 ff., +Cic. _ad Att._ IV. 15.6, Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.181. + +[59]: _Cas._ 17 ff., _Trin._ 706 ff. But others argue that these +passages are only translations from the Greek. V. Leo in _Hermes_, +1883, p. 561, F. Ostermayer, _De hist. fab. in com. Pl._ (Greifswald, +1884), p. 7. Ritschl (_Parerga_, p. 229) argues that the passages +refer to cases of extraordinary public approval, not to formal contests. +Cf. Var. _L.L._ V. 178. + +[60]: Cic. _pro. Ros. Com._ 10.28-9, Plin. _N. H._ 7.39.128, Dio +77.21. Cf. Sen. _Ep._ 80.7. + +[61]: KArting, op. cit., p. 244 ff. + +[62]: Cic. _de Or._ I.59.251, Suet. _Nero_ 20, Quint. XI. 3.19. + +[63]: I.ii.i-2, I.ii.12. + +[64]: Quint. XI.3.iii. + +[65]: Cic. _Or._ 31.109. + +[66]: Quint. XI.3.178, Juv. III. 98-9. + +[67]: Cic. _de Off._ I.31.114, _ad Att._ IV.15.6. + +[68]: Ap. Athen. XIV. 615 A. + +[69]: For a full discussion of the ancient actor v. Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, s. v. +_histrio_; Friedlander in Marquardt-Mommsen _Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer_, VI. p. 508 ff.; J. van Wageningen, _Scaenica Romana_; +Warnecke, _Die Vortragskunst der romischen Schauspieler_, in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1908, p. 704 ff. + +[70]: Cf. _de Or._ III.56.214, III.22.83, Quint. XI. 3.125, 181-2. + +[71]: Quint. XI.3.112. + +[72]: Cf. Quint. XI.3.89. + +[73]: Cic. _ad Att._ VI.1.8. + +[74]: Cf. _de Or._ III.26.102, Quint. XI.3.71, 89. + +[75]: For further treatment of the gestures of orators see Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie_, s. v. _histrio_; Warnecke in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1910, p. 593; Sittl, _Die Gebarden der Griechen und +Romer_, Chap. XI; Mart. Cap. 43. In the other rhetoricians of the later +Empire there is much copying of Cicero and Quintilian, but nothing of +significance for our purpose, unless it be the comparison of the rigid +training recommended to the embryo orator. For further citations, v. +Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit. + +[76]: 0p. cit., p. 203. + +[77]: _Wiener Studien_, Vol. XIV, p. 120. + +[78]: _Scaen. Rom._, p. 52. Cf. Karsten in _Mnem._ XXXII, (1904), +pp. 209-251, 287-322, who concludes that at least four hands aided in the +commentaries. + +[79]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 88, _Eun._ 187, 986, _Phor._ +315. + +[80]: A11 the passages in Donatus dealing with gesture have been collected +by Leo, _Rheinisches Museum_ XXXVIII, p. 331 ff. + +[81]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 180, 363, 380-1, _Eun._ 209, 559, +974, _Ad._ 84, 499, 661, 795, 951, _Hec._ 612, 689, _Phor._ +49, 315. Cf. _Ad._ 285: superbe ac magnifice. Cf. Schol. ad +_And._ 332: Vultuose hoc dicitur, hoc est cum gestu. Cf. also +Warnecke in _Neue JahrbA1/4cher_, 1910, note 75. + +[82]: Cf. XI.3.103, _Auct. ad Her._ III.15.27. + +[83]: Their precise age and antiquity have been disputed with some +acrimony. With Sittl cf. Bethe, _Praef. Cod. Ambros._ p. 64; van +Wageningen, op. cit., p. 50 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII, p. 342 +ff. V. reproductions in Wieseler, _TheatergebAude und DenkmAler des +BA1/4hnenwesens bei den Griechen und RAmern,_ Tafel X; and Bethe, ed. of +Codex Ambrosianus. + +[84]: _Neue Jahr._, Sup. Band I (1832), p. 447 ff. + +[85]: Quint. VI.3.29, Mart. Cap., Chap. 43, p. 543 ed. Kopp. + +[86]: V. reproductions in Baumeister, _DenkmAler des klassischen +Altertums_, s. v. "Lustspiel" and Wieseler, op. cit., note 83. + +[87]: Donat. _de Com._ VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names +have been interchanged. + +[88]: _Ars Gram._ III, p. 489, 10 K; Festus, s.v. _personata_, +p. 217. Cf. Cic. _de Nat. Deo._ I. 28.79. Ribbock, _Romische +Tragodie_ p. 661, and Dziatzko in _Rhein. Mus._ XXI. 68, have made a +violent effort to reconcile the conflicting statements by arguing +that Roscius belonged to the troupe of Minucius. This is denied by +Weinberger, _Wien. Stud._ XIV. 126. For further discussion v. van +Wageningen, _Scaen. Rom._ p. 34 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII. +342; Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, _Ueber Antike +Theatermasken_; Teuffel, _Romische Litteraturgeschichte_ ASec.16. +Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s.v. _histrio_, pp. 2120-21. A +recent article by Saunders (A.J.P., XXXII, p. 58) gives an admirable +summing-up of the whole controversy, with substantial proof that at +any rate the performers of Plautus' day were unmasked. + +[89]: Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, _Costume in Roman +Comedy_; Marquardt-Mommsen, _Handbuch der romischen Altertumer_, +VI. p. 525; Pauly-Wissowa, l.c. Cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ VII. 6. + +[90]: Cf. _Mil._ 629 ff., 923, _Ps._ 967, _Rud._ 125 f., 313 +f., 1303, _Trin._ 861 f., _Truc._ 286 ff.; Ter., _Phor._ +51. + +[91]: V. van Wageningen, op. cit. pp. 40 f. + +[92]: _De Or._ III. 22.83. + +[93]: II. 10.13. Cf. XI. 3.91. + +[94]: I. II. 1-2 + +[95]: Donat. ad _And._ 505, _Eun._ 224, 288, 403, _Ad._ 187, +395. + +[96]: Ad _And._ 194, 301, _Eun._ 467, 986, _Hec._ 98, 439, +640, _Ad._ 101. Cf. _Ad._ 96.; cum admiratone indignantis; 97; +intento digito et infestis in Micionem oculis. + +[97]: Ad _Eun._ 1055. + +[98]: Ad _And._ 633, _Eun._ 233, 451, _Hec._ 63, _Ad._ +259. + +[99]: Ad _Phor._ 145. + +[100]: Ad _Ad._ 200. + +[101]: Ad _Eun._ 187. + +[102]: VII. 2.8-10. + +[103]: Cf. Diom. 291, 23 ff., K; Ribbeck, _Rom. Trag._ p. 634, +believes that this was the rule, but he is apparently alone in the +opinion. Cf. Budensteiner in Bursian's _Jahresbericht_ CVI, p. 162 +ff., who agrees with the proof of van Eck, _Quaest. Sten. Rom._ +(Amsterdam 1892), that it was an isolated intance. + +[104]: We are not even remotely concerned with metrical analysis. For that +phase, with a discussion as to the effect of the various metrical systems, +see Klotz, _Grundzuge der altromischen Metrik_, esp. p. 370 ff. Cf. +Duff, _A Lit. Hist. of Rome_, p. 196. Note Donat, _de Com._ +VIII. 9 and Diom. 491, 23K. + +[105]: For arguments as to the divisions of the three classes, v., besides +Klotz, Ritschl, _Parerga_, p. 40; Conradt, _Die metrische +Komposition der Komodien des Terenz_ (Berlin 1876); Bucheler in _Neue +Jahr. fur Phil._ CXLI (1871), p. 273 ff.; Dziatzko in _Rhein. +Mus._ XXVI (1871), pp. 97-100: G. Hermann, _de Canticis in Romanorum +Fabulis, Opusc._ I. 290; which have all been landmarks in the +discussion. Cf. also Teuffel, _Rom. Lit._, ASec. 16. Sec. 5, etc. + +[106]: Cf. Cic. _de Or._ II.46.193. + +[107]: Cf. _As._ 265, 587, 640, 403, _Bac._ 611, _Cap._ 637, +_Cas._ 845 ff., _Cis._ 53 ff., _Cur._ 278, 309, 311, +_Ep._ 623 ff., _Men._ 828 f., 910, _Mer._ 599 f., +_Mil._ 200 ff. (quoted infra, Part II), 798-9 (Palaestrio must shout +at Periplecomenus to provoke such a reply), _Most._ 265 ff., 594, +_Per._ 307 f., _Ps._ 911, 1287, _St._ 271, 288 f., +_Trin._ 1099, _Truc._ 276, 476 ff., 549, 593 f., 599 ff., 822. +Cf. also Ter. _Phor._ 210-11 and Moliere's imitation in _Les +Fourberies de Scapin_, l. 4. + +[108]: Cf. Sittl, _Gebarden_, p. 201 and Warnecke's citations from the +Scholiast to Aristophanes in _Neue Jahr._ 1910, p. 592. + +[109]: _Daos_, p. 617. + +[110]: A.J.P. VIII. 15 ff. + +[111]: Cf. _As._ 554 ff., _Bac._ 710 ff., _Cap._ 159 ff. +_Cur._ 572 ff., _Ep._ 437 ff., _Men._ 1342., _Per._ +753 ff., _Ps._ 761 ff., _Trin._ 718 ff., etc. + +[112]: For further examples of bombast and mock-heroics v. _As._ +405-6, _Bac._ 792 f., 842 ff., _Cis._ 640 ff., _Cur._ 96 +ff. 439 ff., _Ep._ 181 ff. (in similar vein most of the soliloquies +of the name part), _Her._ 469 ff., 601 ff., 830 ff., _Mil._ 459 +ff., 486 ff., 947 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Poen._ 470 ff., 1294 +ff., _Ps._ 1063 f., _Truce._ 482 ff., 602 ff. + +[113]: V. _Amph._ 370 ff., _As._ 431, _Cas._ 404 ff., +_Cur._ 192 ff., 624 ff., _Mil._ 1394 ff., _Mos._ i ff., +_Per._ 809 ff., _Poen._ 382 ff., _Rud._ 706 ff. + +[114]: V. Frag. IV, G. & S., ap. Non. p. 543. + +[115]: Cf. _Bac._ 581 ff., 1119, _Cap._ 830 ff., _Most._ 898 +ff., _Rud._ 414, _St._ 308 ff., _Truc._ 254 ff. + +[116]: Cf. also _Bac._ 925 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Men._ 409 +ff. (v. supra, Part I, ASec. I, s.v. _Festus, Brix_). On _Bac._ 933, +v. Ribbeck, _Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta_, on Enn., frag. +_Androm._ 81; Kiessling, _Analecta Plautina_, I. 14 f.; +Ostermayer, _De historia fabulari in comoediis Plautinis_, p. 9. On +_Men._ 808 ff., v. Kiessling, II. 9. + +[117]: Cf. further _As._ 606 ff., _Cur._ 147 ff., _Most._ +233 ff., _Poen._ 275 ff. and passim, _Truc._ 434 ff. + +[118]: Cf. _Ep._ 580 ff. Cf. also "bombast," supra A. 1, and "copious +abuse" infra, A. 3. c. Cf. also wall-painting labeled "Der erzurnte +Hausherr," in Baumeister, _Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums_, s. +v. _Lustspiel_. + +[119]: Cf. _Mil._ 596 ff., _Most._ 454 ff., _Trin._ 517 ff. + +[120]: Cf. _Mer._ 748 ff., _Men._ 607 ff. + +[121]: Cf. further _Most._ 265 ff., 456 ff. and note Donat. ad +_Phor._ 210-11: hic locus magis actoris quam lectoris est. + +[122]: Cf. _Most._ 38 ff., _Poen._ 1309 ff. Cf. also "Lavishing +of terms of endearment," supra, A. 3. c. + +[123]: Cf. also _Poen._ 426 ff., _Rud._ 938 ff. + +[124]: Cf. similarly _Cap._ 121 ff., 177 ff., _Cas._ 725 ff., +_Most._ 909, 999 f. Cf. infra II. B.5. + +[125]: _Plaut. Stud._ pp. 121 f. Cf. pp. 101, 137 f., 158 f., 217, 229 +f. + +[126]: _Die Kom. des Pl._, pp. 70-71. + +[127]: _Daos_, p. 430-1. + +[128]: Prol. _Haut._ 32-40, Prol. _Eun._ 35-40. Cf. Eugraphius ad +_Haut._ 31: quid tale hic est, cum servus currit, cum populus +discedit, quod domino insano oboediat servus? Cf. also ad _Haut._ 37; +Donatus ad _Phor._ 1.4. + +[129]: _And._ 338 ff., _Phor._ 179 ff., 841 ff., _Ad._ 299 +ff. Weissman agrees with Donat. that in the last passage humor is not the +object. Cf. _ancilla currens_ in _Eun._ 643 ff. + +[130]: Cf. _servi currentes_ supra. Cf. also _Aul._ 811 ff., +_Ep._ 195 ff., _Mer._ 865 ff., _Ps._ 243 ff., _St._ +330 ff., _Trin._ 1068 ff., _Truc._ 115 ff. + +[131]: For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. +_Bac._ 534, _Ep._ 526 ff., _Rud._ 331 ff., et al. Cf. +Weise, op. cit., p. 72 f. + +[132]: Further comments infra II. B. 3. + +[133]: Cf. _As._ 403, and passim. + +[134]: Cf. _As._ 447, _Cur._ 111, _Men._ 125, 478 f., 909, +_Mer._ 364, 379, _Mil._ 275, _Most._ 548, _Per._ 99, +_Poen._ 840, _Ps._ 445, 615, 908, _Rud._ 97, _St._ 88, +_Trin._ 45, 567, _Truc._ 499, etc. + +[135]: _Daos, p. 431 ff._ See Dieterich, _Pulcinella, PI. II_. +Note esp. _As. 851 ff._ + +[136]: Cf. _Per. 81 ff., 599 ff., Poen. 210 ff., et al._ + +[137]: V. _Amph._ 952-3, _As._ 118 ff., 243 ff., _Aul._ 67 +ff., 667 ff., 701 ff., _Bac._ 170 ff., 349 ff., 573 ff., 761 ff., +_Cas._ 504 ff., _Cis._ 120 ff., _Cur._ 216 ff., 591 ff., +_Mer._ 544 ff., 588 ff., _Mil._ 464 ff., _Most._ 931 ff., +1041 ff., _Rud._ 1191 ff., _St._ 674 ff., et al. + +[138]: V. Cas. 424 ff., 759 ff., _Ep._ 81 ff., _Men._ 1039 ff., +_Ps._ 1017 ff., 1052 ff., 1102 ff., _Rud._ 892 ff., 1281 ff., +_St._ 641 ff., _Trin._ 199 ff., 1115 ff., _Truc._ 322 ff., +335 ff., 645 ff., 699 ff. + +Cf. the treatment of Le Grand, _Daos_, p. 412 ff., where he has an +analysis from a different point of view. The soliloquy and aside are +evidently not so frequent in New Comedy. + +[139]: _Daos_ p. 379. Cf. p. 550. + +[140]: _Aul._ 587 ff., _Men._ 966 ff. Cf. _Most._ 858 ff. +and _As._ 545 ff., a duologue in _canticum_. + +[141]: _Bac._ 640 ff. Cf. _Ps._ 767 ff. + +[142]: _Cap._ 461 ff., Cf. _Per._ 53 ff. + +[143]: _Men._ 77 ff., 446 ff., _St._ 155 ff. + +[144]: _Cur._ 371 ff., (Cf. 494 ff.), _Men._ 571 ff., +_Poen._ 823 ff. + +[145]: _Ep._ 225 ff. + +[146]: _Cas._ 217 ff., _Trin._ 223 ff. (Cf. 660 ff.) + +[147]: _Men._ 753 ff. + +[148]: _Aul._ 475 ff. (496-536 branded as spurious by Weise, op. cit., +pp. 42-44). + +[149]: _Mer._ 817 ff. + +[150]: _Poen._ 210 ff. (though not a solo), _Truc._ 22 ff., 210 +ff., 551 ff. + +[151]: _Ps._ 790 ff. + +[152]: _Truc._ 482 ff. + +[153]: _Mer._ 825 ff., _Rud._ 593 ff. + +[154]: _Mosl._ 85 ff. + +[155]: _Ps._ 1246 ff. + +[156]: _St._ 683 to end. + +[157]: _Ps._ 133 ff. For further passages of the episodical type, cf. +_Bac._ 925 ff. (v. supra under "bombast," I. A. 1), _Poen._ 449 +ff., _Rud._ 906 ff., _Trin._ 820 ff. (v. supra under +"burlesque," I. A. 3). + +[158]: Cf. further _Amph._ 463, 998, _Bac._ 1072, _Cap._ 69 +ff., _Cas._ 879, _Cis._ 146, 678, _Men._ 880, _Mer._ +313, _Mil._ 862, _Most._ 280, 354, 708 ff., _Poen._ 921 f., +_Ps._ 124, _St._ 224,446, 674 ff., _Truc._ 109 ff., 463 +ff., 965 ff. Cf. infra II. B. 5. + +[159]: In Donat. ed. Wessner. + +[160]: V. _As., Bac., Cap., Cis., Cur., Ep., Men., Mer., Most., Per., +Rod., St._ Cf. _Cas._ 1013 ff., _Poen._ 1370 f. + +[161]: V. _Bac._ 235-367, _Cap._ 835-99, _Cis._ 203 ff., +540-630, 705 ff., _Cur._ 251-73 and passim (this play is full of +bandying of quips), _Ep._ 1 ff., _Men._ 137-81, 602-67, +_Mer._ 474 ff., 708 ff., 866 ff., _Most._ 633 ff., 717 ff., 885 +ff., _Per._ 1 ff., 201 ff., _Poen._ 210 ff., _Ps._ 653 ff. +and passim, _Rud._ 485 ff. (the jokes here are unusually good), 780 +ff., _St._ 579 ff., _Trin._ 39 ff., 843 ff., _Truc._ 95 ff. + +[162]: Cf. Sosia im _Amph._ (esp. 659 ff.), Libanus in _As._ 1 +ff., Palinurus in _Cur._, Acanthio in _Mer._ (esp. 137 ff.), +Milphio in _Poen._, Sceparnio in _Rud._ (esp. 104 ff.) and +Trachalio, Pinacium in _St._ (esp. 331 ff.), Stasimus in _Trin._ + +[163]: _St._ 446 ff., Prol. _Cas._ 67 ff. For an exhaustive +discussion of the 'truth to life' of the characters, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, Part I, Chap. V. + +[164]: V. esp. 96 ff. + +[165]: 603 ff. + +[166]: Pyrgopolinices in _Mil._, Therapontigonus in _Cur._, the +_miles_ in _Ep._, Anthemonides in _Poen._ Stratophanes in +_Truc_, is not so violent. + +[167]: Cappadox in _Cur._, Dordalus in _Per._, Lycus in +_Poen._, Labrax in _Rud._ Similarly the _lenae_. + +[168]: Introd. to ed. of _Ps._ + +[169]: 355. Cf. 360 ff., 974 ff. + +[170]: _Hist. de la lit. lat._ Bk. II, Ch. III., Sec. 4. p. 307. + +[171]: _Plaut. Stud._, p. 105. + +[172]: _Daos_, pp. 557 f. Cf. 218 f. + +[173]: Introd. to _Ps._ Cf. _Daos_, p. 452 ff. + +[174]: E.g., _Amph._ 957, _Bac._ 844, _Cas._ 308, +_Men._ 898, _Mil._ 1137, 1188, _Per._ 301, 543, +_Poen._ 576, _Rud._ 1209, _St._ 400-1, _Trin._ 482. + +[175]: Part II, Sec. I. B. 2. + +[176]: P. 157. + +[177]: Cf. _Daos_, p. 60. + +[178]: Cf. in general the conclusions of LeGrand, _Daos_, p. 550, and +his admirable analysis (Part II) of "La structure des comedies." He has +recognized the existence of a number of the characteristics treated above, +but his discussion is in different vein and with a different object in +view. + +[179]: _Cap._ 489, _Cur._ 483. + +[180]: _Cur._ 269, et al. + +[181]: _Mil._ 991. + +[182]: _Ps._ 416, et al. + +[183]: _Ps._ 1232. + +[184]: _Ps._ 748. For a fairly complete collection, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, p. 44 ff. Cf. Middleton and Mills, _Students' Companion to +Latin Authors_, p. 20 ff. + +[185]: Cf. West in A.J.P. VIII. 15. Cf. note 1, Part II, supra. + +[186]: Cf. _Amph._ 861 ff., _As._ 174 f., _Cap._ 778, +_Cur._ 464, _Her._ 160, _Poen._ 1224. + +[187]: Cf. _Daos_, Part I, Chap. III: Les personnages, and p. 303 ff.; +Mommsen, _Hist._ pp. 141 ff. + +[188]: Prol, 53 ff. + +[189]: For a discussion of the relation of Plautus to his originals, v. +Schuster, _Quomodo Plautus Attica exemplaria transtulerit_; LeGrand, +_Daos_, passim; Ostermayer, _de hist. fab. in com. Pl._; +Ritschl, _Par._ 271, etc. The efforts to distinguish Plautus from his +models have so far been fragmentary and abortive and will not advance +appreciably until a complete play that he adapted has been found. At any +rate, the discussion has no real bearing on our subject, since we can +consider only the plays as actually transmitted; their sources cannot +affect our argument. The comparisons in _Daos_ seem to indicate that +Plautus did not debase his originals so much as Mommsen, KArting, Schlegel +and others had thought. Even in 1881, Kiessling (_Anal. Plaut._ II. +9) boldly expresses the opinion: "Atque omnino Plautus multo pressius +Atticorum exemplarium vestigia secutus est quam hodie vulgo arbitrantur". +Cf. Kellogg in PAPA. XLIV (1913). + +[190]: Euanthius, _de Com._ IV. 4. + +[191]: For an interesting comparison of Plautus and Terence, v. Spengel, +_Aoeber die lateinische KomAdie_, (Munich 1878). + +[192]: The importance of the music is indicated by the transmission of the +composer's name in all extant _didascaliae_, esp. those of Terence. +V. Klotz, _AltrAm. Met._ p. 384 ff. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dramatic Values in Plautus, by +William Wallace Blancke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + +***** This file should be named 9970.txt or 9970.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/7/9970/ + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +Author: William Wallace Blancke + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9970] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 5, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +i"?University of Pennsylvania + +The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +By + +Wilton Wallace BlanckA(C), A.M., Ph.D. +Professor of Latin in the Central High School of Philadelphia + +A Thesis + +Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial fulfillment +of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy + +1918 + + + + +Foreword + + + +This dissertation was written in 1916, before the entrance of the United +States into The War, and was presented to the Faculty of the University of +Pennsylvania as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its +publication at this time needs no apology, for it will find its only +public in the circumscribed circle of professional scholars. They at least +will understand that scholarship knows no nationality. But in the fear +that this may fall under the eye of that larger public, whose interests +are, properly enough, not scholastic, a word of explanation may prove a +safeguard. + +The Germans have long been recognized as the hewers of wood and drawers of +water of the intellectual world. For the results of the drudgery of minute +research and laborious compilation, the scholar must perforce seek German +sources. The copious citation of German authorities in this work is, then, +the outcome of that necessity. I have, however, given due credit to German +criticism, when it is sound. The French are, generically, vastly superior +in the art of finely balanced critical estimation. + +My sincere thanks are due in particular to the Harrison Foundation of the +University for the many advantages I have received therefrom, to +Professors John C. Rolfe and Walton B. McDaniel, who have been both +teachers and friends to me, and to my good comrades and colleagues, +Francis H. Lee and Horace T. Boileau, for their aid in editing this essay. + +Wilton Wallace BlanckA(C). +1918. + + + + +Part 1 + +A RA(C)sumA(C) of the Criticism and of the Evidence Relating to the Acting +of Plautus + + + + +Introduction + + + +This investigation was prompted by the abiding conviction that Plautus as +a dramatic artist has been from time immemorial misunderstood. In his +progress through the ages he has been like a merry clown rollicking +amongst people with a hearty invitation to laughter, and has been rewarded +by commendation for his services to morality and condemnation for his +buffoonery. The majority of Plautine critics have evinced too serious an +attitude of mind in dealing with a comic poet. However portentous and +profound his scholarship, no one deficient in a sense of humor should +venture to approach a comic poet in a spirit of criticism. For criticism +means appreciation. + +Furthermore, the various estimates of our poet's worth have been as +diversified as they have been in the main unfair. Alternately lauded as a +master dramatic craftsman and vilified as a scurrilous purveyor of +unsavory humor, he has been buffeted from the top to the bottom of the +dramatic scale. More recent writers have been approaching a saner +evaluation of his true worth, but never, we believe, has his real position +in that dramatic scale been definitely and finally fixed; because +heretofore no attempt has been made at a complete analysis of his +dramatic, particularly his comic, methods. It is the aim of the present +dissertation to accomplish this. + +I doubt not that from the inception of our acquaintance with the pages of +Plautus we have all passed through a similar experience. In the beginning +we have been vastly diverted by the quips and cranks and merry wiles of +the knavish slave, the plaints of love-lorn youth, the impotent rage of +the baffled pander, the fruitless growlings of the hungry parasite's +belly. We have been amused, perhaps astonished, on further reading, at +meeting our new-found friends in other plays, clothed in different names +to be sure and supplied in part with a fresh stock of jests, but still +engaged in the frustration of villainous panders, the cheating of harsh +fathers, until all ends with virtue triumphant in the establishment of the +undoubted respectability of a hitherto somewhat dubious female +character.[1] + +Our astonishment waxes as we observe further the close correspondence of +dialogue, situation and dramatic machinery. We are bewildered by the +innumerable asides of hidden eavesdroppers, the inevitable recurrence of +soliloquy and speech familiarly directed at the audience, while every once +in so often a slave, desperately bent on finding someone actually under +his nose, careens wildly cross the stage or rouses the echoes by +unmerciful battering of doors, meanwhile unburdening himself of lengthy +solo tirades with great gusto;[2] and all this dished up with a sauce of +humor often too racy and piquant for our delicate twentieth-century +palate, which has acquired a refined taste for suggestive innuendo, but +never relishes calling a spade by its own name. + +If we have sought an explanation of our poet's gentle foibles in the +commentaries to our college texts, we have assuredly been disappointed. +Even to the seminarian in Plautus little satisfaction has been vouchsafed. +We are often greeted by the enthusiastic comments of German critics, which +run riot in elaborate analyses of plot and character and inform us that we +are reading _Meisterwerke_ of comic drama.[3] Our perplexity has perhaps +become focused upon two leading questions; first: "What manner of drama is +this after all? Is it comedy, farce, opera bouffe or mere extravaganza?" +Second: "How was it done? What was the technique of acting employed to +represent in particular the peculiarly extravagant scenes?"[4] + +There is an interesting contrast between the published editions of Plautus +and Bernard Shaw. Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate +network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of +the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find +nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such +editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken +lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at +least does not lie on the surface of the text. + +For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are +necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a rA(C)sumA(C) of the +evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a +consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and +stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the +plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We +hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading +questions. + + + +ASec.1. Critics of Plautus + + +Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things, +time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from +a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the +rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of +denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation. + +Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously. +Stylistically he was translated to the skies. [Sidenote: Cicero] Cicero[5] +imputes to him "iocandi genus, ... elegans, urbanum, ingeniosum, facetum." +[Sidenote: Aelius Stilo] Quintilian[6] quotes: "Licet Varro Musas Aelii +Stilonis sententia Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si latine +loqui vellent." [Sidenote: Gellius] The paean is further swelled by +Gellius, who variously refers to our hero as "homo linguae atque +elegantiae in verbis Latinae princeps,"[7] and "verborum Latinorum +elegantissimus,"[8] and "linguae Latinae decus."[9] [Sidenote: Horace] If +our poet is scored by Horace[10] it is probably due rather to Horace's +affectation of contempt for the early poets than to his true convictions; +or we may ascribe it to the sophisticated metricist's failure to realize +the existence of a "Metrica Musa Pedestris." As Duff says (_A Literary +History of Rome_, p. 197), "The scansion of Plautus was less understood in +Cicero's day than that of Chaucer was in Johnson's." (Cf. Cic. _Or._ 55. +184.) + +[Sidenote: Euanthius] We have somewhat of a reaction, too, against the +earlier chorus of praise in the commentary of Euanthius,[11] who condemns +Plautus' persistent use of direct address of the audience. If it is true, +as Donatus[12] says later: "Comoediam esse Cicero ait imitationem vitae, +speculum consuetudinis, imaginem veritatis," we find it hard to understand +Cicero's enthusiatic praise of Plautus, as we hope to show that he is very +far from measuring up to any such comic ideal as that laid down by Cicero +himself. + +But of course these ancient critiques have no appreciable bearing on our +argument and we cite them rather for historical interest and +retrospect.[13] [Sidenote: Festus] [Sidenote: Brix] While Festus[14] makes +a painful effort to explain the location of the mythical "Portus Persicus" +mentioned in the _Amph._,[15] Brix[16] in modern times shows that there is +no historical ground for the elaborate mythical genealogy in _Men._ 409 +ff. We contend that "Portus Persicus" is pure fiction, as our novelists +refer fondly to "Zenda" or "Graustark," while the _Men._ passage is a +patent burlesque of the tragic style.[17] + +[Sidenote: Becker] On the threshold of what we may term modern criticism +of Plautus we find W.A. Becker, in 1837, writing a book: "De Comicis +Romanorum Fabulis Maxime Plautinis Quaestiones." Herein, after deploring +the neglect of Plautine criticism among his immediate predecessors and +contemporaries, he attempts to prove that Plautus was a great "original" +poet and dramatic artist. Surely no one today can be in sympathy with such +a sentiment as the following (Becker, p. 95): "Et Trinummum, quae ita +amabilibus lepidisque personis optimisque exemplis abundat, ut quoties eam +lego, non comici me poetae, sed philosophi Socratici opus legere mihi +videar." I believe we may safely call the _Trinummus_ the least Plautine +of Plautine plays, except the _Captivi_, and it is by no means so good a +work. The _Trinummus_ is crowded with interminable padded dialogue, +tiresome moral preachments, and possesses a weakly motivated plot; a +veritable "Sunday-school play." + +But Becker continues: "Sive enim <Plautus> seria agit et praecepta pleno +effundit penu, ad quae componere vitarn oporteat; in sententiis quanta +gravitas, orationis quanta vis, quam probe et meditate cum hominum ingenia +moresque novisse omnia testantur." We feel sure that our Umbrian fun-maker +would strut in public and laugh in private, could he hear such an encomium +of his lofty moral aims. For it is our ultimate purpose to prove that +fun-maker Plautus was primarily and well-nigh exclusively a fun-maker. + +[Sidenote: Weise] K. H. Weise, in "Die Komodien des Plautus, kritisch nach +Inhalt und Form beleuchtet, zur Bestimmung des Echten und Unechten in den +einzelnen Dichtungen" (Quedlinburg, 1866), follows hard on Becker's heels +and places Plautus on a pinnacle of poetic achievement in which we +scarcely recognize our apotheosized laugh-maker. Every passage in the +plays that is not artistically immaculate, that does not conform to the +uttermost canons of dramatic art, is unequivocally damned as "unecht." In +his Introduction (p. 4) Weise is truly eloquent in painting the times and +significance of our poet. With momentary insight he says: "Man hat an ihm +eine immer frische und nie versiegende Fundgrabe des Achten Volkswitzes." +But this is soon marred by utterances such as (p. 14): "FAnde sich also in +der Zahl der Plautinischen Komodien eine Partie, die mit einer andern in +diesen Hinsichten in bedeutendem Grade contrastirte, so konnte man sicher +schliessen, dass beide nicht von demselben Verfasser sein kAnnten." He +demands from Plautus, as _ein wahrer Poet_, "Congruenz, und richtige +innere Logik <und> harmonische Construction" (p. 12), and finally declares +(p. 22): "Interesse, Character, logischer Bau in der Zusammensetzung, +Naturlichkeit der Sprache und des Witzes, Rythmus und antikes Idiom des +Ausdrucks werden die Kriterien sein mussen, nach dem wir uber die +Vortrefflichkeit und PlautinitAt plautinischer StA1/4cke zu entscheiden +haben." + +On this basis he ruthlessly carves out and discards as "unecht" every +passage that fails to conform to his amazing and extravagant ideals, in +the belief that "der Achte Meister Plautus konnte nur Harmonisches, nur +Vernunftiges, nur Logisches, nur relativ Richtiges dichten" (p. 79), +though even Homer nods. The _Mercator_ is banned _in toto_. To be sure, +Weise somewhat redeems himself by the statement (p. 29 f.): "Plautus +bezweckte ... lediglich nur die eigentliche und wirksamste Belustigung des +Publicums." But how he reconciles this with his previously quoted +convictions and with the declaration (p. 16): "Plautus ist ein sehr +religioser, sehr moralischer Schriftsteller," it is impossible to grasp, +until we recall that the author is a German. + +[Sidenote: Langen] Such criticism stultifies itself and needs no +refutation; certainly not here, as P. Langen in his _Plautinische Studien_ +(_Berliner Studien_, 1886; pp. 90-91) has conclusively proved that the +inconsistent is a feature absolutely germane to Plautine style, and has +collected an overwhelming mass of "Widerspruche, Inkonsequenzen und +psychologische Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" that would question the +"Plautinity" of every other line, were we to follow Weise's precepts. +Langen too uses the knife, but with a certain judicious restraint. + +We insist that the attempt to explain away every inconsistency as spurious +is a sorry refuge. + +[Sidenote: Langrehr] Langrehr in _Miscellanea Philologica_ (Gottingen, +1876), under the caption _Plautina_[18] gives vent to further solemn +Teutonic carpings at the plot of the _Epidicus_ and argues the play a +_contaminatio_ on the basis of the double intrigue. He is much exercised +too over the mysterious episode of 'the disappearing flute-girl.' + +Langen, who is in the main remarkably sane, refutes these conclusions +neatly.[19] How Weise and his confrA"res argue Plautus such a super-poet, +in view of the life and education of the public to whom he catered, let +alone the evidence of the plays themselves, and their author's status as +mere translator and adapter, must remain an insoluble mystery. The simple +truth is that a playwright such as Plautus, having undertaken to feed a +populace hungry for amusement, ground out plays (doubtless for a +living),[20] with a wholesome disregard for niceties of composition, +provided only he obtained his _sine qua non_--the laugh.[21] + +[Sidenote: Lessing] In our citation of opinions we must not overlook that +impressive mile-stone in the history of criticism, the discredited but +still great Lessing. In his "Abhandlung von dem Leben und den Werken des +M. Accius Plautus" Lessing deprecates the harsh judgment of Horace and +later detractors of our poet in modern times. Lessing idealizes him as the +matchless comic poet. That the _Captivi_ is "das vortrefflichste StA1/4ck, +welches jemals auf den Schauplatz gekommen ist," as Lessing declares in +the Preface to his translation of the play, is an utterance that leaves us +gasping. + +[Sidenote: Dacier] But Lessing's idea of the purpose of comedy is a +combination of Aristotelian and mid-Victorian ideals: "die Sitten der +Zuschauer zu bilden und zu bessern, ... wenn sie nAmlich das Laster +allezeit unglA1/4cklich und die Tugend am Ende glA1/4cklich sein lAsst."[22] It +is on the basis of this premise that he awards the comic crown to the +_Cap._[23] His extravagant encomium called forth from a contemporary a +long controversial letter which Lessing published in the second edition +with a reply so feeble that he distinctly leaves his adversary the honors +of the field. How much better the diagnosis of Madame Dacier, who is +quoted by Lessing! In the introduction to her translations of the +_Amphitruo_, _Rudens_ and _Epidicus_ (issued in 1683), she apologizes for +Plautus on the ground that he had to win approval for his comedies from an +audience used to the ribaldry of the _Saturae_. + +[Sidenote: Lorenz] Lorenz in his introductions to editions of the _Most._ +and _Pseud._ is another who seems to be carried away by the unrestrained +enthusiasm that often affects scholars oversteeped in the lore of their +author. Faults are dismissed as merely "Kleine Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" +(Introd. _Ps._, p. 26, N. 25.) "Jeder Leser," says he, "<wird gewiss> +darin beistimmen, dass ... der erste Act <des _Pseudolus_> eine so +gelungene Exposition darbietet, wie sie die dramatische Poesie nur +aufweisen kann." Such a statement must fall, by weight of exaggeration. In +appreciation of the portrayal of the name-part he continues: "Mit welch' +A1/4berwAltigender Herrschaft tritt hier gleich die meisterhaft geschilderte +Hauptperson hervor! Welche packende Kraft, welche hinreissende _verve_ +liegt in dem reichen Dialoge, der wie beseelt von der feurigen Energie des +begabten Menschen, der ihn lenkt, frAhlich rauschend dahin eilt, +A1/4bersprudelnd von einer Fulle erheiternder Scherze und schillernder +Spielereien!" + +In curious contrast to this fulsome outpouring stands the expressed belief +of Lamarre[24] that the character of Ballio overshadows that of Pseudolus. +In support of this view he cites Cicero (_Pro Ros. Com._ 7.20), who +mentions that Roscius chose to play Ballio. + +Lorenz in his enthusiasm exalts the _Epid._ to an ideal of comic +excellence (Introd. _Ps._ p. 27). He even goes so far as to contend that +Plautus lives up to the following characterization:[25] "Nicht blos durch +naturgetreue and lebhafte Charakterschilderungen und durch eine komisch +gehaltene, aber die Grenzen des Wahrscheinlichen und des GraziAsen nicht +A1/4berschreitende Zeichnung des tAglichen Lebens soll der Dichter des +Lustspiels seine Zuschauer interessiren und ihr heiteres GelAchter +hervorrufen, sondern auch so reiche Anwendung zu geben, durch die es in +den Dienst einer sittlichen Idee tritt, und so gleichsam die moralische +AtmosphAre ... zu reinigen." + +Such emotional superlatives merely create in the reader a cachinnatory +revulsion. Yes, Plautus was great, but he was great in a far different +way. He approached the Rabelaisian. It is doubtful if "die Grenzen des +GraziAsen" lay within his purview at all. + +[Sidenote: Lamarre] The treatment of Lamarre cited above contains[26] a +highly meritorious analysis of the Plautine characters, discussed largely +as a reflection of the times and people, both of New Comedy and of +Plautus, without imputing to our poet too serious motives of subtle +portrayal. But he too ascribes to Plautus a latent moral purpose: "En +faisant rire, il veut corriger"![27] + +[Sidenote: Naudet] This sounds ominously like an echo from Naudet[28] who, +in the course of lauding Plautus' infinite invention and variety of +embroidery, would translate him into a zealous social reformer by saying: +"L'auteur se proposait de faire beaucoup rire les spectateurs, mais il +voulait aussi qu'ils se corrigeassent en riant." All this is +disappointing. We should have expected Gallic esprit to rise superior to +such banality. + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed +by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled _Daos Tableau de la comedie +grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle_ (Annales de l'UniversitA(C) de +Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques +et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au +point de vue moral, la I1/2I-I+- dut Atre inoffensive (en son temps)." This is +the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis of the +extant remains of New Comedy and _Palliatae_. + +Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status +of a petty moralizer[29]. In particular, he lauds the _Aul_ unreservedly +as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of character delineation and pronounces it +immeasurably superior to MoliA"re's imitation, "L'Avare."[30] This whole +critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing +to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.[31] + +[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very +point in remarking[32] that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in +the _Cas_[33] implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic +worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and +remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen +still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the _Miles_[34]: +"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der +Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf +man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen. +Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack +_eines_ Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat." + +But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of +the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns[35], the +scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that +the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is +supposed to be conveying secret information.[36] If carried out in a +broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing. + +[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his _History_[37], in the course of an +interesting discussion on _palliatae_ and their Greek originals, has a far +saner point of view. He says of the authors of New Comedy, "They wrote not +like Eupolis and Aristophanes for a great nation; but rather for a +cultivated society which spent its time ... in guessing riddles and +playing at charades.... Even in the dim Latin copy, through which we +chiefly know it, the grace of the original is not wholly obliterated. <In +_palliatae_> persons and incidents seem capriciously or carelessly +shuffled as in a game of cards; in the original a picture from life, it +became in the reproduction a caricature." + +Naturally we are not concerned with any consideration of the value of his +estimate of New Comedy. Assuredly he rates it too highly, as later +investigations have indicated.[38] But here for the first time we are able +to quote a well-balanced appreciation of some essential features of +Plautine drama: a "capricious shuffling of incidents" and "caricature." In +fact it will be our endeavor to show that the _palliata_ was not a true +art form, but merely an outer shell or mold into which Plautus poured his +stock of witticisms. + +[Sidenote: Korting] Still more trenchant is the conclusion of Korting in +his _Geschichte des griechischen und rAmischen Theaters_ (P. 218 ff.): +"Die neue attische KomAdie und folglich auch ihr Abklatsch, die romische +Palliata, war nicht ein Lustspiel im hAchsten, im sittlichen Sinne des +Wortes, sondern ein blosses Unterhaltungsdrama. AmA1/4sieren wollten die +KomAdiendichter, nichts weiter. Jedes hAhere Streben lag ihnen fern. Wohl +spickten sie ihre Lustspiele mit moralischen Sentenzen.... Aber die +schAnen Sentenzen sind eben nur Zierat, sind nur Verbramung einer in ihrem +Kerne und Wesen durch und durch unsittlichen Dichtung ... Mit der +Wahrscheinlichkeit der Handlung wird es sehr leicht genommen: die +seltsamsten ZufAlle werden als so ziemlich selbstverstAndliche +MAglichkeiten hingestellt ... Es ginge das noch an, wenn wir in eine +phantastische MArchenwelt gefA1/4hrt werden, in welcher am Ende auch das +Wunderbarste mAglich ist, aber nein! es wird uns zugemutet, A1/4berzeugt zu +sein, dass alles mit natA1/4rlichen Dingen zugehe. + +"Alles in allem genommen, ist an dieser KomAdie, abgesehen von ihrer +formal musterhaften Technik, herzlich wenig zu bewundern.... An +Zweideutigkeiten, ObscAnitAten, Schimpfscenen ist Aoeberfluss vorhanden." + +With admirable clarity of vision, Korting has spied the vital spot and +illuminated it with the word "Unterhaltungsdrama." That amusement was the +sole aim of the comic poets we firmly believe. But if this was so, why +arraign them on the charge of trying to convince us that everything is +happening in a perfectly natural manner? The outer form to be sure is that +of everyday life, but this is no proof that the poets demanded of their +audiences a belief in the verisimilitude of the events depicted. Can we +have no fantastic fairyland without some outlandish accompaniment such as +a chorus garbed as birds or frogs? But we reserve fuller discussion of +this point until later. We might suggest an interesting comparison to the +nonsense verse of W. S. Gilbert, which represents the most shocking ideas +in a style even nonchalantly matter-of-fact. Does Gilbert by any chance +actually wish us to believe that "Gentle Alice Brown," in the poem of the +same name, really assisted in "cutting up a little lad"? + +Korting regains his usual clear-headedness in pronouncing 'that there is +little in the technique of _palliatae_ to excite our admiration.' Again we +insist (to borrow the jargon of the modern dramatic critic) it was but a +"vehicle" for popular amusement. + +[Sidenote: Schlegel] Wilhelm Schlegel, in his _History of the Drama_[39] +has the point of view of the dramatic critic, rather than the professional +scholar; while expressing a measure of admiration for the significance of +Plautus in literature, he is impelled to say: "The bold, coarse style of +Plautus and his famous jokes, savour of his familiarity with the vulgar +... <He> mostly inclines to the farcical, to overwrought and often +disgusting drollery." This is doubtless true, but, by making the +incidental a criterion for the whole, it gives a gross misconception to +one that has not read Plautus. + +[Sidenote: Donaldson] J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek +theatre[40], has plagiarized Schlegel practically _verbatim_, while giving +the scantest credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as being a +mere echo, or compilation of second-hand material. + +We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient comedy that +he enthusiastically superintended the translation and production of plays +of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel[41]: "I once witnessed at Weimar a +representation of the _Adelphi_ of Terence, entirely in ancient costume, +which, under the direction of Goethe, furnished us a truly Attic evening." + +[Sidenote: Scott] In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may +be interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar _par excellence_, +may be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's +_Amphitryon_ he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of +Amphitryon which has _had the honour_ to be deemed worthy of imitation by +MoliA"re and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and +inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that +of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to +which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious +literary technician![42] + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all +is certainly attained by LeGrand in _Daos_.[43] He appreciates clearly +that "la nouvelle comA(C)die n'a pas A(C)tA(C), en toute circonstance stance, une +comA(C)die distinguA(C)e. Elle n'a pas dA(C)daignA(C) constamment la farce et le gros +rire."[44] How much more then would this apply to _palliatae_! + +We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of +criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which +Plautus has been subjected.[45] The ancients overrated him stylistically, +but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz +and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of +Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and +therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that +offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the +_Captivi_. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our +poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit +without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness. +Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his +inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but +Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while +aiming solely at provoking laughter. + +From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the +prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his +conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy +situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's +original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a +grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him +for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any +illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent and consummate +technique? Did he for a single instant imagine himself the inspired +reformer of public morality? Did he believe that his style was elegant and +polished? Indeed, he must have effected an appreciable refinement of the +vernacular of his age to produce his lively verse, but without losing the +robust vitality of "Volkswitz." Or is it true that nothing further than +amusement lay within his scope? + +If so, we may at least posit that almost unbounded license must be allowed +the pen which aims simply to raise a laugh. We do not fulminate against a +treatise on Quaternions because it lacks humor. If the drawings of +cartoonists are anatomically incorrect, we are smilingly indulgent. Do we +condemn a vaudeville skit for not conforming to the Aristotelian code of +dramatic technique? Assuredly we do not rise in disgust from a musical +comedy because "in real life" a bevy of shapely maidens in scant attire +never goes tripping and singing blithely though the streets. If then we +can establish that Plautus regarded his adapted dramas merely as a rack on +which to hang witticisms, merely as a medium for laugh-provoking sallies +and situations, we have at once Plautus as he pretended to be, and in +large measure the answer to the original question: "What manner of drama +is this?" + +We say only "in large measure," because it is part of our endeavor to +settle accurately the position of our author in the dramatic scale, +considered of necessity from the modern viewpoint. We cannot believe that +he had any pretensions to refined art in play building, or rather +rebuilding, or to any superficial elegance of style, or to any moralizing +pose. We believe him an entertainer pure and simple, who never restricted +himself in his means except by the outer conventions and form of the Greek +New Comedy and the Roman stage, provided his single aim, that of affording +amusement, was attained. To establish this belief, and at the same time to +interpret accurately the nature of his plays and the means and effect of +their production, is our thesis. + +If then we run the gamut of the dramatic scale, we observe that as we +descend from the higher forms, such as tragedy, psychological drama and +"straight comedy," to the lower, such as musical comedy and burlesque, the +license allowed playwright and actor increases so radically that we have a +difference of kind rather than of degree. Certain conventions of course +are common to all types. The "missing fourth side" of the room is a +commonplace recognized by all. If we ourselves are never in the habit of +communicating the contents of our letters, as we write, to a doubtless +appreciative atmosphere, we never cavil at such an act on the stage. The +stage whisper and aside, too, we accept with benevolent indulgence; but it +is worth noting that in the attempted verisimilitude of the modern +"legitimate" drama, the aside has well nigh vanished. As we go down the +scale through light comedy and broad farce these conventions multiply +rapidly. + +With the introduction of music come further absurdities. Melodious voicing +of our thoughts is in itself essentially unnatural, to say the least. +Grand opera, great art form as it may be, is hopelessly artificial. +Indeed, so far is it removed from the plane of every day existence that we +are rudely jolted by the introduction of too commonplace a thought, as +when Sharpless in the English version of "Madame Butterfly" warbles +mellifluously: "Highball or straight?" And when we reach musical comedy +and vaudeville, all thought of drama, technically speaking, is abandoned +in watching the capers of the "merry-merry" or the outrageous "Dutch" +comedian wielding his deadly newspaper. + +It is important for our immediate purposes to note: first, (as aforesaid), +that the amount of license allowed author and actor increases immeasurably +as we go down the scale; second, that the degree of familiarity with the +audience and cognizance of the spectator's existence varies inversely as +the degree of dramatic value. Thus, at one end of the scale we have, for +instance, Mrs. Fiske, whose fondness for playing to the centre of the +stage and ignoring the audience is commented upon as a mannerism; at the +other, the low comedian who says his say or sings his song directly at the +audience and converses gaily with them as his boon companions. Now it will +be shown that familiar address of the audience and the singing of monodies +to musical accompaniment are essential features of Plautus' style, and +many other implements of the lower types of modern drama are among his +favorite devices. If then we can place Plautus toward the bottom of the +scale, we relieve him vastly of responsibility as a dramatist and of the +necessity of adherence to verisimilitude. Where does he actually belong? +The answer must be sought in a detailed consideration of his methods of +producing his effects and in an endeavor to ascertain how far the audience +and the acting contributed to them. + + + +ASec.2. The Performance + + +[Sidenote: The Audience] As it is perfectly patent that every practical +playwright must cater to his public, the audience is an essential feature +in our discussion. The audience of Plautus was not of a high class. +Terence, even in later times, when education had materially progressed, +often failed to reach them by over-finesse. Plautus with his bold brush +pleased them. Surely a turbulent and motley throng they were, with the +native violence of the sun-warmed Italic temperament and the abundant +animal spirits of a crude civilization, tumbling into the theatre in the +full enjoyment of holiday, scrambling for vantage points on the sloping +ground, if such were handy, or a good spot for their camp-stools. In view +of the uncertainty as to the actual site of the original performances, +this portraiture is "atmospheric" rather than "photographic." (See +Saunders in TAPA. XLIV, 1913). At any rate, we have ample evidence of the +turbulence of the early Roman audience. (Ter. Prol. _Hec._ 39-42, and +citations immediately following). Note the description of Mommsen:[46] +"The audience was anything but genteel.... The body of spectators cannot +have differed much from what one sees in the present day at public +fireworks and gratis exhibitions. Naturally, therefore, the proceedings +were not too orderly; children cried,[47] women talked and shrieked, now +and then a wench prepared to push her way to the stage; the ushers had on +these festivals anything but a holiday, and found frequent occasion to +confiscate a mantle or to ply the rod."[48] + +Impatient if the play be delayed, and voicing their disapproval by lusty +clapping, stamping, whistling and cat-calls, they are equally ready with +noisy approval if the dramatic fare tickle their palate.[49] The +_tibicen_, as he steps forth to render the overture, is greeted +uproariously as an old favorite. The manager perhaps appears and announces +the names of those taking part, each one of whom is doubtless applauded or +hissed in proportion to his measure of popularity. Differences of opinion +as to the merits of an individual actor may culminate in the partisans' +coming to blows.[50] Horace (_Ep._ II. I. 200 ff.) comments on the +turbulence of the audiences of his day too; while under the Empire +factions for and against particular actors grew up, as in the circus.[51] +Late-comers of course often disturbed the Prologus in his lines. The +continual reiteration that we find in such prologues as the _Amph._, +_Cap._ and _Poen._ was naturally designed as a safeguard against such +disturbance. Yet these prologues were undoubtedly composed, as Ritschl has +shown (_Par._ 232 ff.), shortly after 146 B.C., and the turbulence of the +original audience must have been far greater. + +To win the favor of such a crowd, which would groan if instead of the +expected comedy a tragedy should be announced,[52] what methods were +necessary? Slap-sticks, horse-play, broad slashing swashbuckling humor, +thick colors daubed on with lavish brush! + +By Cicero's time the public had attained to such a degree of +sophistication that the slightest slip on the part of the wretched actor +was greeted by a storm of popular disapproval. "Histrio si paulum se movit +extra numerum, aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut +longior, exsibilatur, exploditur," says Cicero.[53] The actor dare not +even have a cold, for on the slightest manifestation of hoarseness, he was +hooted off, though favorites such as Roscius might be excused on the plea +of indisposition.[54] The Scholiast Cruquius to Hor. _Ser._ I. 10.37 ff. +notes: "Poemata ... in theatris exhibita imperitae multitudinis applausum +captare." + +It is evident from all this that, while the Roman public had made +considerable advances in education, their demonstrative temperament had +not cooled. It seems eminently fair to deduce that the far ruder and less +cultivated audiences of Plautus' day were even more violent in their +manifestations of pleasure and displeasure, but that their criterion of +taste was solely the amount of amusement derived from the performance and +that they bothered themselves little about niceties of rhythm. To the +Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production. +Again we reiterate, only the bold brush could have pleased them. + +That the plays of Plautus attained a permanent position in ihe theatrical +repertoire of Rome is of course well known; but he wrote primarily for his +own age, and in a difficult environment. Not only did he have to please a +highly volatile and inflammable public, but he must have been forced to +exercise tact to avoid offending the patrician powers, as the imprisonment +of Naevius indicates. Mommsen has an apt summary:[55] "Under such +circumstances, where art worked for daily wages and the artist instead of +receiving due honour was subjected to disgrace, the new national theatre +of the Romans could not present any development either original or even at +all artistic." + +[Sidenote: The Actor] This brief discussion of the relation between public +and playwright will suffice for our purposes. In the course of it we have +insensibly encroached upon the next topic: the relation of public and +actor. Who after all is the chief factor in the success or failure of a +drama, in spite of the oft misquoted adage, "The play's the thing?" The +actor! The actor, who can mouth and tear a passion to tatters, or swing a +piece of trumpery into popular favor by the brute force of his dash and +personality. That this was true in Plautus' day, no less than in our own, +is plainly indicated by the personal allusion inserted in the _Bac._ +(214-5): + + Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo, + Nullam aeque invitus specto, _si agit Pellio_. + +The servile status of the ancient actor is an index to the energy of his +performance, if to nothing else. Failure meant a beating, success a drink +at least.[56] Augustus humanely abrogated the whipping of actors, but an +attempt was made in Tiberius' time to renew the practice.[57] On the other +hand, there seem to have been prizes awarded to successful actors,[58] as +well as to the poet;[59] but this practice surely arose after Plautus' +lifetime. At any rate, whatever was the nature of the reward, in his day +the large emoluments won by Roscius and other popular favorites were +impossible.[60] The effort demanded by the elaborate education of the +actor,[61] in which naturally gesticulation was the most vital element, +was out of all proportion to the precarious reward. A rigid course of +training was prescribed and strenuous exercises were required, for both +actor and orator to keep the voice in proper form.[62] Indeed, Quintilian +advises the budding orator to take instruction in voice production and +gesticulation from the comic actor.[63] For the comic actor was at all +times recognized as livelier and more vivid in his performance than the +tragedian.[64] The two were usually sharply differentiated.[65] +Specialization arose, too, and we hear of actors who confined their +efforts to feminine roles,[66] though naturally every performer was cast +for parts to which his physique was best suited.[67] + +It is doubtful whether such an elaborate system had been developed in +Plautus' time, but this much is certain: the comedian was on the stage +lively, energetic and constantly spurred on by the fear of punishment from +the _dominus gregis_ and the violent disapproval of a fickle, tempestuous +and withal exacting public. Polybius[68] relates that the visit of a +troupe of Greek actors to Rome was a failure because of their over-staid +deportment, until, learning the desires of the volatile Italians, they +improvised a vastly more vivid pantomime depicting a mock battle, with +huge success. Assuredly the early Roman comedian must have acted with +greater abandon and clownish drollery, if not with the elaborate +histrionic technique of the later actor.[69] We have heard Dr. Charles +Knapp relate that the performance of the _Ajax_ of Sophocles by a troupe +of modern Greek players went with amazing and incredible rapidity and +vivacity. It is all of a piece. We must inevitably associate vivid +temperament with the sons of the Mediterranean in all ages. Yet we have +just seen that the Greeks of old were too self-contained for their Italian +brethren. + +[Sidenote: The Histrionism] With this brief discussion of the condition, +incentive and motive of the Plautine actor, let us pass on to a more +detailed consideration of his methods and technique. Naturally by far the +most important part of this was gesture. Here again, while some of our +evidence is somewhat unreliable, practically every shred of extant +testimony indicates an extreme liveliness and vivacity. In the +rhetoricians frequent warning is issued to the forensic neophyte to avoid +the unrestraint of theatrical gesticulation. Cicero says (_De Or._ I. 59. +251): "Nemo suaserit studiosis dicendi adulescentibus in gestu discendo +histrionum more elaborare." Quintilian echoes (I. 11. 3): "Ne gestus quidem +omnis ac motus a comediis petendus est.... Orator plurimum ... aberit a +scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius." And in the _Auctor +ad Herennium_ we find (III. 15. 26): "Convenit igitur in vultu et pudorem +nec acrimoniam esse, in gestu et venustatem nec turpitudinem, ne aut +histriones aut operarii videamur esse."[70] That the nature and liveliness +of gesture on the stage was determined by the character portrayed, it is +almost needless to say.[71] + +Cicero's analysis (_de Or._ III. 59. 220) of the difference between +theatrical and forensic gesture implies that the former illustrates +individual words and ideas, while the latter comprehends more broadly the +general thought and sentiment.[72] It is most unfortunate that we have +lost Cicero's treatise _De Gestu Histrionis_.[73] + +By Cicero's time a more restrained mode of acting was evidently considered +good taste; witness _de Off._ (I. 36. 130): "Histrionum non nulli gestus +ineptus non vacant, et quae sunt recta et simplicia laudantur."[74] But +the passages cited above bear ample testimony to the vigor of histrionic +gesticulation even at this later and far more cultivated epoch. Again we +repeat, what must have been the energy and abandon of the original +Plautine actor?[75] + +Apart from the rhetoricians, the most fruitful literary source of our +information on gesture is Donatus' commentary on Terence. The +trustworthiness of this has been the subject of much argument. Sittl[76] +accuses him of speaking merely from the standpoint of a professor of +rhetoric, as comedies of Terence were no longer given in the time of +Donatus. Weinberger in his "Beitrage zu den Buhnenaltherthumern aus Donats +Terenz-commentar,"[77] admonishes us to be very careful not to put too +high a value on the commentary. Van Wageningen[78] is of the opinion that +much of the work was inspired by Donatus' having seen in his own time +unmasked actors play. To this view color is lent by Donatus' note to +_And._ 716: "Sive haec <Mysis> personatis viris agitur, ut apud veteres, +sive per mulierem, ut nunc videmus." + +If this is true, it makes Donatus' work of more significance to us, as it +would imply a harking back to the play of feature of the unmasked +performances of Plautus' day. But while it is certain that Donatus had +other sources than the Terentian text for his annotations,[79] it is +equally certain that practically everything he has to say relative to +gesture and stage business is readily to be deduced from the text and is +in the main interesting only as a compilation.[80] However, everything he +says continues to point persistently to lively gesture and action; and +this too in Terentian comedy, where the text makes far less rigorous +demands on the actor's muscles than in Plautus' works. + +Donatus remarks occasionally that certain words must have been accompanied +by especially expressive gesture and byplay, evidently of feature, as +_vultuose, cum gestu_ and similar phrases are used to indicate this.[81] +His note to _And._ 722 is: "Haec scaena actuosa est: magis enim in gestu +quam in oratione est constituta." Of gestures emphatic and yet not foreign +to everyday life Quintilian notes (XI. 3. 123): "Femur ferire--et usitatum +et indignantis decet"; a movement plainly employed in _Mil._ 204 and +_Truc._ 601. But, says Quintilian further (ib.): "Complodere manus +scaenicum est et pectus caedere."[82] + +One of the notable "hits" of the ancient stage is recorded by Donatus ad +_Phor._ 315: Ambivius (as Phormio) entered "oscitans temulenter atque +aurem minimo scalpens digitulo ... et labia lingens ut ebrius et ructans." +But Ambivius' potations resulted in an extremely spirited and lifelike +imitation of the parasite character and he was forthwith forgiven his +drunkenness. + +Passing mention must be made of the Terentian Mss. illustrations, though +they add but little weight to the foregoing. For a complete list of their +sources and editions see Sittl, "GebArden der Griechen und RAmer," Chap. +XI, p. 203 ff.[83] But whatever be the exact date of the original, in our +extant copies the old traditional gestures are lost and the gesture of +everyday life supplied. In fact, in the analyses appended by Leo, van +Wageningen and Warnecke, in the works cited above, we arrive at little but +that the gestures natural to any Italian-born person in a like situation +are reproduced, such as "gestus abeuntis, cogitantis, parasiti," etc. It +is almost too much to make any of this a basis for argument as to +classical and pre-classical stage-craft. It is at least significant that +every character with hands free is gesticulating and the scene from _Eun._ +IV. 6-7 is evidently full of vigorous action. + +An old and discursive article[84] by T. Baden, containing a description +and analysis of the gestures and posture of a number of familiar figures +from comedy exemplified in some collections of statuettes (chiefly those +in Borgia's Museum of Baden's time), is open to the same objection as the +above. The gestures of slave, pander, parasite, etc., described in the +article are lively and expressive to be sure, but contain little to +differentiate them from those of daily life. + +While much of our evidence is still to come, we believe that we are +already justified in the deduction that the actor contemporary with +Plautus must have indulged in the extravagances of the players in the +Atellan farces and the mimes. The _mimus_ of the Empire, we know, +specialized in ridiculous facial contortions.[85] + +We must not forget too the vivacity indicated by the comic scenes among +the Pompeian and Herculanean wall-paintings,[86] which have a close +kinship with the Terentian MSS. pictures. Nor must we lose sight of the +fact that all our pictorial _reliquiae_ portray the later masked +characters, and hence play of feature, which must have been a notable +concomitant of the original Plautine performance, is entirely obscured. + +As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent of our +poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order. Whether we +agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first introduced for comedy +and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius Prothymus respectively,[87] +or with Diomedes' explanation[88] that Roscius adopted them to disguise +his pronounced squint, it is certain that they were not worn in Plautus' +time, when wigs and make-up were employed for characterization.[89] In +fact, the early performances of Plautus, unless we except the original +Terentian productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman +comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the practice of +lively grimace and facial play. + +The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward +appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries of make-up +that rival those of the Old Comedy. From _As._ 400-1 we learn that Saurea +was: + + Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ventriosus, + Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte. + +In the _Mer._ Lysimachus is described as a veritable _thensaurus +mali_ (639-40): + + Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum, + Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum. + +Curculio was one-eyed: "Unocule, salve" (Cur. 392). Pseudolus must have +been a joy to the groundlings _(Ps._ 1218 ff.): + + Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger, + Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum + Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes. + Pseudolus fuit ipsus. + +His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization. +(Cf. Ter. _Phor._ 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer, +he inquires (_Rud._ 316 ff.): + + Ecquem + Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum, + Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?[90] + +The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in +vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this +respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One +must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as +on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too +slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore, +deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and +developed their Greek and Etruscan models.[91] When Livius Andronicus +first fathered _palliatae_, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as +the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his +audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him, +and he doubtless seized upon the _palliata_ form as the natural medium for +the exploitation of his talents. By Cicero's time considerable technical +equipment was required; the actor must be an adept in gesticulation, +gymnastic and dancing.[92] Appreciable refinement had been reached in +Quintilian's age, for he scores the comic actor who departs too far from +reality and pronounces the ideal player him who declaims with a measured +artistic heightening of everyday discourse.[93] It is noteworthy that this +practically coincides with the accepted standard of modern realistic +acting. But the Plautine actor could never have felt himself trammeled by +any such narrow and sophisticated restrictions, as we believe the evidence +accumulated above amply proves. At any rate, the delineation of different +roles must have been at all times strictly in character. The need of +feminine vocal tones, unless another jest is intended is indicated by +_Rud._ 233: + + Certe vox muliebris auris tetigit meas. + +And Quintilian admonishes the youth who is taking lessons from a comic +actor in voice-production not to carry his precepts so far as to imitate +the female falsetto, the senile tremolo, the obsequiousness of the slave, +the stuttering accents of intoxication or the intonations of love, greed, +fear.[94] + +Where Donatus gives instructions as to the vocal expression with which +certain lines are to be delivered, as in the case of his comments on +gesture, they are almost painfully evident from the context. He cites for +instance irony[95], anger[96], exhaustion [97], amazement [98], +sympathy[99], pity[100]. He appears as the lineal ancestor of the modern +"coach" of amateur theatricals in somewhat naively remarking[101] that +upon leaving Thais for two days, Phaedria must pronounce "two days" as if +"two years" were written. + +Another phase of the delivery of the dialogue that deserves passing +mention is song and musical accompaniment. Livy's anecdote[102] of the +employment by Livius Andronicus of a boy to sing for him while he +gesticulated is almost universally accepted as an exceptional instance, +prompted by the failing of Livius' voice through age[103]. We are now +fairly well informed of the tripartite diversion of the dialogue into +_canticum_ or song proper, recitative, and _diverbium_ or spoken +utterance[104], with the incidental accompaniment of the _tibia_. Though +there may be some dispute as to the apportionment of the various classes, +the general truth is established.[105] The important feature of this for +our purpose is that, if the ancient tragedy with its music and dancing was +rather comparable to modern grand opera than to drama proper, the song and +musical accompaniment of comedy lend it a strong flavor of the opera +bouffe and even of the musical comedy of to-day. In Part II we shall draw +numerous other parallels between this style of composition and the plays +of Plautus. West, in A.J.P. VIII. 33, notes one of the few comparisons to +"comic opera" that we have seen. Fay, in the Introduction to his ed. of +the _Most._ (ASec. 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early +schools." + +One feature of the performance still remains to be discussed--the +"stage-business," that is, the movements of the actors apart from mere +gesticulation and dialogue. Much of this too will find a place in Part II, +in the treatment of special peculiarities, but in general we note here +that the text itself contains many indications that are as plain as +printed stage directions regarding the movements being made or about to be +made by the characters. Examples of the more significant follow: _Amph._ +308: Cingitur: Certe expedit se; 312: Perii, pugnos ponderat. (Sosia +speaks aside of Mercury and similarly during the succeeding scene); 903: +Potin ut abstineas manum?; 955: Aperiuntur aedis. This motif is +commonplace and frequent; 958: Vos tranquillos video; 1130: quam valide +tonuit; _As._ 39: Age, age, usque excrea; _Bac._ 668: quod sic terram +optuere?; _Cap._ 557: Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuitur?; 594: +Ardent oculi;[106] 793: Hic homo pugilatum incipit; _Ep._ 609: illi +caperrat frons severitudine; _Mer._ 138: iam dudum spato sanguinem; _Mil._ +1324: Nefle; _Most._ 1030: vocis non habeo satis. (He must have been +shouting); _Ps._ 458: Statum vide hominis, Callipho, quam basilicum; 955: +transvorsus ... cedit, quasi cancer solet: _Trin._ 623 f.: celeri +graducunt uterque: ille rcprehendit hunc priorem pallio.[107] + +This practice of indicating business in the lines, of making the +play act, is common to all the older types of drama, Elizabethan as +well as classic. A single striking example from Shakespeare will +furnish a parallel, in the well-known lines from _Macbeth_: + + The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon, + Where gott'st thou that goose look? (V. 3). + +The modern playwright robs his lines of their vividness and +throws the onus on the actor through the medium of his interpolated +direction, a custom which reaches its most exaggerated form +in the plays of Bernard Shaw, as mentioned above. + +[Sidenote: Thesis] We have now made a perceptible advance towards getting +an answer to our original questions: "What manner of drama is this?" and +"How was it done?" The comments of the most eminent critics on the former +question have left us rather bewildered by their diversity. Almost to a +man they have taken Plautus too seriously or else have arraigned him for +not conforming to their preconceived code of comedy, without questioning +whether it were Plautus' own or not. This has really nullified their +efforts to explain away the peculiarities and absurdities of his style. +Some _solvent_ of these difficulties is needed. + +As to the second question, we have examined briefly the extant evidence +regarding the actor's employment of gesture and business, his delivery of +the dialogue, make-up and character delineation, and found a disappointing +paucity, but a general and irresistible trend towards liveliness, vivacity +and broad undiluted comedy that must have been the sort of dramatic fare +demanded by the primeval appetite of the Plautine audience. But again we +find ourselves falling short of a satisfying answer to our question. +Again, some _solvent_ is needed. As the last resort, we turn to the +evidence of the plays themselves and the unbounded realm of subjective +criticism. + +From the earliest times gesture and business in Aristophanes and the Old +Comedy were marked by the riotous license of all the media of that notable +epoch[108] of comedy. From the broad spirit of its frank and vivid +burlesque not even the most stolidly Teutonic of humorless critics ever +thought of demanding a "picture of life." But with the abandonment of the +purpose of political propaganda, the consequent disappearance of the +chorus with its burlesque trappings (largely through motives of state +economy), and the establishment in the New Comedy of a type of dramatic +machinery that had a specious outer shell of reflection of characters and +events in daily life, the critics instantly seem to demand the standard of +dramatic technique of Aristotle and Freytag and condemn all departures +from this standard. In reality, we believe that the kinship of Plautus +with Aristophanes is much closer than has usually been realized. + +Is, then, the change from Old to New Comedy as great as has been +represented? Does not the change consist rather in the outer form and in +the ideas expounded than in the spirit of the histrionism and mimicry? And +must not the vigor, from what we have seen, have been intensified in +Plautus? LeGrand alone seems to have caught the essence of this:[109] "Que +dire de la mimique? D'aprA"s les indications contenues dans le texte mAme +des comA(C)dies, d'aprA"s les commentaires--notamment ceux de Donat, d'aprA"s +les monuments figurA(C)s--en particulier les images des manuscrits, elle +devait Atre en general trA"s vive, souvent trop vive pour le goA"t des +modernes.... Et puis, ils s'addressaient a des spectateurs mA(C)ridionaux, +coutumiers dans la vie quotidienne d'une gesticulation plus animA(C)e que la +nAtre." And this is said as a combined estimate of New Comedy and +_palliatae_. + +We are now prepared to advance a definite thesis, that shall gather up the +random threads of argument and suggestion scattered through the foregoing +pages and shall, we hope, provide a conclusive and final answer to both of +our original questions. If we can establish: that our author's sole aim +was to feed the popular hunger for amusement; that, while after leaving +much of his Greek originals practically untouched, he considered them in +effect but a medium for the provocation of laughter, but a vessel into +which to pour a highly seasoned brew of fun; that to this end his actors +went before the public, potentially speaking slap-stick in hand, equipped +by nature with liveliness of grimace and gesture and prepared to act with +verve, unction and an abandon of dash and vigor that would produce a riot +of merriment; that his dramatic machinery is hopelessly crippled and that +his evident intentions and effects are hopelessly lost unless interpreted +in this spirit: then we relegate Plautine drama to a low plane of broad +farce, where verisimilitude to life becomes wholly unnecessary because +undesirable; where the canons of dramatic art become inoperative; where, +contrary to what KArting says, we are not asked to believe that +"everything is happening in a perfectly natural manner"; where the poet +may stick at nothing provided the laugh be forthcoming; where all the +apparently absurd conventions of _palliatae_ cease to be absurd, vanish +into thin air and become unamenable to literary criticism, inasmuch as +they are all only part of the laugh-compelling scheme. This is the +_solvent_ that we propose. To establish this, let us proceed to an +examination of the internal mechanism of the plays. + + + + +Part II + +An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus + + + +The salient features that characterize the plays of Plautus include both +his consciously employed means of producing his comic effects, and the +peculiarities and abnormalities that evidence his attitude of mind in +writing them. We should make bold to catalogue them as follows: + +I. Machinery characteristic of the lower types of modern drama--farce, low + comedy, musical comedy, burlesque shows, vaudeville, and the like. + + A. Devices self-evident from the text. + 1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + 2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + 3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + a. True burlesque. + b. True farce. + c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + + B. Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad + farcical spirit. + 1. The running slave. + 2. Wilful blindness. + 3. Adventitious entrance. + +II. Evidences of loose composition which prove a disregard of + technique and hence indicate that entertainment was the sole aim. + + A. Solo speeches and passages. + 1. Asides and soliloquies. + 2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + 3. Direct address of the audience. + + B. Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition. + 1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + 2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + 3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + 4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + 5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + 6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +Let us illustrate these points by typical passages and endeavor to insert +such stage-directions as would indicate how the most telling effects could +be produced and hence aid the reader in visualizing the actual +performance. + + +I. Machinery Characteristic of the Lower Types of Modern Drama + +A. _Devices self-evident from the text._ + +1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + +It is a little difficult to sublimate this entirely from burlesque, but +its true nature is instanced by the opening lines of the _Miles_, where +the vainglorious Pyrgopolinices, with many a sweep and strut, addresses +his attendants, who are probably staggering under the weight of an +enormous shield: + +"Have a care that the effulgence of my shield be brighter than e'er the +sun's rays in a cloudless sky: when the time for action comes and the +battle's on, I intend it shall dazzle the eyesight o' m' foes. (_Patting +his sword_). Verily I would condole with this m' sword, lest he lament and +be cast down in spirit, forasmuch as now full long hath he hung idle by m' +side, thirsting, poor lad, to meet his fellow 'mongst the foe," and so on. + +In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device. So +we find Pseudolus addressing the audience in ringing blustering tones and +with grandiose gesture (_Ps._ 584 ff.): + +"It now becomes my aim today to lay siege to this town and capture it." +(Ballio the procurer is the town). "I shall hurl all my legions against +it. If I take it, ... good luck to you, my citizens, for part of the booty +shall be yours." + +This finds a close counterpart in the _Mil._ 219 ff., a passage which +West[110] thinks was deliberately inserted to rouse the populace into +demanding that Scipio be at once despatched to Africa. + +Periplecomenus is urging Palaestrio to find a stratagem. Actually he +probably addresses the pit: + +"Don't you see that the enemy are upon you and investing your rear? Call a +council of war, reach out for stores and reinforcements in this crisis: +haste, haste, no time to waste! Make a detour through some pass, forestall +your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops! Cut off the enemy's base of +supplies!" etc. + +Whether this passage had an ulterior purpose or not, the motif is +frequent.[111] So we find Chrysalus in _Bac._ 925 ff. holding the stage +for an entire scene with an elaborate comparison of himself to Ulysses, +the brains of the Greek host, overcoming his master Nicobulus who +represents Priam. + +In general the mocking assumption of an heroic attitude recurs with +sufficient frequency to stamp it as a staple of comic effect. Many +passages would become tiresome and meaningless instead of amusing unless +so interpreted. The soliloquy of Mnesilochus in _Bac._ 500 ff. could be +made interesting only by turgid ranting. Similarly in _Bac._ 530 ff. and +612 ff.[112] + + +2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + +By this we mean what can in nowise be so clearly defined as by +"rough-house." For instance, the turbulent Euclio in _Aul._ delivers +bastings impartially to various _dramatis personae_ and as a climax drives +the cooks and music-girl pell-mell out of the house, doubtless accompanied +by deafening howling and clatter (415 ff.). Similarly in the _Cas._ (875 +ff.) Chalinus routs Olympio and the lecherous Lysidamus. We may well +imagine that such scenes were preceded as well as accompanied by a fearful +racket within (a familiar device of our low comedy and extravaganza), the +effect probably heightened by tempestuous _melodrama_ on the _tibiae_, as +both the scenes cited are in _canticum_. + +In the _Men._ we are treated to a free fight, in which the valiant +Messenio routs the _lorarii_ by vigorous punches, while Menaechmus plants +his fist in one antagonist's eye (_Men._ 1011 ff.): + +(Menaechmus of Epidamnus is seized by _lorarii_; as he struggles, +Messenio, slave of Menaechmus Sosicles, rushes into the fray to his +rescue). "MES. I say! Gouge out that fellow's eye, the one that's got you +by the shoulder, master. Now as for these rotters, I'll plant a crop of +fists on their faces. (_Lays about._) By Heaven, you'll be everlastingly +sorry for the day you tried to carry my master off. Let go! + +MEN. (_Joining in with a will._) I've got this fellow by the eye! + +MES. Bore it out! A hole's good enough for his face! You villians, you +thieves, you robbers! (_General melA(C)e. Lorarii weaken._) + +LOR. We're done for! Oh Lord, please! + +MES. Let go then! + +MEN. What right had you to lay hands on me? Give them a good beating up! +(_Lorarii break and scatter wildly under the ferocious onslaught._) + +MES. Come, clear out! To the devil with you all! That for _you_! +(_Strikes._) You're the last; here's _your_ reward! (_Strikes again._)" + +The lines themselves are sufficiently graphic and need but little +annotation. Other pugilistic activities crop up at not infrequent +intervals in the text,[113] and in _Ps._ 135 ff. Ballio generously plies +the whip. In the lacuna of the _Amph._ after line 1034, Mercury probably +bestows a drenching on Amphitruo.[114] In _As._ III. 3, especially 697 +ff., Libanus makes his master Argyrippus "play horsey" with him, doubtless +with indelicate buffonery. With invariable energy, even so simple a matter +as knocking on doors is made the excuse for raising a violent disturbance, +as in _Amph._ 1019 f. and 1025: Paene effregisti, fatue, foribus +cardines.[115] And this idea is actually parodied in _As._ 384 ff. No, +Plautus did not allow his public to languish for want of noise. + + +3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + +Under this head we include such conscious strivings for comic as are +frankly and plainly exaggerated and hyper-natural. + + +a. True burlesque. + +This is in effect pure parody, cartooning. Patent burlesque of tragedy +appears in _Trin._ 820 ff. (_Charmides returns from abroad._) + +"CHAR. To Neptune, ruler of the deep, and puissant brother unto Jove and +Nereus, do I in joy and gladness cry my praises and gratefully proclaim my +gratitude; and to the briny waves, who held me in their power, yea, even +my chattels and my very life, and from their realms restored me to the +city of my birth," etc., etc. + +To tickle the ears of the groundlings, this must have been delivered in +grandiloquent mimicry with all the paraphernalia of the tragic style. +Horace notes a kindred manifestation of this tendency (to which he himself +is pleasingly addicted), in _Ep._ II. 3.93 f.: + + Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit + Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore. + +Tragic burlesque is again beautifully exemplified in _Ps._ 702 ff. The +versatile Pseudolus after a significant aside: "I'll address the fellow in +high-sounding words," says to his master Calidorus: + +"Hail! Hail! Thee, thee, O mighty ruler, thee do I beseech who art lord +over Pseudolus. Thee do I seek that thou mayst obtain thrice three times +triple delights in three various ways, joys earned by three tricks and +three tricksters, cunningly won by treachery, fraud and villainy, which in +this little sealed missive have I but erstwhile brought to thee.... + +CHAR. The rascal's spouting like a tragedian." + +When Sosia, in the first scene of _Amph._ (203 ff.), turgidly describes +the battle between the Thebans and Teleboans, he is parodying the +Messenger of tragedy. Another echo from tragedy is heard at the end of the +play, when Jupiter appears in the role of deus ex machina.[116] + +Burlesque of character and calling puts in an occasional appearance. The +recreant Sosia in _Amph._ 958 ff. mimics the dutiful slave. _As._ 259 ff. +contains an ironical treatment of augury, while in 751 ff. the poet has +his satirical fling at the legal profession. + + +b. True farce. + +This is of course the comedy of situation and finds its mainstay in +mistaken identity. The _Men._ and _Amph._ with their doubles are +farce-comedies proper, but the element of farce forms the motive power of +nearly all the plots; for example, the shuffling-up of Acropolistis, +Telestis and the _fidicina_ in _Ep._, the quarrel between Mnesilochus and +Pistoclerus in _Bac._ resulting from the former's belief that his friend +had stolen his sweetheart, the exchange of names between Tyndarus and +Philocrates in _Cap._, the entrapping of Demaenetus with the _meretrix_ at +the dA(C)nouement of _As._, etc., etc. It is understood, we presume, that the +modern farce occupies no exalted position in the comic scale, is +distinguished by the grotesquerie of its characters, incidents and +dialogue, and is indulgently permitted to stray far from the paths of +realism. Even in Shakespearian farce, note the exaggerated antics of the +two Dromios in "The Comedy of Errors." It is significant then that farce +is a staple of our plays. + +The farcical element is strikingly exemplified in _Amph._ 365-462, where +Mercury persuades Sosia that he is not himself. Impersonation and +assumption of a role is another noteworthy and frequent medium of plot +motivation. In _As._ 407 ff. Leonida tries to palm himself off as the +_atriensis_. Note the violent efforts of the two slaves to wheedle the +cunning ass-dealer (449 ff.). In _Cas._ 815 ff. Chalinus enters disguised +as the blushing bride. In _Men._ 828 ff. Menaechmus Sosicles pretends +madness in a clever scene of uproarious humor. In the _Mil._ (411 ff.) +Philocomasium needs only to change clothing to appear in the role of her +own hypothetical twin sister, and in 874 ff. and 1216 ff. the _meretrix_ +plays _matrona_. Sagaristio and the daughter of the _leno_ impersonate +Persians (_Per._ 549 ff.), Collabiscus becomes a Spartan (_Poen._ 578 +ff.), Simia as Harpax gets Ballio's money (_Ps._ 905 ff.), the sycophant +is garbed as messenger (_Trin._ 843 ff.), Phronesium elaborately pretends +to be a mother (_Truc._ 499 ff.). A swindle is almost invariably the +object in view. But we have said enough on this score: no one who knows +the plays at all can fail to recognize the predominance of farce. Compare +on the modern stage the sudden appearance of "the long-lost cousin from +Chicago." + + +c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + +This group of course often contains marked features of burlesque and +farce, and hence shows a close kinship with the foregoing. + +The extravagance of the love-sick swain is a fruitful source of this +species of caricature. The ridiculous Calidorus, always wearing his heart +on his sleeve, rolls his eyes, brushes away a tear and says (_Ps._ 38 +ff.): "But for a short space have I been e'en as a lily of the field. +Suddenly sprang I up, as suddenly I withered." The irreverent Pseudolus +replies: "Oh, shut up while I read the letter over." Calidorus finds his +counterpart in Phaedromus of the _Cur._, who, accompanied by his slave, +approaches milady's abode (_Cur._ 10 ff.): + +"PH. (_In languishing accents, with eyes cast upward_): Shall I not take +sweets to the sweet: what is culled by the toil of the busy bees to my own +little honey?... (_They advance to milady's doorway which he sprinkles +with wine_, 88 ff.): Come, drink, ye portals of pleasure, quaff and deign +to be propitious unto me. + +PALINURUS SER. (_Addressing the door with mimicry of Phaedromus' airs._) +Do you want some olives or sweetmeats or capers? + +PH. (_Continuing._) Arouse your portress; hither send her unto me. +(_Lavishes the wine._) + +PAL. (_In great alarm, grasping his arm._) You're spilling the wine! +What's got hold of you? + +PH. Unhand me! (_Gently shakes himself loose._) Lo! The temple of joys +untold is opening. Did not the hinge creak? 'Tis charming! + +PAL. (_Turning aside in disgust._) Why don't you give it a kiss?" + +In each case the impertinent slave provides the foil. When the lovers +succeed in meeting, they are interlocked in embrace from 172 to 192, +probably invested with no small amount of suggestive "business." This +would doubtless hardly be tolerated by the "censor" today. Another variety +of lover's extravagance is the lavishing of terms of endearment, as we +find in _Cas._ 134 ff.[117] + +When this feature of "extravagance" enters the situation instead of the +dialogue, we have episodes such as the final scene of the _Ps._, where the +name character is irrelevantly introduced (1246) in a state of +intoxication which, with copious belching in Simo's face, culminates in a +rebellion of the overloaded stomach (1294). We can scarcely doubt that +such business was carried out in ultra-graphic detail and rewarded by +copious guffaws from the populace. In sharp contrast to this, the +drunkenness of Callidamates in _Most._ 313 ff. is depicted with unusual +artistry, but still from the very nature of such a scene it may be labeled +"extravagant." + +Manifestation of violent anger is another source of exaggerated stage +business. _Ep._ 512 ff. should be interpreted somewhat as follows: + +"(_The deluded Periphanes has just discovered that the fidicina is an +impostor and not his daughter._) FID. (_Sweetly._) Do you want me for +anything else? + +PER. (_Stamping foot and shaking fists in a passion._) The foul fiend take +you to utter perdition! Clear out, and quickly too! + +FID. (_In alarm._) Won't you give me back my harp? + +PER. Nor harp nor pipes! So hurry up and get out of here, if you know +what's good for you! + +FID. (_Stamping her foot in tearful rage._) I'll go, but you'll have to +give them back later just the same and it will be all the worse for you. + +PER. (_Striding up and down in wildest anger._) What!... shall I let her +go unpunished? Nay, even if I have to lose as much again, I'll lose it +rather than let myself be mocked and despoiled with impunity!" and so +on.[118] + +Other random scenes that may be classed as "extravagant" are found in +Strobilus' cartoon of Euclio (_Aul._ 300 ff.), Demipho's discovery in the +distance of a mythical bidder for the girl (_Mer._ 434 ff.), Charinus' +playing "horsey" and taking a trip in his imaginary car (_Mer._ 930 ff.), +and the loud "boo-hoo" to which Philocomasium gives vent (_Mil._ 1321 +ff.). These all might be classed under either "farce" or "burlesque," but +they seem to come more exactly under the kindred head of "extravagance." + +A familiar figure in modern farce-comedy is the comic conspirator with +finger on lip, tiptoeing round in fear of listeners. He finds his +prototype in _Trin._ (146 ff.): + +"(_Callicles and Megaronides converse._) + +CAL. (_In a mysterious whisper._) Look around a bit and make sure there's +nobody spying on us--and please look around every few seconds. (_They +pause and peer in every direction, perhaps creeping round on tiptoe._) + +MEG. Now, I am all ears. + +CAL. When you're through, I'll talk. (_Pauses and nods._) Just before +Charmides went abroad, he showed me a treasure, (_stops and looks over his +shoulders_) in his house here, in one of the rooms. (_Starts, as if at a +noise._) Look around! (_They repeat the search and return again._) + +MEG. There's nobody."[119] + +Another old stage friend is the detected plotter trying to lie out of an +embarrassing situation. He is lineally descended from Tranio in the +_Most._ Tranio has just induced his master Theopropides to pay forty minae +to the money-lender on the pretext that Theopropides' son Philolaches has +bought a house (659 ff.): + +"TH. In what neighborhood did my son buy this house? + +TR. (_Aside to audience in comic despair, with appropriate gesture._) See +there now! I'm a goner! + +TH. (_Impatiently._) Will you answer my question? + +TR. Oh yes, but (_Stammering and displaying symptoms of acute +embarrassment_) I--I'm trying to think of the owner's name. (_Groans._) + +TH. Well, hurry up and remember it! + +TR. (_Rapidly, aside._) I can't see anything better to do than tell him +his son bought the house of our next-door neighbor here. (_With a shrug._) +Thunder, I've heard that a _steaming_ lie is the best kind. +(_Mock-heroically._) 'Tis the will of the gods, my mind's made up. + +TH. (_Who has been frowning and stamping in impatience._) Well, well, +well! Haven't you thought of it yet? + +TR. (_Aside._) Curses on him!... (_Finally turning and bursting out +suddenly._) It's our next-door neighbor here--your son bought the house +from him. (_He sees that the lie goes and sighs with relief._)"[120] + +Another variation on this theme is the futile effort of the plotter to get +rid of a character armed with incriminating evidence. Again we quote +_Most._ (573 ff.), where Tranio is conversing with Theopropides. The +money-lender from whom young Philolaches has borrowed appears on the other +side of the stage. Tranio espies him. He must keep him away from the old +man. With a hurried excuse he flies across to meet Misargyrides. + +"TR. (_Taking Misargyrides' arm and attempting to steer him off-stage._) I +was never so glad to see a man in my life. + +MIS. (_Suspiciously, holding back._) What's the matter? + +TR. (_Confidentially._) Just step this way. (_Looks back apprehensively at +Theopropides, who is regarding them suspiciously._) + +MIS. (_In a loud and offensive voice._) Won't my interest be paid? + +TR. I know you have a good voice; don't shout so loud. + +MIS. (_Louder._) Hang it, but I _will_ shout! + +TR. (_Groans and glances over shoulder again._) Run along home, there's a +good fellow. (_Urges him toward exit._)", etc. + +Tranio has a chance for very lively business: a sickly smile for the +usurer, lightning glances of apprehension towards Theopropides, with an +occasional intimate groan aside to the audience. Other farcical scenes of +the many that may be cited as calling for particularly vivacious business +and gesture are, e.g., _Cas._ 621 ff., where Pardalisca befools Lysidamus +by timely fainting, _Rud._ 414 ff., where Sceparnio flirts with Ampelisca, +and the quarrel scene, _Rud._ 485 ff.[121] + +The last four passages quoted in translation are by no means lacking in +artistic humor and a measure of reality, but they imply a pronounced +heightening of the actions and emotions of everyday life and lose their +humor unless presented in the broad spirit that stamps them as belonging +to the plane of farce. We now pass on to motives where the dialogue aims +at effects manifestly unnatural and where verisimilitude is sacrificed to +the joke, as we have seen it is in the employment of "bombast," "true +burlesque," etc. + +The first of these motives is a stream of copious abuse, as in _Per._ 406 +ff., where Toxilus _servos_ and Dordalus _leno_ exchange Rabelaisian +compliments. + +"TOX. (_Hopping about with rabid gestures._) You filthy pimp, you +mud-heap, you common dung-hill, you besmirched, corrupt, law-breaking +decoy, you public sewer, ... robber, mobber, jobber, ...! + +DOR. (_Who has been dancing around in fury, shaking his fist until +exhausted by his paroxysms._) Wait--till--(_Puffing_)--I--get--my +breath--I'll--answer you! You dregs of the rabble, you slave-brothel, you +'white-slave' freer, you sweat-of-the-lash, you chain gang, you king of +the treadmill, ... you eat-away, steal-away run-away....!" etc.[122] + +Perhaps we have here the forerunner of the shrewish wife in modern +vaudeville, who administers to her shrinking consort a rapid-fire +tongue-lashing. Another phase of this profuse riot of words appears in the +formidable Persian name that Sagaristio, disguised as a Persian, adopts in +the _Per._ (700 ff.): + +"DORDALUS. What's your name? + +SAG. Listen then, and you shall hear: False-speaker-us Girl-seller-son +Much-o'-nothing-talk-son Money-gouge-out-son Talk-up-to you-son +Coin-wheedle-out-son What-I-once-get-son Never-give-up-son: there you are! + +DOR. (_With staring eyes and gasping breath._) Ye Gods! That's a +variegated name of yours! + +SAG. (_With a superior wave of the hand._) It's the Persian fashion." + +The second point in this category is own cousin to the above. We should +label it persistent interruption and repetition. An excellent instance is +_Trin._ 582 ff., when Stasimus, Lesbonicus and Philto have just hatched a +plot. Philto departs. + +"LES. (_To Stasimus._) You attend to my instructions. I'll be there +presently. Tell Callicles to meet me. + +ST. Now you just clear out! (_Pushes him after Philto._) + +LES. (_Calls out as he is being shoved away._) Tell him to see what has to +be done about the dowry. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Raising his voice._) For I'm determined not to marry her off +without a dowry. + +ST. Won't you clear out? + +LES. (_Still louder._) And I won't let her suffer harm by reason.---- + +ST. Get out, I say! + +LES. (_Shouts._)--of my carelessness. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. It seems right that my own sins-- + +ST. Clear out! + +LES.--should affect me alone. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Mock heroically._) Oh father, shall I ever behold you again? + +ST. Out, out, out! (_With a final shove._) (_Exit Lesbonicus._) At last, I +'ve got him away! (_Breathes hard._)" + +The fun, if fun there be, lies in the hammer-like repetition of "I modo," +a sort of verbal buffoonery. A clever actor could din this with telling +effect. The device is employed several times. In _Most._ 974 ff. the word +is _aio_, in _Per._ 482 ff. _credo_, in _Poen._ 731 ff. _quippini_, in +_Ps._ 484 ff. I1/2I+-I I cubedII, in _Rud._ 1212 ff. _licet_ and 1269 ff. +_censeo_. The last two examples are the lengthiest.[123] + +The third of these motives is the introduction of clearly unnatural +dialogue, wholly incidental and foreign to the action, for the sake of +lugging in a joke. The _As._ (38 ff.) yields the following conversation +between Demaenetus _senex_ and his slave Libanus: + +"LI. By all that's holy, as a favor to me, spit out the words you have +uttered. + +DE. All right, I'll be glad to oblige you. (_Coughs._) + +LI. Now, now, get it right up! (_Pats him on the back._) + +DE. More? (_Coughs._) + +LI. Gad, yes, please! Right from the bottom of your throat: more still! +(_Pats._) + +DE. Well, how far down then? + +LI. (_Unguardedly._) Down to Hades is my wish! + +DE. I say, look out for trouble! + +LI. (_Diplomatically._) For your wife, I mean, not for you. + +DE. For that speech I bestow upon you freedom from punishment."[124] + +The childish bandying of words in _Truc._ 858 ff. is egregiously tiresome +in the reading, but in action could have been made to produce a modicum of +amusement if presented in the broad burlesque spirit that we believe was +almost invariably employed. This gives us a clue to the next topic. + + + +B. _Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad farcical +spirit._ + + +This includes peculiarities that have usually been commented on as +weaknesses or conventions, or else been given up as hopeless +incongruities, but which we hope to prove also yield their quota of +amusement if clownishly performed. The foremost of these is the famous + + +1. Running Slave or Parasite. + +We all know him: rushing madly cross stage at top-speed (if we take the +literal word of the text for it), with girded loins, in search of somebody +right under his nose, the while unburdening himself of exhaustive periods +that, however great the breadth of the Roman stage, would carry him +several times across and back: as Curculio in 279 ff.: + +"Make way for me, friends and strangers, while I carry out my duty here. +Run, all of you, scatter and clear the road! I'm in a hurry and I don't +want to butt into anybody with my head, or elbow, or chest, or knee.... +And there's none so rich as can stand in my way, ... none so famous but +down he goes off the sidewalk and stands on his head in the street," and +so on for ten lines or more. After he has found his patron Phaedromus, he +is apparently so exhausted that he cries: "Hold me up, please, hold me up! +(_Wobbles and falls panting into Phaedromus' arms._) + +PH.... Get him a chair ... quick!" + +When Leonida enters (_As._ 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out +of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in _Trin._ 1008 ff., though his mission is +also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals! + +Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the +dissertation of Weissman, _De servi currentis persona apud comicos +Romanes_ (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the _modus operandi_ +is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,[125] but +offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:[126] "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist +ein RAtsel fur uns." LeGrand[127] follows Weise's conclusion that it is an +imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use, +while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: _agoranomus_, +_demarchus_, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from +fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the +device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been +performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,[128] but +makes use of it himself.[129] + +Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the +usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the +slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He +fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very +man he is so violently seeking. He cites as the genuine occurrences of the +_servus_ or _parasitus currens_, besides the passages mentioned above, +_Cap._ 781 ff., _Ep._ 1 ff., 192 ff., _Mer._ 111 ff., _Per._ 272 ff., +_St._ 274 ff. Furthermore, he argues convincingly that this was an +independent Roman development without a prototype on the Greek stage and +neatly refutes Weise and LeGrand by proving that there are no extant Greek +fragments sufficient to furnish a ground for any but the most tenuous +argument. Above all, he correctly interprets the poet's aim with the +dictum: "Praeterquam quod hac persona optime utitur ad actionem bene +continuandam id maxime spectat ut per eam _spectatorum risum_ captet." And +this from a German youth of twenty-two! + +It is in his attempt to explain the mechanism that we believe Weissman +fails. He essays an exegesis of each passage, though the separate +explanations are naturally similar. It will suffice to quote one, that to +_As._ 267 ff.: "Hoc nullo modo aliter mihi declarari posse videtur nisi +sic: Oratio Leonidae currentis maior est quam ut arbitrari possimus +currentem semper eum habuisse eam. Ex versu 290 Leonidam de celeritate sua +remisisse plane apparet. Quod semel solum eum fecisse cum non satis mihi +esse videatur, saepius--bis vel ter--per breve tempus eum cursum suum +interrupisse, circumspexisse, Libanum autem non spectavisse (hoc consilium +poetae erat, licentia poetica est) et hoc modo per totam scaenam cursum +suum direxisse arbitror." + +It will be observed that for lack of any tangible evidence he very +properly makes use of subjective reasoning. Now it has long been the +opinion of the writer that the maximum of comic effect (and that this was +the purpose of the _servus currens_ there can surely be no doubt) could +best be obtained by the actor's making a violent and frenzied pretense of +running while scarcely moving from the spot. Consider the ludicrous +spectacle of the rapidly moving legs and the flailing arms, with the +actor's face turned toward the audience, as he declaims sonorously of his +haste to perform his vital errand, while making but a snail's progress. +Truly then his plea of exhaustion would not be without excuse! This is an +explanation at once simpler, more potentially comic, more in accord with +what we predicate as the spirit of Plautus, and furthermore we have seen +roars of laughter created by the similar device of a low comedian in a +modern extravaganza. Taking advantage of the same subjective license, we +see nothing in Weissman's theory to offset our opinion. But, what is more, +our subjective reconstruction is given color by a shred of tangible +evidence. Suetonius (_Tib._ 38) refers to a popular quip on the emperor +that compares him to an actor on the classic Greek stage: "Biennio +continuo post ademptum imperium pedem porta non extulit; ... ut vulgo iam +per iocum Callip(p)ides vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem +mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est." That this Callipides was +the a1/2'IEuroI?I--III"I(R)I, mentioned by Xenophon (_Sym._ III. 11), Plutarch +(_Ages._ 21 and _Apophth. Lacon._: s. v. _Ages._), Cicyero (_Ad. Att._ +XIII. 12) and possibly by Aristotle (_Poet._ 26.), seems highly plausible. +Compare the _saltus fullonius_ (Sen. _Ep._ 15.4). + +Most amusing of all is Plautus' introduction of a parody on the parody, +when Mercury rushes in post-haste crying (_Amph._ 984 ff.): + +"Make way, give way, everybody, clear the way! I tell you all: don't you +get so bold as to stand in my road. For, egad! I'd like to know why I, a +god, shouldn't have as much right to threaten the rabble as a mere slave +in the comedies!" + +And perhaps _St._ 307 is a joke on the running slave: Sed spatium hoc +occidit: brevest curriculo: quam me paenitet? That violent haste was +considered a slavish trait is evidenced by _Poen._ 523-3. + + +2. Wilful blindness. + +In the scene recently quoted (_Cur._ 279 ff.), Curculio, after his violent +exertions in search of his patron, is for a time apparently unable to +discover him, though he is on the stage all the time. This species of +blindness must be wilfully designed as a burlesque effect and again finds +its echo in low comedy types of today. The breadth and depth of the Roman +stage alone will not account for this either; indeed, its very size could +be utilized to heighten the humor, as the actor peers hither and yon in +every direction but the right one. So Curculio (front) may pass directly +by Phaedromus (rear) without seeing him, to the huge delight of the +audience, and turn back again, while saying (301 ff.): + +"Is there anybody who can point out Phaedromus, my guardian angel, to me? +The matter's very urgent: I must find this chap at once. + +PALINURUS. (_To Phaedromus._) It's you he's looking for. + +PH. What do you say we speak to him? Hello, Curculio, I want you! + +CUR. (_Stopping and again looking vainly round._) Who's calling? Who says +"Curculio"? + +PH. Somebody that wants to see you. + +CUR. (_At last recognizing him when almost on top of him._) Ah! You don't +want to see me any more than I want to see you." + +Acanthio in _Mer._ 130 ff. is still more blind to the presence of Charinus +and raises a deal more fuss, as he enters in the wildest haste looking for +Charinus, who is of course in plain sight. Acanthio, with labored +breathing and the remark that he would never make a piper, probably passes +by Charinus and goes to the house. + +"AC. What am I standing here for, anyway? I'll make splinters of these +doors without a single qualm. (_Hammers violently. Charinus approaches, +vainly trying to attract his attention._) Open up, somebody! Where's my +master Charinus, at home or out? (_Still hammering._) Isn't anybody +supposed to have the job of tending door? + +CH. (_Shouting._) Here I am, Acanthio! You're looking for me, aren't you? + +AC. (_Still punishing the door._) I never saw such slovenly management. + +CH. (_Finally grabbing and shaking him._) What the deuce has got hold of +you?"[130] And so in the case of practically all the _servi currentes_. + +The opening scene of the _Per._ (13 ff.) between two slaves apparently +unable to distinguish each other's features from opposite sides of the +stage affords an opportunity for a similar species of farcical by-play. +Toxilus and Sagaristio stroll slowly in from the different side-entrances, +alternately soliloquizing. Suddenly, when probably fairly close, both look +up and peer curiously at each other: + +"TOX. (_Shading his eyes with his hand._) Who's that standing over there? + +SAG. Who's this standing over here? + +TOX. Looks like Sagaristio. + +SAG. I bet it's my friend Toxilus. + +TOX. He's the fellow, all right. + +SAG. That's the chap, I'm sure. + +TOX. I'll go over to him. + +SAG. I'll go up and speak to him. (_They draw closer._) + +TOX. Sagaristio, I hope the gods are good to you. + +SAG. Toxilus, I hope the gods give you everything you want. How are you? + +TOX. So so."[131] + +Note that this is _canticum_ and the effect of the two "sing-songing" +slaves on the audience must have been much the same as, upon us, the +spectacle of a vaudeville "duo," entering from opposite wings and singing +perchance a burlesque of grand opera at each other. + + +3. Adventitious entrance. + +This is of a piece with the above, but is usually due to a weakness of +composition, to the goddess IIII., who is the presiding deity of +the plots of New Comedy.[132] However, there are times when appreciable +fun can be extracted from this, if the actor speak in a bland jocular +tone, taking the audience into his confidence, as _Trin._ 400 f.: + +"PHILTO. But the door of the house to which I was going is opening. Isn't +that nice? Lesbonicus, the very man I'm looking for, is coming out with +his slave." + +And _Aul._ 176 f.: + +"MEGADORUS. I'd like to see Euclio, if he's at home. Ah, here he comes! +He's on his way home from some place or other."[133] + +We believe that enough has been said to prove that the favorite devices of +the lower types of modern stage-production form the back-bone of Plautus' +methods of securing his comic effects. Let us pass on without more ado to +a discussion of points that establish equally well that he was careless of +every other consideration but the eliciting of laughter. + + + + +II. Evidences of Loose Composition Which Prove a Disregard of Technique +and Hence Indicate that Entertainment Was the Sole Aim + + +A. _Solo speeches and passages_. + + +1. Asides and soliloquies. + +As it is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of stage +characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic +composition have always been recognized as the only feasible conventional +mode of conveying them. According to the strictest canons of dramatic art, +the ideally constructed play should be entirely free from this weakness. +Mr. Gillette is credited with having written in "Secret Service" the first +aside-less play. But this is abnormal and rather an affectation of +technical skill. The aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of +Plautus we + +have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends the +conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition, pointing plainly +to a poverty of technique and hence further strengthening the conception +of entertainment as the author's sole purpose. And often too, as we shall +point out, this very form can be used for amusement. To attempt a complete +collection of these passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, +comprising a formidable percentage of all the verses. + +And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and spiritless as +merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual conversation with +himself that shows a noble regard for the value of his own society. This +is attested by many passages, such as _Amph._ 381: Etiam muttis?; _Aul._ +52: At ut scelesta sola secum murmurat; _Aul._ 190: Quid tu solus tecum +loquere?; _Bac._ 773: Quis loquitur prope?; _Cap._ 133: Quis hic +loquitur?[134] + +One character standing aside and commenting on the main action is a +familiar situation and often productive of good fun. An excellent example +is _Most._ 166 ff., where Philematium is performing her conventionally +out-door toilet with the aid of her duenna Scapha. Philolaches stands on +the other side of the stage and interjects remarks: + +"PHILEM. Look at me please, Scapha dear; is this gown becoming? I want to +please Philolaches, the apple of my eye.... + +SC. Why deck yourself out, when your charm lies in your charming manners? +It isn't gowns that lovers love, but what bellies out the gowns. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) God bless me, but Scapha's clever; the hussy has +horse-sense.... + +PHILEM. (_Pettishly._) Well, then? + +SC. What is it? + +PHILEM. Look me over anyhow and see how this becomes me. + +SC. The grace of your figure makes everything you wear becoming. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) Now for that speech, Scapha, I'll give you some present +before the day is out--and so on for a whole long scene. + +The quips are amusing in an evident burlesque spirit. Such a scene was +easily done on the broad Roman stage, whether it was a heritage from the +use of the orchestra in Greek comedy, as LeGrand thinks,[135] or not. In +similar vein, clever by-play on the part of the cunning Palaestrio would +make a capital scene out of _Mil. 1037 ff._[136] A perfectly unnatural but +utterly amusing scene of the same type is _Amph. 153-262_, where Mercury +apostrophizes his fists, and the quaking Sosia (cross-stage) is frightened +to a jelly at the prospect of his early demise. In Cap. 966, Ilegio, staid +gentleman that he is, introduces an exceeding "rough" remark in the middle +of a serious scene. The aside of Pseudolus in _Ps. 636 f._ could be +rendered as a good-natured burlesque as follows: + +"HARPAX. What's your name? + +PS. (_Hopping forward and addressing audience with hand over mouth._) The +pander has a slave named Surus. I'll say I'm he. (_Hopping back and +addressing Harpax._) I'm Surus." Many other scenes were doubtless rendered +by one character's thus stepping aside and confiding his ideas to the +spectators, as for example _Aul. 194 ff._ and _Trin. 895 ff._ Often our +characters blurt out their inmost thoughts to the public, as in _Cas. 937 +ff._, with eavesdroppers conveniently placed, else what would become of +the plot? + +The soliloquy is constantly used to keep the audience acquainted with the +advance of the plot[137], or to paint in narrative intervening events that +connect the loose joints of the action. This is of course wholly +inartistic, but may often find its true office in keeping a noisy, +turbulent and uneducated audience aware of "what is going on." In many +cases the soliloquy is in the nature of a reflection on the action and +seems to bear all the ear-marks of a heritage from the original function +of the tragic chorus[138]. It devolved upon the actor by sprightly mimicry +to relieve, in these scenes, the tedium that appeals to the reader. So in +_Cap._ 909 ff. the _canticum_ of the _puer_ becomes more than a mere +stopgap, if he acts out vividly the violence of Ergasilus; and in _Bac._ +1067 ff. the soliloquy would acquire humor, if confidentially directed at +the audience. In _As._ 127 ff., as Argyrippus berates the _lena_ within, +it must be delivered with an abundance of pantomime. + + +2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + +Frequently the soliloquy takes the form of a long solo passage directed at +the audience, while the action halts for a whole scene to allow the actor +to regale his public with the poet's views on the sins of society, +economic topics of the day, or topics of the by-gone days in Athens, and +the like. The resemblance to the interpolated song and dance of musical +comedy is most striking. The comparison is the more apt, as about +two-thirds of the illustrative scenes referred to in the next paragraph +are in _canticum_. It is a pity that the comic chorus had disappeared, or +the picture were complete. That it is often on the actor's initial +appearance that he sings his song or speaks his piece, strengthens the +resemblance. But this is a natural growth under the influence of two +publics, the Greek and the Roman, notably fond of declamation and oratory. +LeGrand believes this a characteristic directly derived from a narrative +form of Middle Comedy embodied in certain extant fragments.[139] + +The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues +of the loyal slave are extolled[140], or the knavery of the cunning +slave[141]. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the +decline of his profession[142], or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in +haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food[143]. Bankers, lawyers +and panders come in for their share of satire[144]. Our favorite topic +today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the +boards of ancient Athens and Rome[145]. In _Mil._ 637 ff, Periplecomenus +descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The +delights or pains of love[146], the ruminations of old age[147], marriage +reform[148] and divorce[149], the views of _meretrices_ and their victims +on the arts of their profession[150], the habits of cooks[151], the pride +of valor and heroic deeds[152] are fruitful subjects. In _Cur._ 462 ff. +the _choragus_ interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the +manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of +dreams[153], and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a +house[154]. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in _Rud._ 185 ff., +which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's +Chorus (_Rud._ 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to +intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at +all. In this category also belong the revels of the drunken Pseudolus with +his song and dance[155], and the final scene of the _St._[156], where, the +action of the slender plot over, the comedy slaves royster and dance with +the harlot. When Ballio drives his herd before him, as he berates them +merrily to the tune of a whip, we have an energetic and effective +scene[157]. + + +3. Direct address of the audience. + +It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of +the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of +dramatic production (v. Part I, ASec. 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside +and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on +terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the +frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct +address of the audience, when they are called by name. In _Truc._ 482 +Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum +praedicem.... In _Poen Truc._ 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic, +spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the +action of the _Ps._ (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi +hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (_Amph._ 449-550 passim), probably +with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain +the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the +close of the _Men._ (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites +the spectators to attend. + +When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild +lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (_Aul._ 715 ff.): + +"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that +stole it. (_Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking +"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him._) What do _you_ say? I know +I can trust _you_. I can tell by your face you're honest. (_To the whole +audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue._) What's the matter? +What are you laughing at?" etc. + +MoilA"re has imitated this scene very closely in _L'Avare_ (IV. 7), with a +super-Plautine profusion of verbiage. + +In _Mil._ 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal +conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the +throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid, +pointed pantomime: + +"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (_To audience, pointing to +Palaestrio._) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in +anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would +summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his +left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha! +He whacks his right thigh!" etc. + +It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in _Amph._ 861 ff. strolls in and +speaks his little piece to the pit: + +"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the +fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and +become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."[158] + +Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (_de Com._ III. +6)[159]: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam +loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum. + +Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole +_grex_, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the +plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today[160], +unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was +over. + + + +B. _Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition_. + + +We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies, +contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in +his _Plautinische Studien_. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the +situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus' +style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is +often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that +Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with +more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at +intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently. + + +1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + +Strong evidence of loose construction and lack of a technical dramatic +ideal is contained in the large number of scenes padded out with pointless +badinage, often tiresome, often wholly episodical in nature, as the +monodies, and putting for a time a complete check on the plot. The most +striking of these is _Aul._ 631 ff., when Euclio, suspecting Strobilus of +the theft of his gold, pounces upon him and belabors him: + +"STR. (_Howling and dancing and making violent efforts to free himself._) +What the plague has got hold of you? What have you to do with me, you +dotard? Why pick on me? Why are you grabbing me? Don't beat me! (_Succeeds +in breaking loose._) + +EUC. (_Shaking stick at him._) You first-class jailbird, do you dare ask +me again? You're not a thief, but three thieves rolled into one! + +STR. (_Whining and nursing bruises_) What did I steal from you? + +EUC. (_Still threatening._) Give it back here, I say? + +STR. (_Trembling and edging off._) What is it you want me to give back? + +EUC. (_Watching him narrowly._) You ask? + +STR. I tell you, I didn't take a thing from you. + +EUC. (_Impatiently._) All right, but hand over what you did take! +(_Pause._) Well, well! + +STR. Well, what? + +EUC. You can't get away with it. + +STR. (_Bolder._) Look here, what do you want?... + +EUC. (_Angrier and angrier._) Hand it over, I say! Stop quibbling! I'm not +trifling now! + +STR. Now what shall I hand over? Speak out! Why don't you give the thing a +name? I swear I never touched or handled anything of yours. + +EUC. Put out your hands. + +STR. There you are! I've done so. See them? + +EUC. (_Scrutinizing his hands closely._) All right. Now put out the third +too. + +STR. (_Aside, growing angry._) The foul fiends of madness have possessed +this doddering idiot. (_Majestically._) Confess you wrong me? + +EUC. (_Dancing in frenzy._) To the utmost, since I don't have you strung +up! And that's what'll happen too, if you don't confess. + +STR. (_Shouting._) Confess what? + +EUC. What did you steal from here? (_Pointing to his house._) + +STR. Strike me if I stole anything of yours, (_Aside to audience_) and if +I don't wish I'd made off with it. + +EUC. Come now, shake out your cloak. + +STR. (_Doing so._) As you please. + +EUC. (_Stooping to see if anything falls out._) Haven't got it under your +shirt? (_Pounces upon him and ransacks clothing._) + +STR. (_Resignedly._) Search me, if you like;" and so on with "Give it +back," What is it? "Put out your right hand," etc., etc. + +MoliA"re again imitated almost slavishly (_L'Avare_, V. 3). Longwinded as +the thing is, it is clear that the liveliness of the action not only +relieves it, but could make it immensely amusing. At least it is superior +to the average vaudeville skit of the present day. It must not be +forgotten too that, as Plautus was in close touch with his players, he +could have done much of the stage-directing himself and might even have +worked up some parts to fit the peculiar talents of certain actors, as is +regularly done in the modern "tailormade drama." + +There are numbers of scenes of the sort quoted above, where the apparent +monotony and verbal padding could be converted into coin for laughter by +the clever comedian. _Amph._ 551-632 could be worked up poco a poco +crescendo e animato; in _Poen._ 504 ff., Agorastocles and the _Advocati_ +bandy extensive rhetoric; in _Trin._ 276 ff., the action is suspended +while Philto proves himself Polonius' ancestor in his long-winded +sermonizing to Lysiteles and his insistent _laudatio temporis acti_; in +_St._ 326 ff., as Pinacium, the _servus currens_, finally succeeds in +"arriving" out of breath (he has been running since 274), bursting with +the vast importance of his news, he postpones the delivery of his tidings +till 371 while he indulges in irrelevant badinage. This is pure +buffoonery. And we can instance scene upon scene where the self-evident +padding can either furnish an excuse for agile histrionism, or become +merely tiresome in its iteration[161]. The danger of the latter was even +recognized by our poet, when, at the end of much word-fencing, Acanthio +asks Charinus if his desire to talk quietly is prompted by fear of waking +"the sleeping spectators" (_Mer._ 160). This was probably no exaggeration. + +When the padding takes the form of mutual "spoofing," the scene assumes an +uncanny likeness to the usual lines of a modern "high-class vaudeville +duo." Note Leonida and Libanus, the merry slaves of the _As._ in 297 ff., +Toxilus and Sagaristio in the _Per._, Milphio and Syncerastus in the +_Poen._ (esp. 851 ff.), Pseudolus and Simia in _Ps._ 905 ff., Trachalio +and Gripus in _Rud._ 938 ff., Stichus and Sagarinus in the final scene of +the _St._, and in _Ps._ 1167 ff. Harpax is unmercifully "chaffed" by Simo +and Ballio. Or, in view of the surrounding drama, we might better compare +these roysterers to the "team" of low comedians often grafted on a musical +comedy, where their antics effectually prevent the tenuous plot from +becoming vulgarly prominent. + + +2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + +The Plautine character is never a consistent human character. He is rather +a personified trait, a broad caricature on magnified foibles of some type +of mankind. There is never any character development, no chastening. We +leave our friends as we found them. They may exhibit the outward +manifestation of grief, joy, love, anger, but their marionette nature +cannot be affected thereby. That we should find inconsistencies in +character portrayal under these circumstances, is not only to be expected, +but is a mathematical certainty. The poet cares not; they must only dance, +dance, dance! + +Persistent moralizers, such as Megaronides in the _Trin._, who serve but +as a foil from whom the revelry "sticks fiery off," descend themselves at +moments to bandying the merriest quips (Scene I.). In _Ep._ 382 ff., the +moralizing of Periphanes is counterfeit coinage. Gilded youths such as +Calidorus of the _Ps._ begin by asking (290 f.): "Could I by any chance +trip up father, who is such a wide-awake old boy?", and end by rolling +their eyes upward with: "And besides, if I could, filial piety prevents." +The Menaechmi twins are eminently respectable, but they cheerfully purloin +mantles, bracelets and purses. Hanno of the _Poen._ should according to +specifications be a staid _pater familias_, but Plautus imputes to him a +layer of the _Punica fides_ that he knew his public would take delight in +"booing." And the old gentleman enters into a plot (1090) to chaff +elaborately his newly-found long-lost daughters, whom he has spent a +lifetime in seeking, before disclosing his identity to them (1211 ff.). +Saturio's daughter in the _Per._ is at one time the very model of maidenly +modesty and wisdom (336 ff.), at others an accomplished intriguante and +demi-mondaine (549 ff., esp. 607 ff.). When the plot of the _Ep._ is +getting hopelessly tangled, of a sudden it is magically resolved as by a +deus ex machina and everybody decides to "shake and make up." + +Slaves ever fearful of the mills or quarries are yet prone to the most +abominable "freshness" towards their masters. The irrepressible Pseudolus +in reading a letter from Calidorus' mistress says (27 ff.): + +"What letters! Humph! I'm afraid the Sibyl is the only person capable of +interpreting these. + +"CAL. Oh why do you speak so rudely of those lovely letters written on a +lovely tablet with a lovely hand? + +"PS. Well, would you mind telling me if hens have hands? For these look to +me very like hen-scratches. + +"CAL. You insulting beast! Read, or return the tablet! + +"PS. Oh, I'll read all right, all right. Just focus your mind on this. + +"CAL. _(Pointing vacantly to his head._) Mind? It's not here. + +"PS. What! Go get one quick then![162]." + +In order that the machinations of these cunning slaves may mature, it is +usually necessary to portray their victims as the veriest fools. Witness +the cock-and-bull story by which Stasimus, in _Trin._ 515 ff., convinces +Philto that his master's land is an undesirable real estate prospect. +Dordalus in _Per._ (esp. 493 ff.) exhibits a certain amount of caution in +face of Toxilus' "confidence game," but that he should be victimized at +all stamps him as a caricature. + +LeGrand is certainly right in pronouncing the cunning slave a pure +convention, adapted from the Greek and so unsuitable to Roman society that +even Plautus found it necessary to apologize for their unrestrained +gambols, on the ground that 'that was the way they did in Athens!'[163] + +Certain of the characters are caricatures _par excellence_, embodiments of +a single attribute. Leaena of the _Cur._ is the perpetually thirsty +_lena_: "Wine, wine, wine!"[164] Cleaerata of the _As._ is a plain +caricature, but is exceptionally cleverly drawn as the _lena_ with the +mordant tongue. Phronesium's thirst in the _Truc._, is gold, gold, gold! +The _danista_ of the _Most._ finds the whole expression of his nature in +the cry of "Faenus!"[165] Assuredly, he is the progenitor of the modern +low-comedy Jew: "I vant my inderesd!" Calidorus of the _Ps._ and +Phaedromus of the _Cur._ are but bleeding hearts dressed up in clothes. +The _milites gloriosi_ are all cartoons;[166] and the perpetually +moralizing pedagogue Lydus of the _Bac._ becomes funny, instead of +egregiously tedious, if acted as a broad burlesque. + +The panders[167] are all manifest caricatures, too, especially the famous +Ballio of the _Ps._, whom even Lorenz properly describes as "der +Einbegriff aller Schlechtigkeit," though he deprecates the part as "eine +etwas zu grell and zu breit angefuhrte Schilderung."[168] "Ego scelestus," +says Ballio himself.[169] He calmly and unctuously pleads guilty to every +charge of "liar, thief, perjurer," etc., and can never be induced to lend +an ear until the cabalistic charm "Lucrum!" is pronounced (264). + +The famous miser Euclio has given rise to an inordinate amount of +unnecessary comment. Lamarre[170] is at great pains to defend Plautus from +"le reproche d'avoir introduit dans la peinture de son principal +personnage <Euclio> des traits outres et hors de nature." Indeed, he +possesses few traits in accord with normal human nature. But curiously +enough, as we learn from the _argumenta_ (in view of the loss of the +genuine end of the _Aul._), Euclio at the _denouement_ professes himself +amply content to bid an everlasting farewell to his stolen hoard, and +bestows his health and blessing on "the happy pair." This apparent +conversion, with absolutely nothing dramatic to furnish an introduction or +pretext for it, has caused Langen to depart from his usual judicious +scholarship. After much hair-splitting he solemnly pronounces it +"psychologically possible."[171] LeGrand points out[172] that his change +of heart is not a conversion, but merely a professed reconciliation to the +loss. But there is no need for all this pother. The simple truth is that +Plautus was through with his humorous complication and was ready to top it +off with a happy ending. It is the forerunner of modern musical comedy, +where the grouchy millionaire papa is propitiated at the last moment +(perhaps by the pleadings of the handsome widow), and similarly consents +to his daughter's marriage with the handsome, if impecunious, ensign. + + +3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + +Lorenz with commendable insight has pointed out[173] that IIII., the +goddess of Chance, is the motive power of the Plautine plot, as +distinguished from the I1/4I?a?-II+- of tragedy. A student of Plautus readily +recognizes this point. The entire development of the _Rud._ and _Poen._ +exemplifies it in the highest degree. Hanno in the _Poen._, in particular, +meets first of all, in the strange city of Calydon, the very man he is +looking for! When Pseudolus is racking his wits for a stratagem, Harpax +obligingly drops in with all the requisites. The ass-dealer in the _As._ +is so ridiculously fortuitous that it savors of childlike naivetA(C). + +Characters are perpetually entering just when wanted. We hear "Optume +advenis" and "Eccum ipsum video" so frequently that they become as +meaningless as "How d'ye do!"[174]; though, as shown above[175], even this +very weakness could at moments be made the pretext for a mild laugh. + +For a complete catalogue of the formidable mass of inconsistencies and +contradictions that throng the plays, the reader is referred to the +_Plautinische Studien_ of Langen, as aforesaid. It will be of passing +interest to recall one or two. In _Cas._ 530 Lysidamus goes to the "forum" +and returns _32 verses later_ complaining that he has wasted the whole day +standing "advocate" for a kinsman. But this difficulty is resolved, if we +accept the theory of Prof. Kent (TAPA. XXXVII), that the change of acts +which occurs in between, is a conventional excuse for any lapse of time, +in Roman comedy as well as in Greek tragedy. But it is extremely doubtful +that Prof. Kent succeeds in establishing the truth of this view in the +case of Roman comedy. We see no convincing reason for departing from the +accepted theory, as expressed by Duff (_A Literary History of Rome_, pp. +196-7): "In Plautus' time a play proceeded continuously from the lowering +of the curtain at the beginning to its rise at the end, save for short +breaks filled generally by simple music from the _tibicen_ (_Ps._ 573). The +division into scenes is ancient and regularly indicated in manuscripts of +Plautus and Terence." + +Langen seems surprised[176] when Menaechmus Sosicles, on beholding his +twin for the first time (_Men._ 1062), though he was the object of a six +years' search, wades through some twenty lines of amazed argument before +Messenio (with marvelous cunning!) hits on the true explanation. It is of +course conceived in a burlesque spirit. What would become of the comic +action if Menaechmus II simply walked up to Menaechmus I and remarked: +"Hello, brother, don't you remember me?" + +That the seven months of _Most._ 470 miraculously change into six months +in 954 is the sort of mistake possible to any writer. In the _Amph._ 1053 +ff., Alcmena is in labor apparently a few minutes after consorting with +Jupiter; but the change of acts _may_ account for the lapse of time, here +as in _Cas._ 530 ff. + +But after the exhaustive work of Langen, we need linger no longer in this +well-ploughed field. We repeat, the evidence all points irresistibly to +the conclusion that Plautus is wholly careless of his dramatic machinery +so long as it moves. The laugh's the thing! + +The _St._ is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' +mind. The virtue of the Penelope-like Pamphila and Panegyris proves too +great a strain and unproductive of merriment. The topic gradually vanishes +as the drolleries of the parasite Gelasimus usurp the boards. He in turn +gives way to the hilarious buffoonery of the two slaves. The result is a +succession of loose-jointed scenes[177]. The _Aul._ too is fragmentary and +episodical. The _Trin._ is insufferably long-winded, with insufficient +comic accompaniment. The _Cis._ is a wretched piece of vacuous +inanity[178]. + + +4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + +Plautus' frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the +interjection of Roman references--what De Quincey calls "anatopism"--is +another item of careless composition too well known to need more than +passing mention. The repeated appearance of the _Velabrum,_[179] or +_Capitolium,_[180] or _circus,_[181] or _senatus_, or _dictator_,[182] or +_centuriata comitio,_[183] or _plebiscitum,_[184] and a host of others in +the Greek investiture, becomes after a while a matter of course to us. We +see however no need to quarrel with _forum_; it was Plautus' natural +translation for a1/4EuroI cubedI?II. But it all adds inevitably and relentlessly to +our argument--Plautus was heedless of the petty demands of technique and +realism. His attention was too much occupied in devising means of +amusement. + +The occasional topical allusions belong in the same category as above; for +example, the allusion to the Punic war (_Cis._ 202),[185] the _lex +Platoria_ (_Ps._ 303, _Rud._ 1381-2), Naevius' imprisonment (_Mil. _ +211-2), Attalus of Pergamum (_Per._ 339, _Poen._ 664), Antiochus the Great +(_Poen._ 693-4). Again we have a modern parallel: the topics of the day +are a favorite resort of the lower types of present-day stage production. + + +5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + +But the most extreme stage of intimate jocularity is reached when the last +sorry pretense of drama is discarded and the dramatic machinery itself +becomes the subject of jest. So in the _Cas._ 1006 the cast is warned: +Hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. In _Per._ 159-60 Saturio +wants to know where to get his daughter's projected disguise: + +"SAT. IEuroIOEII muI1/2 ornamenta? + +TOX. Abs chorago sumito. Dare debet: praebenda aediles locaverunt." (Cf. +_Trin._ 858.) + +Even the _Ps._, heralded as dramatically one of the best of the plays, +yields the following: Horum caussa haec agitur spectatorum fabula (720); +hanc fabulam dum transigam (562) and following speech; verba quae in +comoediis solent lenoni dici (1081-2); quam in aliis comoediis fit (1240); +quin vocas spectatores simul? (1332). In _St._ 715 ff., the action of the +play is interrupted while the boisterous slaves give the musician a drink. +From the _Poen._ comes a gem that will bear quoting at length (550 ff.): + + Omnia istaec scimus iam nos, si hi spectatores sciant. + Horunc hic nunc causa haec agitur spectatorum fabula: + Hos te satius est docere ut, quando agas, quid agas sciant. + Nos tu ne curassis: scimus rem omnem, quippe omnes simul. + Didicimus tecum una, ut respondere possimus tibi.[186] + +This is the final degeneration into the realm of pure foolery. It is a +patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content." Once +more we venture to point a parallel on the modern stage, in the vaudeville +comedian who interlards his dancing with comments such as: "I hate to do +this, but it's the only way I can earn a living." + + +6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +We must touch finally, but very lightly, on the commonplaces of stock +plots and characters. The whole array of puppets is familiar to us all: +the cunning slave, the fond or licentious papa, the spendthrift son and +their inevitable confrA"res appear in play after play with relentless +regularity. The close correspondence of many plots is also too familiar to +need discussion.[187] The glimmering of originality in the plot of the +_Cap._ called for special advertisement.[188] In the light of the +foregoing evidence, the pertinence of these facts for us, we reiterate, is +that Plautus merely adopted the New Comedy form as his comic medium, and, +while leaving his originals in the main untouched, took what liberties he +desired with them, with the single-minded purpose of making his public +laugh.[189] + + + + +In Conclusion + + + +In contrast to these grotesqueries certain individual scenes and plays +stand out with startling distinctness as possessed of wit and humor of +high order. The description by Cleaereta of the relations of lover, +mistress and _lena_ is replete with biting satire (_As._ 177 ff., 215 +ff.). The finale of the same play is irresistibly comic. In _Aul. _ 731 +ff. real sparks issue from the verbal cross-purposes of Euclio and +Lyconides over the words "pot" and "daughter." The _Bac._ is an excellent +play, marred by padding. When the sisters chaff the old men as "sheep" +(1120 ff.), the humor is naturalistic and human. The _Cas._, uproarious +and lewd as it is, becomes excruciatingly amusing if the mind is open to +appreciating humor in the broadest spirit. The discourse of Periplecomenus +(_Mil._ 637 ff.) is marked by homely satirical wisdom. In the _Ps._ the +badinage of the name-character is appreciably superior to most of the +incidental quips. Pseudolus generously compliments Charinus on beating him +at his own game of repartee (743). When Weise (_Die Komodien des Plautus_, +p. 181) describes _Ps._ IV. 7 as "eine der ausgezeichnetsten Scenen, die +es irgend giebt," his superlative finds a better justification than usual. + +When Menaechmus Sosicles sees fit "to put an antic disposition on," we +have a scene which, while eminently farcical, is signally clever and +dramatically effective. Witness the imitation by Shakespeare in _The +Comedy of Errors_, IV. 4, and in spirit by modern farce; for instance, in +_A Night Off_, when the staid old Professor feels the recrudescence of his +youthful aspirations to attend a prize-fight, he simulates madness as a +prelude to dashing wildly away. + +The following from _Rud._ (160 ff.) is theatrical but tremendously +effective and worthy of the highest type of drama. Sceparnio, looking +off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat. He +addresses Daemones: + +"SC. But O Palaemon! Hallowed comrade of Neptune ... what scene meets my +eye? + +DAE. What do you see? + +SC. I see two poor lone women sitting in a bit of a boat. How the poor +creatures are being tossed about! Hoorah! Hoorah! Fine! The waves are +whirling their boat past the rocks into the shallows. A pilot couldn't +have steered straighter. I swear I never saw waves more high. They're safe +if they escape those breakers. Now, now, danger! One is overboard! Ah, the +water's not deep: she'll swim out in a minute. Hooray! See the other one, +how the wave tossed her out! She is up, she's on her way shoreward; she's +safe!" + +Sceparnio clasps his hands, jumps up and down, grasps the shaking Daemones +convulsively and communicates his excitement to the audience. It is a +piece of thrilling theatrical declamation and must have wrought the +spectators up to a high pitch. In general, the _Rud._ is a superior play. + +In _Cas._ 229 ff. there is developed a piece of faithful and entertaining +character-drawing, as the old rouA(C) Lysidamus fawns upon his militant +spouse Cleostrata, with the following as its climax: + +"CLE. (_Sniffling._) Ha! Whence that odor of perfumes, eh? + +LYS. The jig's up." + +In the whole panorama of Plautine personae the portrayal of Alcmena in the +_Amph._ is unique, for she is drawn with absolute sincerity and speaks +nothing out of character. Certainly no parody can be made out of the nobly +spoken lines 633-52, which lend a genuine air of tragedy to the professed +_tragi(co)comoedia_ (59, 63); unless we think of the lady's unwitting +compromising condition (surely too subtle a thought for the original +audience). Note also the exalted tone of 831-4, 839-42. But all through +this scene Sosia is prancing around, prating nonsense, and playing the +buffoon, so that perchance even here the nobility becomes but a foil for +the revelry. And in 882-955 his royal godship Jove clowns it to the lady's +truly minted sentiments. + +No, we are far from attempting to deny to Plautus all dramatic technique, +skill in character painting and cleverness of situation, but he was never +hide-bound by any technical considerations. He felt free to break through +the formal bonds of his selected medium at will. He had wit, esprit and +above all a knowledge of his audience; and of human nature generally, or +else he could not have had such a trenchant effect on the literature of +all time. + +At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive +estimate of the mise-en-scA"ne. Enough has been said, we believe, in our +discussion of the criticism and acting and in our analysis of his dramatic +values, to show that the aberrations of Plautus' commentators have been +due to their failure to reach the crucial point: the absolute license with +which his plays were acted and intended to be acted is at once the +explanation of their absurdities and deficiencies. This was true in a far +less degree of Terence, who dealt in plots more _stataria_ and less +_motoria_.[190] Though using the same store of models, he endeavored to +produce an artistically constructed play, which should make some honest +effort to "hold the mirror up to nature." We are convinced that even his +extensive use of _contaminatio_ was designed to evolve a better plot. The +extravagance of Plautus is toned down in Terence to a reasonable +verisimilitude and a far more "gentlemanly" mode of fun-making that was +appropriate to one in the confidence of the aristocratic Scipionic circle. +But when all is said and done, Terence lacks the vivid primeval +"Volkswitz" of Plautus. We dare only skirt the edges of this extensive +subject.[191] + +Above all, our noble jester _succeeds_ in his mission of laugh-producing. +But his methods are not possessed in the main of dramatic respectability. +And it must be apparent that our analysis and citations have covered the +bulk of the plays. + +We conclude then that the prevalence of inherent defects of composition +and the lack of serious motive, coupled with the author's constant and +conscious employment of the implements of broad farce and extravagant +burlesque, impel us inevitably to the conclusion that we have before us a +species of composition which, while following a dramatic form, is not +inherently drama, but a variety of entertainment that may be described as +a compound of comedy, farce and burlesque; while the accompanying music, +which would lend dignity to tragedy or grand opera, merely heightens the +humorous effect and lends the color of musical comedy or opera +bouffe.[192] KArting is right in calling it mere entertainment, Mommsen is +right in calling it caricature, but we maintain that it is professedly +mere entertainment, that it is consciously caricature and if it fulfills +these functions we have no right to criticise it on other grounds. If we +attempt a serious critique of it as drama, we have at once on our hands a +capricious mass of dramatic unrealities and absurdities: bombast, +burlesque, extravagance, horse-play, soliloquies, asides, direct address +of the audience, pointless quips, and so on. The minute we accept it as a +consciously conceived medium for amusement only, we have a highly +effective theatrical mechanism for the unlimited production of laughter. +And, in fact, every shred of evidence, however scant, goes to show that +the histrionism must have been conceived in a spirit of extreme +liveliness, abandon and extravagance in gesture and declamation, that +would not confine the actor to faithful portrayal in character, but would +allow him scope and license to resort to any means whatsoever to bestir +laughter amongst a not over-stolid audience. + + + + + + + +Footnotes + + + +[1]: E.g., Casina in the _Cas._, Silenium in the _Cis._, +Planesium in the _Cur._, Adelphasium and Anterastylis in the +_Poen._, Palaestra in the _Rud._ + +[2]: V. infra, part II, sec. I. B. I. + +[3]: E.g., Lorcnz's Introd. to _Most._ and _Pseud._ V. infra, +part I, ASec. i. + +[4]: We are not concerned in this question with technical discussion as to +the position of the banquet table on the stage, the nature of the dog of +the _Most._ and the like, but with the delivery and movements of the +actors themselves. + +[5]: De Off. I. 29.104. + +[6]: X. 1.99. Cf. Ritschl's citations of Varro: _Parerga_, p. 71 ff. +Cf. Epig. quoted by Varro and attributed to Plautus himself, ap. Gel. +N.A., I. 24.1-3. But that this was a patent literary forgery is proved by +Gudeman in TAPA. XXV, p. 160. + +[7]: N.A., VI. 17.4. + +[8]: I.7.17. + +[9]: XIX. 8.6. + +[10]: _A.P._, 270 ff. Cf. _Ep._ II. I.170 ff. and Fay, ed. +_Most._, Intro. ASec. 2. + +[11]: _De Com._ III. 6, Donatus ed. Wessner. For full quotation, v. +infra, Part II, Sec. II. A. 3, Note 50. + +[12]: _Excerpta de Com._ V. 1. + +[13]: For a complete list, see _Testimonia_ prefixed to Goetz and +Schoell's ed. of Plautus. + +[14]: P. 217 M. + +[15]: 404, 412, 823. + +[16]: Ed. _Men._ (Leipzig, 1891), ad 410. + +[17]: Cf. opening lines of Eurip. _Iph. in Taur._ + +[18]: Pp. 13--19. V. Langen, _Plautinische Studien_, pp. 139-142. Cf. +also comments of Brix to _Menaechmi_ passim. + +[19]: Op. cit., p. 146. + +[20]: Cf. Gel. N. A., III. 3-14 ff. + +[21]: V. infra, Part II, under 'Careless Composition'. + +[22]: _Beschluss der Critik iiber die Gefangenen des Plaulus_. + +[23]: 23: Op. cit., fin. + +[24]: _La Litterature latine depuis la fondation de Rome_ (Paris, +1899), Bk. II. chap. 3. sec. 15, p. 362. + +[25]: Introd. to ed. _Mosl._, p. 37. + +[26]: Bk. II, Ch. 4. + +[27]: Lamarre, op. cit., Bk. II, Ch. 4, Sec. 12, p. 475. + +[28]: _ThA(C)Actre de Plaute_ (Paris, 1845), Introd. p. 18. + +[29]: _Opuscula Philologica_, Vol. II p. 743. + +[30]: _Opusc._ II. 733 ff. + +[31]: In _Opusc._ III. 455, Ritschl relates that Varro wrote six books +on drama, with Plautus as the especial object of his interest: _de +originibus scaenicis, de scaenicis actionibus, de actibus scaenicis, de +personis, de descriptionibus, quaestiones Plautinae_. + +[32]: Langen, op. cit., p. 127. + +[33]: _Opusc._ II. 746. + +[34]: Op. cit., p. 165. + +[35]: Op. cit., p. 167. + +[36]: _Mil._ 522 ff. (All citations from Plautus are based on the text +and numbering of the lines in the text of Goetz and Schoell). + +[37]: _History of Rome_, (Transl. Dickson, Scribner, N.Y., 1900), Vol. +III, p. 143. + +[38]: E.g., LeGrand, _Daos_, V. supra. Cf. also N. 80, Part II. + +[39]: P. 190, trans. John Black (London, 1846), Lecture XIV. + +[40]: _Theatre of the Greeks_, p. 443. + +[41]: P. 197. + +[42]: Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30. + +[43]: V. supra. + +[44]: P. 620. But cf. Note 37. + +[45]: Cf. further Plessis, _La poA(C)sie latine_ (Paris, 1909), p. 54 +ff.; Patin, _A%tudes sur la poA(C)sie latine_ (Paris, 1869), Vol. II, p. +224 ff.; Ribbeck, _Geschichte der rAmischen Dichtung_ (Stuttgart, +1894), Vol. I, p. 57 ff.; Tyrrell, _Early Latin Poetry_, p. 44 ff. A +very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, _A Literary History of +Rome_ (N.Y., 1909), p. 183 ff. + +[46]: _History of Rome_, Vol. III, p. 139. Cf. note 37. + +[47]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 28-9. + +[48]: Prol. _Poen._, II ff. + +[49]: _Plaudere_, IEuroII"II1/2, _sibilare_ or _exsibilare, explodere, +eicere_ were expressions used to indicate approval or disapproval. +Cf. the discussion of Oehmichen, article _BA1/4hnenwesen_ in Von MA1/4ller's +_Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, 5ter Band, 3te +Abteilung, ASec. 73. 2, p. 271. + +[50]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 36 ff. + +[51]: Cf. Tac. _Ann._ I. 77. V. Oehmichen, op. cit., ASec. 39.3, p. 220. + +[52]: V. Prol. _Amph._ 52-3: + + Quid contraxistis frontem? + Quia tragoediam Dixi futuram hanc? + +[53]: _Parad._ III. 2.26. Cf. _Or._ 51.173, _de Or._ III. +50.196: _"theatra tota reclamant_"; Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.200 ff.; +Suet. _Nero_, 24.1. + +[54]: Cic. _de Or._ I.61.259, I.27.124. + +[55]: _Hist. Rome_, ed. cit., Vol. III, p. 140. + +[56]: _Cist._ 785: Qui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet. Cf. +_Trin._ 990. _Amph._ 83-4, (if this is not merely an imitation +of the Greek original). + +[57]: Tac. _Ann._ 1.77. + +[58]: _Amph._ 65 ff., _Poen._ 36 ff., Ter. _Phor._ 16 ff., +Cic. _ad Att._ IV. 15.6, Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.181. + +[59]: _Cas._ 17 ff., _Trin._ 706 ff. But others argue that these +passages are only translations from the Greek. V. Leo in _Hermes_, +1883, p. 561, F. Ostermayer, _De hist. fab. in com. Pl._ (Greifswald, +1884), p. 7. Ritschl (_Parerga_, p. 229) argues that the passages +refer to cases of extraordinary public approval, not to formal contests. +Cf. Var. _L.L._ V. 178. + +[60]: Cic. _pro. Ros. Com._ 10.28-9, Plin. _N. H._ 7.39.128, Dio +77.21. Cf. Sen. _Ep._ 80.7. + +[61]: KArting, op. cit., p. 244 ff. + +[62]: Cic. _de Or._ I.59.251, Suet. _Nero_ 20, Quint. XI. 3.19. + +[63]: I.ii.i-2, I.ii.12. + +[64]: Quint. XI.3.iii. + +[65]: Cic. _Or._ 31.109. + +[66]: Quint. XI.3.178, Juv. III. 98-9. + +[67]: Cic. _de Off._ I.31.114, _ad Att._ IV.15.6. + +[68]: Ap. Athen. XIV. 615 A. + +[69]: For a full discussion of the ancient actor v. Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, s. v. +_histrio_; Friedlander in Marquardt-Mommsen _Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer_, VI. p. 508 ff.; J. van Wageningen, _Scaenica Romana_; +Warnecke, _Die Vortragskunst der romischen Schauspieler_, in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1908, p. 704 ff. + +[70]: Cf. _de Or._ III.56.214, III.22.83, Quint. XI. 3.125, 181-2. + +[71]: Quint. XI.3.112. + +[72]: Cf. Quint. XI.3.89. + +[73]: Cic. _ad Att._ VI.1.8. + +[74]: Cf. _de Or._ III.26.102, Quint. XI.3.71, 89. + +[75]: For further treatment of the gestures of orators see Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie_, s. v. _histrio_; Warnecke in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1910, p. 593; Sittl, _Die Gebarden der Griechen und +Romer_, Chap. XI; Mart. Cap. 43. In the other rhetoricians of the later +Empire there is much copying of Cicero and Quintilian, but nothing of +significance for our purpose, unless it be the comparison of the rigid +training recommended to the embryo orator. For further citations, v. +Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit. + +[76]: 0p. cit., p. 203. + +[77]: _Wiener Studien_, Vol. XIV, p. 120. + +[78]: _Scaen. Rom._, p. 52. Cf. Karsten in _Mnem._ XXXII, (1904), +pp. 209-251, 287-322, who concludes that at least four hands aided in the +commentaries. + +[79]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 88, _Eun._ 187, 986, _Phor._ +315. + +[80]: A11 the passages in Donatus dealing with gesture have been collected +by Leo, _Rheinisches Museum_ XXXVIII, p. 331 ff. + +[81]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 180, 363, 380-1, _Eun._ 209, 559, +974, _Ad._ 84, 499, 661, 795, 951, _Hec._ 612, 689, _Phor._ +49, 315. Cf. _Ad._ 285: superbe ac magnifice. Cf. Schol. ad +_And._ 332: Vultuose hoc dicitur, hoc est cum gestu. Cf. also +Warnecke in _Neue JahrbA1/4cher_, 1910, note 75. + +[82]: Cf. XI.3.103, _Auct. ad Her._ III.15.27. + +[83]: Their precise age and antiquity have been disputed with some +acrimony. With Sittl cf. Bethe, _Praef. Cod. Ambros._ p. 64; van +Wageningen, op. cit., p. 50 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII, p. 342 +ff. V. reproductions in Wieseler, _TheatergebAude und DenkmAler des +BA1/4hnenwesens bei den Griechen und RAmern,_ Tafel X; and Bethe, ed. of +Codex Ambrosianus. + +[84]: _Neue Jahr._, Sup. Band I (1832), p. 447 ff. + +[85]: Quint. VI.3.29, Mart. Cap., Chap. 43, p. 543 ed. Kopp. + +[86]: V. reproductions in Baumeister, _DenkmAler des klassischen +Altertums_, s. v. "Lustspiel" and Wieseler, op. cit., note 83. + +[87]: Donat. _de Com._ VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names +have been interchanged. + +[88]: _Ars Gram._ III, p. 489, 10 K; Festus, s.v. _personata_, +p. 217. Cf. Cic. _de Nat. Deo._ I. 28.79. Ribbock, _Romische +Tragodie_ p. 661, and Dziatzko in _Rhein. Mus._ XXI. 68, have made a +violent effort to reconcile the conflicting statements by arguing +that Roscius belonged to the troupe of Minucius. This is denied by +Weinberger, _Wien. Stud._ XIV. 126. For further discussion v. van +Wageningen, _Scaen. Rom._ p. 34 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII. +342; Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, _Ueber Antike +Theatermasken_; Teuffel, _Romische Litteraturgeschichte_ ASec.16. +Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s.v. _histrio_, pp. 2120-21. A +recent article by Saunders (A.J.P., XXXII, p. 58) gives an admirable +summing-up of the whole controversy, with substantial proof that at +any rate the performers of Plautus' day were unmasked. + +[89]: Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, _Costume in Roman +Comedy_; Marquardt-Mommsen, _Handbuch der romischen Altertumer_, +VI. p. 525; Pauly-Wissowa, l.c. Cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ VII. 6. + +[90]: Cf. _Mil._ 629 ff., 923, _Ps._ 967, _Rud._ 125 f., 313 +f., 1303, _Trin._ 861 f., _Truc._ 286 ff.; Ter., _Phor._ +51. + +[91]: V. van Wageningen, op. cit. pp. 40 f. + +[92]: _De Or._ III. 22.83. + +[93]: II. 10.13. Cf. XI. 3.91. + +[94]: I. II. 1-2 + +[95]: Donat. ad _And._ 505, _Eun._ 224, 288, 403, _Ad._ 187, +395. + +[96]: Ad _And._ 194, 301, _Eun._ 467, 986, _Hec._ 98, 439, +640, _Ad._ 101. Cf. _Ad._ 96.; cum admiratone indignantis; 97; +intento digito et infestis in Micionem oculis. + +[97]: Ad _Eun._ 1055. + +[98]: Ad _And._ 633, _Eun._ 233, 451, _Hec._ 63, _Ad._ +259. + +[99]: Ad _Phor._ 145. + +[100]: Ad _Ad._ 200. + +[101]: Ad _Eun._ 187. + +[102]: VII. 2.8-10. + +[103]: Cf. Diom. 291, 23 ff., K; Ribbeck, _Rom. Trag._ p. 634, +believes that this was the rule, but he is apparently alone in the +opinion. Cf. Budensteiner in Bursian's _Jahresbericht_ CVI, p. 162 +ff., who agrees with the proof of van Eck, _Quaest. Sten. Rom._ +(Amsterdam 1892), that it was an isolated intance. + +[104]: We are not even remotely concerned with metrical analysis. For that +phase, with a discussion as to the effect of the various metrical systems, +see Klotz, _Grundzuge der altromischen Metrik_, esp. p. 370 ff. Cf. +Duff, _A Lit. Hist. of Rome_, p. 196. Note Donat, _de Com._ +VIII. 9 and Diom. 491, 23K. + +[105]: For arguments as to the divisions of the three classes, v., besides +Klotz, Ritschl, _Parerga_, p. 40; Conradt, _Die metrische +Komposition der Komodien des Terenz_ (Berlin 1876); Bucheler in _Neue +Jahr. fur Phil._ CXLI (1871), p. 273 ff.; Dziatzko in _Rhein. +Mus._ XXVI (1871), pp. 97-100: G. Hermann, _de Canticis in Romanorum +Fabulis, Opusc._ I. 290; which have all been landmarks in the +discussion. Cf. also Teuffel, _Rom. Lit._, ASec. 16. Sec. 5, etc. + +[106]: Cf. Cic. _de Or._ II.46.193. + +[107]: Cf. _As._ 265, 587, 640, 403, _Bac._ 611, _Cap._ 637, +_Cas._ 845 ff., _Cis._ 53 ff., _Cur._ 278, 309, 311, +_Ep._ 623 ff., _Men._ 828 f., 910, _Mer._ 599 f., +_Mil._ 200 ff. (quoted infra, Part II), 798-9 (Palaestrio must shout +at Periplecomenus to provoke such a reply), _Most._ 265 ff., 594, +_Per._ 307 f., _Ps._ 911, 1287, _St._ 271, 288 f., +_Trin._ 1099, _Truc._ 276, 476 ff., 549, 593 f., 599 ff., 822. +Cf. also Ter. _Phor._ 210-11 and Moliere's imitation in _Les +Fourberies de Scapin_, l. 4. + +[108]: Cf. Sittl, _Gebarden_, p. 201 and Warnecke's citations from the +Scholiast to Aristophanes in _Neue Jahr._ 1910, p. 592. + +[109]: _Daos_, p. 617. + +[110]: A.J.P. VIII. 15 ff. + +[111]: Cf. _As._ 554 ff., _Bac._ 710 ff., _Cap._ 159 ff. +_Cur._ 572 ff., _Ep._ 437 ff., _Men._ 1342., _Per._ +753 ff., _Ps._ 761 ff., _Trin._ 718 ff., etc. + +[112]: For further examples of bombast and mock-heroics v. _As._ +405-6, _Bac._ 792 f., 842 ff., _Cis._ 640 ff., _Cur._ 96 +ff. 439 ff., _Ep._ 181 ff. (in similar vein most of the soliloquies +of the name part), _Her._ 469 ff., 601 ff., 830 ff., _Mil._ 459 +ff., 486 ff., 947 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Poen._ 470 ff., 1294 +ff., _Ps._ 1063 f., _Truce._ 482 ff., 602 ff. + +[113]: V. _Amph._ 370 ff., _As._ 431, _Cas._ 404 ff., +_Cur._ 192 ff., 624 ff., _Mil._ 1394 ff., _Mos._ i ff., +_Per._ 809 ff., _Poen._ 382 ff., _Rud._ 706 ff. + +[114]: V. Frag. IV, G. & S., ap. Non. p. 543. + +[115]: Cf. _Bac._ 581 ff., 1119, _Cap._ 830 ff., _Most._ 898 +ff., _Rud._ 414, _St._ 308 ff., _Truc._ 254 ff. + +[116]: Cf. also _Bac._ 925 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Men._ 409 +ff. (v. supra, Part I, ASec. I, s.v. _Festus, Brix_). On _Bac._ 933, +v. Ribbeck, _Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta_, on Enn., frag. +_Androm._ 81; Kiessling, _Analecta Plautina_, I. 14 f.; +Ostermayer, _De historia fabulari in comoediis Plautinis_, p. 9. On +_Men._ 808 ff., v. Kiessling, II. 9. + +[117]: Cf. further _As._ 606 ff., _Cur._ 147 ff., _Most._ +233 ff., _Poen._ 275 ff. and passim, _Truc._ 434 ff. + +[118]: Cf. _Ep._ 580 ff. Cf. also "bombast," supra A. 1, and "copious +abuse" infra, A. 3. c. Cf. also wall-painting labeled "Der erzurnte +Hausherr," in Baumeister, _Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums_, s. +v. _Lustspiel_. + +[119]: Cf. _Mil._ 596 ff., _Most._ 454 ff., _Trin._ 517 ff. + +[120]: Cf. _Mer._ 748 ff., _Men._ 607 ff. + +[121]: Cf. further _Most._ 265 ff., 456 ff. and note Donat. ad +_Phor._ 210-11: hic locus magis actoris quam lectoris est. + +[122]: Cf. _Most._ 38 ff., _Poen._ 1309 ff. Cf. also "Lavishing +of terms of endearment," supra, A. 3. c. + +[123]: Cf. also _Poen._ 426 ff., _Rud._ 938 ff. + +[124]: Cf. similarly _Cap._ 121 ff., 177 ff., _Cas._ 725 ff., +_Most._ 909, 999 f. Cf. infra II. B.5. + +[125]: _Plaut. Stud._ pp. 121 f. Cf. pp. 101, 137 f., 158 f., 217, 229 +f. + +[126]: _Die Kom. des Pl._, pp. 70-71. + +[127]: _Daos_, p. 430-1. + +[128]: Prol. _Haut._ 32-40, Prol. _Eun._ 35-40. Cf. Eugraphius ad +_Haut._ 31: quid tale hic est, cum servus currit, cum populus +discedit, quod domino insano oboediat servus? Cf. also ad _Haut._ 37; +Donatus ad _Phor._ 1.4. + +[129]: _And._ 338 ff., _Phor._ 179 ff., 841 ff., _Ad._ 299 +ff. Weissman agrees with Donat. that in the last passage humor is not the +object. Cf. _ancilla currens_ in _Eun._ 643 ff. + +[130]: Cf. _servi currentes_ supra. Cf. also _Aul._ 811 ff., +_Ep._ 195 ff., _Mer._ 865 ff., _Ps._ 243 ff., _St._ +330 ff., _Trin._ 1068 ff., _Truc._ 115 ff. + +[131]: For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. +_Bac._ 534, _Ep._ 526 ff., _Rud._ 331 ff., et al. Cf. +Weise, op. cit., p. 72 f. + +[132]: Further comments infra II. B. 3. + +[133]: Cf. _As._ 403, and passim. + +[134]: Cf. _As._ 447, _Cur._ 111, _Men._ 125, 478 f., 909, +_Mer._ 364, 379, _Mil._ 275, _Most._ 548, _Per._ 99, +_Poen._ 840, _Ps._ 445, 615, 908, _Rud._ 97, _St._ 88, +_Trin._ 45, 567, _Truc._ 499, etc. + +[135]: _Daos, p. 431 ff._ See Dieterich, _Pulcinella, PI. II_. +Note esp. _As. 851 ff._ + +[136]: Cf. _Per. 81 ff., 599 ff., Poen. 210 ff., et al._ + +[137]: V. _Amph._ 952-3, _As._ 118 ff., 243 ff., _Aul._ 67 +ff., 667 ff., 701 ff., _Bac._ 170 ff., 349 ff., 573 ff., 761 ff., +_Cas._ 504 ff., _Cis._ 120 ff., _Cur._ 216 ff., 591 ff., +_Mer._ 544 ff., 588 ff., _Mil._ 464 ff., _Most._ 931 ff., +1041 ff., _Rud._ 1191 ff., _St._ 674 ff., et al. + +[138]: V. Cas. 424 ff., 759 ff., _Ep._ 81 ff., _Men._ 1039 ff., +_Ps._ 1017 ff., 1052 ff., 1102 ff., _Rud._ 892 ff., 1281 ff., +_St._ 641 ff., _Trin._ 199 ff., 1115 ff., _Truc._ 322 ff., +335 ff., 645 ff., 699 ff. + +Cf. the treatment of Le Grand, _Daos_, p. 412 ff., where he has an +analysis from a different point of view. The soliloquy and aside are +evidently not so frequent in New Comedy. + +[139]: _Daos_ p. 379. Cf. p. 550. + +[140]: _Aul._ 587 ff., _Men._ 966 ff. Cf. _Most._ 858 ff. +and _As._ 545 ff., a duologue in _canticum_. + +[141]: _Bac._ 640 ff. Cf. _Ps._ 767 ff. + +[142]: _Cap._ 461 ff., Cf. _Per._ 53 ff. + +[143]: _Men._ 77 ff., 446 ff., _St._ 155 ff. + +[144]: _Cur._ 371 ff., (Cf. 494 ff.), _Men._ 571 ff., +_Poen._ 823 ff. + +[145]: _Ep._ 225 ff. + +[146]: _Cas._ 217 ff., _Trin._ 223 ff. (Cf. 660 ff.) + +[147]: _Men._ 753 ff. + +[148]: _Aul._ 475 ff. (496-536 branded as spurious by Weise, op. cit., +pp. 42-44). + +[149]: _Mer._ 817 ff. + +[150]: _Poen._ 210 ff. (though not a solo), _Truc._ 22 ff., 210 +ff., 551 ff. + +[151]: _Ps._ 790 ff. + +[152]: _Truc._ 482 ff. + +[153]: _Mer._ 825 ff., _Rud._ 593 ff. + +[154]: _Mosl._ 85 ff. + +[155]: _Ps._ 1246 ff. + +[156]: _St._ 683 to end. + +[157]: _Ps._ 133 ff. For further passages of the episodical type, cf. +_Bac._ 925 ff. (v. supra under "bombast," I. A. 1), _Poen._ 449 +ff., _Rud._ 906 ff., _Trin._ 820 ff. (v. supra under +"burlesque," I. A. 3). + +[158]: Cf. further _Amph._ 463, 998, _Bac._ 1072, _Cap._ 69 +ff., _Cas._ 879, _Cis._ 146, 678, _Men._ 880, _Mer._ +313, _Mil._ 862, _Most._ 280, 354, 708 ff., _Poen._ 921 f., +_Ps._ 124, _St._ 224,446, 674 ff., _Truc._ 109 ff., 463 +ff., 965 ff. Cf. infra II. B. 5. + +[159]: In Donat. ed. Wessner. + +[160]: V. _As., Bac., Cap., Cis., Cur., Ep., Men., Mer., Most., Per., +Rod., St._ Cf. _Cas._ 1013 ff., _Poen._ 1370 f. + +[161]: V. _Bac._ 235-367, _Cap._ 835-99, _Cis._ 203 ff., +540-630, 705 ff., _Cur._ 251-73 and passim (this play is full of +bandying of quips), _Ep._ 1 ff., _Men._ 137-81, 602-67, +_Mer._ 474 ff., 708 ff., 866 ff., _Most._ 633 ff., 717 ff., 885 +ff., _Per._ 1 ff., 201 ff., _Poen._ 210 ff., _Ps._ 653 ff. +and passim, _Rud._ 485 ff. (the jokes here are unusually good), 780 +ff., _St._ 579 ff., _Trin._ 39 ff., 843 ff., _Truc._ 95 ff. + +[162]: Cf. Sosia im _Amph._ (esp. 659 ff.), Libanus in _As._ 1 +ff., Palinurus in _Cur._, Acanthio in _Mer._ (esp. 137 ff.), +Milphio in _Poen._, Sceparnio in _Rud._ (esp. 104 ff.) and +Trachalio, Pinacium in _St._ (esp. 331 ff.), Stasimus in _Trin._ + +[163]: _St._ 446 ff., Prol. _Cas._ 67 ff. For an exhaustive +discussion of the 'truth to life' of the characters, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, Part I, Chap. V. + +[164]: V. esp. 96 ff. + +[165]: 603 ff. + +[166]: Pyrgopolinices in _Mil._, Therapontigonus in _Cur._, the +_miles_ in _Ep._, Anthemonides in _Poen._ Stratophanes in +_Truc_, is not so violent. + +[167]: Cappadox in _Cur._, Dordalus in _Per._, Lycus in +_Poen._, Labrax in _Rud._ Similarly the _lenae_. + +[168]: Introd. to ed. of _Ps._ + +[169]: 355. Cf. 360 ff., 974 ff. + +[170]: _Hist. de la lit. lat._ Bk. II, Ch. III., Sec. 4. p. 307. + +[171]: _Plaut. Stud._, p. 105. + +[172]: _Daos_, pp. 557 f. Cf. 218 f. + +[173]: Introd. to _Ps._ Cf. _Daos_, p. 452 ff. + +[174]: E.g., _Amph._ 957, _Bac._ 844, _Cas._ 308, +_Men._ 898, _Mil._ 1137, 1188, _Per._ 301, 543, +_Poen._ 576, _Rud._ 1209, _St._ 400-1, _Trin._ 482. + +[175]: Part II, Sec. I. B. 2. + +[176]: P. 157. + +[177]: Cf. _Daos_, p. 60. + +[178]: Cf. in general the conclusions of LeGrand, _Daos_, p. 550, and +his admirable analysis (Part II) of "La structure des comedies." He has +recognized the existence of a number of the characteristics treated above, +but his discussion is in different vein and with a different object in +view. + +[179]: _Cap._ 489, _Cur._ 483. + +[180]: _Cur._ 269, et al. + +[181]: _Mil._ 991. + +[182]: _Ps._ 416, et al. + +[183]: _Ps._ 1232. + +[184]: _Ps._ 748. For a fairly complete collection, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, p. 44 ff. Cf. Middleton and Mills, _Students' Companion to +Latin Authors_, p. 20 ff. + +[185]: Cf. West in A.J.P. VIII. 15. Cf. note 1, Part II, supra. + +[186]: Cf. _Amph._ 861 ff., _As._ 174 f., _Cap._ 778, +_Cur._ 464, _Her._ 160, _Poen._ 1224. + +[187]: Cf. _Daos_, Part I, Chap. III: Les personnages, and p. 303 ff.; +Mommsen, _Hist._ pp. 141 ff. + +[188]: Prol, 53 ff. + +[189]: For a discussion of the relation of Plautus to his originals, v. +Schuster, _Quomodo Plautus Attica exemplaria transtulerit_; LeGrand, +_Daos_, passim; Ostermayer, _de hist. fab. in com. Pl._; +Ritschl, _Par._ 271, etc. The efforts to distinguish Plautus from his +models have so far been fragmentary and abortive and will not advance +appreciably until a complete play that he adapted has been found. At any +rate, the discussion has no real bearing on our subject, since we can +consider only the plays as actually transmitted; their sources cannot +affect our argument. The comparisons in _Daos_ seem to indicate that +Plautus did not debase his originals so much as Mommsen, KArting, Schlegel +and others had thought. Even in 1881, Kiessling (_Anal. Plaut._ II. +9) boldly expresses the opinion: "Atque omnino Plautus multo pressius +Atticorum exemplarium vestigia secutus est quam hodie vulgo arbitrantur". +Cf. Kellogg in PAPA. XLIV (1913). + +[190]: Euanthius, _de Com._ IV. 4. + +[191]: For an interesting comparison of Plautus and Terence, v. Spengel, +_Aoeber die lateinische KomAdie_, (Munich 1878). + +[192]: The importance of the music is indicated by the transmission of the +composer's name in all extant _didascaliae_, esp. those of Terence. +V. Klotz, _AltrAm. Met._ p. 384 ff. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dramatic Values in Plautus +by William Wallace Blancke + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + +This file should be named 7plut10.txt or 7plut10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7plut11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7plut10a.txt + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +Author: William Wallace Blancke + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9970] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 5, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +University of Pennsylvania + +The Dramatic Values in Plautus + +By + +Wilton Wallace Blancké, A.M., Ph.D. +Professor of Latin in the Central High School of Philadelphia + +A Thesis + +Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial fulfillment +of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy + +1918 + + + + +Foreword + + + +This dissertation was written in 1916, before the entrance of the United +States into The War, and was presented to the Faculty of the University of +Pennsylvania as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Its +publication at this time needs no apology, for it will find its only +public in the circumscribed circle of professional scholars. They at least +will understand that scholarship knows no nationality. But in the fear +that this may fall under the eye of that larger public, whose interests +are, properly enough, not scholastic, a word of explanation may prove a +safeguard. + +The Germans have long been recognized as the hewers of wood and drawers of +water of the intellectual world. For the results of the drudgery of minute +research and laborious compilation, the scholar must perforce seek German +sources. The copious citation of German authorities in this work is, then, +the outcome of that necessity. I have, however, given due credit to German +criticism, when it is sound. The French are, generically, vastly superior +in the art of finely balanced critical estimation. + +My sincere thanks are due in particular to the Harrison Foundation of the +University for the many advantages I have received therefrom, to +Professors John C. Rolfe and Walton B. McDaniel, who have been both +teachers and friends to me, and to my good comrades and colleagues, +Francis H. Lee and Horace T. Boileau, for their aid in editing this essay. + +Wilton Wallace Blancké. +1918. + + + + +Part 1 + +A Résumé of the Criticism and of the Evidence Relating to the Acting +of Plautus + + + + +Introduction + + + +This investigation was prompted by the abiding conviction that Plautus as +a dramatic artist has been from time immemorial misunderstood. In his +progress through the ages he has been like a merry clown rollicking +amongst people with a hearty invitation to laughter, and has been rewarded +by commendation for his services to morality and condemnation for his +buffoonery. The majority of Plautine critics have evinced too serious an +attitude of mind in dealing with a comic poet. However portentous and +profound his scholarship, no one deficient in a sense of humor should +venture to approach a comic poet in a spirit of criticism. For criticism +means appreciation. + +Furthermore, the various estimates of our poet's worth have been as +diversified as they have been in the main unfair. Alternately lauded as a +master dramatic craftsman and vilified as a scurrilous purveyor of +unsavory humor, he has been buffeted from the top to the bottom of the +dramatic scale. More recent writers have been approaching a saner +evaluation of his true worth, but never, we believe, has his real position +in that dramatic scale been definitely and finally fixed; because +heretofore no attempt has been made at a complete analysis of his +dramatic, particularly his comic, methods. It is the aim of the present +dissertation to accomplish this. + +I doubt not that from the inception of our acquaintance with the pages of +Plautus we have all passed through a similar experience. In the beginning +we have been vastly diverted by the quips and cranks and merry wiles of +the knavish slave, the plaints of love-lorn youth, the impotent rage of +the baffled pander, the fruitless growlings of the hungry parasite's +belly. We have been amused, perhaps astonished, on further reading, at +meeting our new-found friends in other plays, clothed in different names +to be sure and supplied in part with a fresh stock of jests, but still +engaged in the frustration of villainous panders, the cheating of harsh +fathers, until all ends with virtue triumphant in the establishment of the +undoubted respectability of a hitherto somewhat dubious female +character.[1] + +Our astonishment waxes as we observe further the close correspondence of +dialogue, situation and dramatic machinery. We are bewildered by the +innumerable asides of hidden eavesdroppers, the inevitable recurrence of +soliloquy and speech familiarly directed at the audience, while every once +in so often a slave, desperately bent on finding someone actually under +his nose, careens wildly cross the stage or rouses the echoes by +unmerciful battering of doors, meanwhile unburdening himself of lengthy +solo tirades with great gusto;[2] and all this dished up with a sauce of +humor often too racy and piquant for our delicate twentieth-century +palate, which has acquired a refined taste for suggestive innuendo, but +never relishes calling a spade by its own name. + +If we have sought an explanation of our poet's gentle foibles in the +commentaries to our college texts, we have assuredly been disappointed. +Even to the seminarian in Plautus little satisfaction has been vouchsafed. +We are often greeted by the enthusiastic comments of German critics, which +run riot in elaborate analyses of plot and character and inform us that we +are reading _Meisterwerke_ of comic drama.[3] Our perplexity has perhaps +become focused upon two leading questions; first: "What manner of drama is +this after all? Is it comedy, farce, opera bouffe or mere extravaganza?" +Second: "How was it done? What was the technique of acting employed to +represent in particular the peculiarly extravagant scenes?"[4] + +There is an interesting contrast between the published editions of Plautus +and Bernard Shaw. Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate +network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of +the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find +nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such +editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken +lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at +least does not lie on the surface of the text. + +For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are +necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a résumé of the +evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a +consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and +stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the +plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We +hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading +questions. + + + +§1. Critics of Plautus + + +Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things, +time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from +a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the +rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of +denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation. + +Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously. +Stylistically he was translated to the skies. [Sidenote: Cicero] Cicero[5] +imputes to him "iocandi genus, ... elegans, urbanum, ingeniosum, facetum." +[Sidenote: Aelius Stilo] Quintilian[6] quotes: "Licet Varro Musas Aelii +Stilonis sententia Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si latine +loqui vellent." [Sidenote: Gellius] The paean is further swelled by +Gellius, who variously refers to our hero as "homo linguae atque +elegantiae in verbis Latinae princeps,"[7] and "verborum Latinorum +elegantissimus,"[8] and "linguae Latinae decus."[9] [Sidenote: Horace] If +our poet is scored by Horace[10] it is probably due rather to Horace's +affectation of contempt for the early poets than to his true convictions; +or we may ascribe it to the sophisticated metricist's failure to realize +the existence of a "Metrica Musa Pedestris." As Duff says (_A Literary +History of Rome_, p. 197), "The scansion of Plautus was less understood in +Cicero's day than that of Chaucer was in Johnson's." (Cf. Cic. _Or._ 55. +184.) + +[Sidenote: Euanthius] We have somewhat of a reaction, too, against the +earlier chorus of praise in the commentary of Euanthius,[11] who condemns +Plautus' persistent use of direct address of the audience. If it is true, +as Donatus[12] says later: "Comoediam esse Cicero ait imitationem vitae, +speculum consuetudinis, imaginem veritatis," we find it hard to understand +Cicero's enthusiatic praise of Plautus, as we hope to show that he is very +far from measuring up to any such comic ideal as that laid down by Cicero +himself. + +But of course these ancient critiques have no appreciable bearing on our +argument and we cite them rather for historical interest and +retrospect.[13] [Sidenote: Festus] [Sidenote: Brix] While Festus[14] makes +a painful effort to explain the location of the mythical "Portus Persicus" +mentioned in the _Amph._,[15] Brix[16] in modern times shows that there is +no historical ground for the elaborate mythical genealogy in _Men._ 409 +ff. We contend that "Portus Persicus" is pure fiction, as our novelists +refer fondly to "Zenda" or "Graustark," while the _Men._ passage is a +patent burlesque of the tragic style.[17] + +[Sidenote: Becker] On the threshold of what we may term modern criticism +of Plautus we find W.A. Becker, in 1837, writing a book: "De Comicis +Romanorum Fabulis Maxime Plautinis Quaestiones." Herein, after deploring +the neglect of Plautine criticism among his immediate predecessors and +contemporaries, he attempts to prove that Plautus was a great "original" +poet and dramatic artist. Surely no one today can be in sympathy with such +a sentiment as the following (Becker, p. 95): "Et Trinummum, quae ita +amabilibus lepidisque personis optimisque exemplis abundat, ut quoties eam +lego, non comici me poetae, sed philosophi Socratici opus legere mihi +videar." I believe we may safely call the _Trinummus_ the least Plautine +of Plautine plays, except the _Captivi_, and it is by no means so good a +work. The _Trinummus_ is crowded with interminable padded dialogue, +tiresome moral preachments, and possesses a weakly motivated plot; a +veritable "Sunday-school play." + +But Becker continues: "Sive enim <Plautus> seria agit et praecepta pleno +effundit penu, ad quae componere vitarn oporteat; in sententiis quanta +gravitas, orationis quanta vis, quam probe et meditate cum hominum ingenia +moresque novisse omnia testantur." We feel sure that our Umbrian fun-maker +would strut in public and laugh in private, could he hear such an encomium +of his lofty moral aims. For it is our ultimate purpose to prove that +fun-maker Plautus was primarily and well-nigh exclusively a fun-maker. + +[Sidenote: Weise] K. H. Weise, in "Die Komodien des Plautus, kritisch nach +Inhalt und Form beleuchtet, zur Bestimmung des Echten und Unechten in den +einzelnen Dichtungen" (Quedlinburg, 1866), follows hard on Becker's heels +and places Plautus on a pinnacle of poetic achievement in which we +scarcely recognize our apotheosized laugh-maker. Every passage in the +plays that is not artistically immaculate, that does not conform to the +uttermost canons of dramatic art, is unequivocally damned as "unecht." In +his Introduction (p. 4) Weise is truly eloquent in painting the times and +significance of our poet. With momentary insight he says: "Man hat an ihm +eine immer frische und nie versiegende Fundgrabe des ächten Volkswitzes." +But this is soon marred by utterances such as (p. 14): "Fände sich also in +der Zahl der Plautinischen Komodien eine Partie, die mit einer andern in +diesen Hinsichten in bedeutendem Grade contrastirte, so konnte man sicher +schliessen, dass beide nicht von demselben Verfasser sein könnten." He +demands from Plautus, as _ein wahrer Poet_, "Congruenz, und richtige +innere Logik <und> harmonische Construction" (p. 12), and finally declares +(p. 22): "Interesse, Character, logischer Bau in der Zusammensetzung, +Naturlichkeit der Sprache und des Witzes, Rythmus und antikes Idiom des +Ausdrucks werden die Kriterien sein mussen, nach dem wir uber die +Vortrefflichkeit und Plautinität plautinischer Stücke zu entscheiden +haben." + +On this basis he ruthlessly carves out and discards as "unecht" every +passage that fails to conform to his amazing and extravagant ideals, in +the belief that "der ächte Meister Plautus konnte nur Harmonisches, nur +Vernunftiges, nur Logisches, nur relativ Richtiges dichten" (p. 79), +though even Homer nods. The _Mercator_ is banned _in toto_. To be sure, +Weise somewhat redeems himself by the statement (p. 29 f.): "Plautus +bezweckte ... lediglich nur die eigentliche und wirksamste Belustigung des +Publicums." But how he reconciles this with his previously quoted +convictions and with the declaration (p. 16): "Plautus ist ein sehr +religioser, sehr moralischer Schriftsteller," it is impossible to grasp, +until we recall that the author is a German. + +[Sidenote: Langen] Such criticism stultifies itself and needs no +refutation; certainly not here, as P. Langen in his _Plautinische Studien_ +(_Berliner Studien_, 1886; pp. 90-91) has conclusively proved that the +inconsistent is a feature absolutely germane to Plautine style, and has +collected an overwhelming mass of "Widerspruche, Inkonsequenzen und +psychologische Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" that would question the +"Plautinity" of every other line, were we to follow Weise's precepts. +Langen too uses the knife, but with a certain judicious restraint. + +We insist that the attempt to explain away every inconsistency as spurious +is a sorry refuge. + +[Sidenote: Langrehr] Langrehr in _Miscellanea Philologica_ (Gottingen, +1876), under the caption _Plautina_[18] gives vent to further solemn +Teutonic carpings at the plot of the _Epidicus_ and argues the play a +_contaminatio_ on the basis of the double intrigue. He is much exercised +too over the mysterious episode of 'the disappearing flute-girl.' + +Langen, who is in the main remarkably sane, refutes these conclusions +neatly.[19] How Weise and his confrères argue Plautus such a super-poet, +in view of the life and education of the public to whom he catered, let +alone the evidence of the plays themselves, and their author's status as +mere translator and adapter, must remain an insoluble mystery. The simple +truth is that a playwright such as Plautus, having undertaken to feed a +populace hungry for amusement, ground out plays (doubtless for a +living),[20] with a wholesome disregard for niceties of composition, +provided only he obtained his _sine qua non_--the laugh.[21] + +[Sidenote: Lessing] In our citation of opinions we must not overlook that +impressive mile-stone in the history of criticism, the discredited but +still great Lessing. In his "Abhandlung von dem Leben und den Werken des +M. Accius Plautus" Lessing deprecates the harsh judgment of Horace and +later detractors of our poet in modern times. Lessing idealizes him as the +matchless comic poet. That the _Captivi_ is "das vortrefflichste Stück, +welches jemals auf den Schauplatz gekommen ist," as Lessing declares in +the Preface to his translation of the play, is an utterance that leaves us +gasping. + +[Sidenote: Dacier] But Lessing's idea of the purpose of comedy is a +combination of Aristotelian and mid-Victorian ideals: "die Sitten der +Zuschauer zu bilden und zu bessern, ... wenn sie nämlich das Laster +allezeit unglücklich und die Tugend am Ende glücklich sein lässt."[22] It +is on the basis of this premise that he awards the comic crown to the +_Cap._[23] His extravagant encomium called forth from a contemporary a +long controversial letter which Lessing published in the second edition +with a reply so feeble that he distinctly leaves his adversary the honors +of the field. How much better the diagnosis of Madame Dacier, who is +quoted by Lessing! In the introduction to her translations of the +_Amphitruo_, _Rudens_ and _Epidicus_ (issued in 1683), she apologizes for +Plautus on the ground that he had to win approval for his comedies from an +audience used to the ribaldry of the _Saturae_. + +[Sidenote: Lorenz] Lorenz in his introductions to editions of the _Most._ +and _Pseud._ is another who seems to be carried away by the unrestrained +enthusiasm that often affects scholars oversteeped in the lore of their +author. Faults are dismissed as merely "Kleine Unwahrscheinlichkeiten" +(Introd. _Ps._, p. 26, N. 25.) "Jeder Leser," says he, "<wird gewiss> +darin beistimmen, dass ... der erste Act <des _Pseudolus_> eine so +gelungene Exposition darbietet, wie sie die dramatische Poesie nur +aufweisen kann." Such a statement must fall, by weight of exaggeration. In +appreciation of the portrayal of the name-part he continues: "Mit welch' +überwältigender Herrschaft tritt hier gleich die meisterhaft geschilderte +Hauptperson hervor! Welche packende Kraft, welche hinreissende _verve_ +liegt in dem reichen Dialoge, der wie beseelt von der feurigen Energie des +begabten Menschen, der ihn lenkt, fröhlich rauschend dahin eilt, +übersprudelnd von einer Fulle erheiternder Scherze und schillernder +Spielereien!" + +In curious contrast to this fulsome outpouring stands the expressed belief +of Lamarre[24] that the character of Ballio overshadows that of Pseudolus. +In support of this view he cites Cicero (_Pro Ros. Com._ 7.20), who +mentions that Roscius chose to play Ballio. + +Lorenz in his enthusiasm exalts the _Epid._ to an ideal of comic +excellence (Introd. _Ps._ p. 27). He even goes so far as to contend that +Plautus lives up to the following characterization:[25] "Nicht blos durch +naturgetreue and lebhafte Charakterschilderungen und durch eine komisch +gehaltene, aber die Grenzen des Wahrscheinlichen und des Graziösen nicht +überschreitende Zeichnung des täglichen Lebens soll der Dichter des +Lustspiels seine Zuschauer interessiren und ihr heiteres Gelächter +hervorrufen, sondern auch so reiche Anwendung zu geben, durch die es in +den Dienst einer sittlichen Idee tritt, und so gleichsam die moralische +Atmosphäre ... zu reinigen." + +Such emotional superlatives merely create in the reader a cachinnatory +revulsion. Yes, Plautus was great, but he was great in a far different +way. He approached the Rabelaisian. It is doubtful if "die Grenzen des +Graziösen" lay within his purview at all. + +[Sidenote: Lamarre] The treatment of Lamarre cited above contains[26] a +highly meritorious analysis of the Plautine characters, discussed largely +as a reflection of the times and people, both of New Comedy and of +Plautus, without imputing to our poet too serious motives of subtle +portrayal. But he too ascribes to Plautus a latent moral purpose: "En +faisant rire, il veut corriger"![27] + +[Sidenote: Naudet] This sounds ominously like an echo from Naudet[28] who, +in the course of lauding Plautus' infinite invention and variety of +embroidery, would translate him into a zealous social reformer by saying: +"L'auteur se proposait de faire beaucoup rire les spectateurs, mais il +voulait aussi qu'ils se corrigeassent en riant." All this is +disappointing. We should have expected Gallic esprit to rise superior to +such banality. + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The celebrity of French criticism is somewhat redeemed +by LeGrand in his monumental work entitled _Daos Tableau de la comedie +grecque pendant la periode dite nouvelle_ (Annales de l'Université de +Lyon, 1910), in the conclusion to the chapter on 'Intentions didactiques +et valeur morale' (Part III, Chap. I, page 583): "Tout compte fait, au +point de vue moral, la νέα dut être inoffensive (en son temps)." This is +the culmination of a calm, dispassionate discussion and analysis of the +extant remains of New Comedy and _Palliatae_. + +Even Ritschl fails to escape the taint of degrading Plautus to the status +of a petty moralizer[29]. In particular, he lauds the _Aul_ unreservedly +as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of character delineation and pronounces it +immeasurably superior to Molière's imitation, "L'Avare."[30] This whole +critique, while interesting, falls into the prevailing trend of imputing +to Plautus far too high a plane of dramatic artistry.[31] + +[Sidenote: Langen] Indeed, Langen has already scored Ritschl on this very +point in remarking[32] that Ritschl's condemnation of an alleged defect in +the _Cas_[33] implies much too favorable an estimate of Plautus' artistic +worth, as the defects cited are represented as something isolated and +remarkable, whereas they are characteristic of Plautine comedy. Langen +still displays clear-headed judgment when he says of the _Miles_[34]: +"Wenn die Farben so stark aufgetragen werden, hort jede Feinhet der +Charakterzeichnung auf und bereinem Dichter, der sich dies gestattet, darf +man bezuglich der Charakterschilderungen nicht zu viele Anspruche machen. +Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich dass Plautus mit Rucksicht auf den Geschmack +_eines_ Publikums die Zuge des Originals sehr vergrobert hat." + +But Langen fails to follow this splendid lead. Without taking advantage of +the license that he himself offers the poet, he severely condemns[35], the +scene in which Periplecomenus shouts out to Philocomasium so loudly that +the soldier's household could not conceivably help hearing, whereas he is +supposed to be conveying secret information.[36] If carried out in a +broadly farcical spirit, the scene becomes potentially amusing. + +[Sidenote: Mommsen] Mommsen in his _History_[37], in the course of an +interesting discussion on _palliatae_ and their Greek originals, has a far +saner point of view. He says of the authors of New Comedy, "They wrote not +like Eupolis and Aristophanes for a great nation; but rather for a +cultivated society which spent its time ... in guessing riddles and +playing at charades.... Even in the dim Latin copy, through which we +chiefly know it, the grace of the original is not wholly obliterated. <In +_palliatae_> persons and incidents seem capriciously or carelessly +shuffled as in a game of cards; in the original a picture from life, it +became in the reproduction a caricature." + +Naturally we are not concerned with any consideration of the value of his +estimate of New Comedy. Assuredly he rates it too highly, as later +investigations have indicated.[38] But here for the first time we are able +to quote a well-balanced appreciation of some essential features of +Plautine drama: a "capricious shuffling of incidents" and "caricature." In +fact it will be our endeavor to show that the _palliata_ was not a true +art form, but merely an outer shell or mold into which Plautus poured his +stock of witticisms. + +[Sidenote: Korting] Still more trenchant is the conclusion of Korting in +his _Geschichte des griechischen und römischen Theaters_ (P. 218 ff.): +"Die neue attische Komödie und folglich auch ihr Abklatsch, die romische +Palliata, war nicht ein Lustspiel im höchsten, im sittlichen Sinne des +Wortes, sondern ein blosses Unterhaltungsdrama. Amüsieren wollten die +Komödiendichter, nichts weiter. Jedes höhere Streben lag ihnen fern. Wohl +spickten sie ihre Lustspiele mit moralischen Sentenzen.... Aber die +schönen Sentenzen sind eben nur Zierat, sind nur Verbramung einer in ihrem +Kerne und Wesen durch und durch unsittlichen Dichtung ... Mit der +Wahrscheinlichkeit der Handlung wird es sehr leicht genommen: die +seltsamsten Zufälle werden als so ziemlich selbstverständliche +Möglichkeiten hingestellt ... Es ginge das noch an, wenn wir in eine +phantastische Märchenwelt geführt werden, in welcher am Ende auch das +Wunderbarste möglich ist, aber nein! es wird uns zugemutet, überzeugt zu +sein, dass alles mit natürlichen Dingen zugehe. + +"Alles in allem genommen, ist an dieser Komödie, abgesehen von ihrer +formal musterhaften Technik, herzlich wenig zu bewundern.... An +Zweideutigkeiten, Obscönitäten, Schimpfscenen ist Überfluss vorhanden." + +With admirable clarity of vision, Korting has spied the vital spot and +illuminated it with the word "Unterhaltungsdrama." That amusement was the +sole aim of the comic poets we firmly believe. But if this was so, why +arraign them on the charge of trying to convince us that everything is +happening in a perfectly natural manner? The outer form to be sure is that +of everyday life, but this is no proof that the poets demanded of their +audiences a belief in the verisimilitude of the events depicted. Can we +have no fantastic fairyland without some outlandish accompaniment such as +a chorus garbed as birds or frogs? But we reserve fuller discussion of +this point until later. We might suggest an interesting comparison to the +nonsense verse of W. S. Gilbert, which represents the most shocking ideas +in a style even nonchalantly matter-of-fact. Does Gilbert by any chance +actually wish us to believe that "Gentle Alice Brown," in the poem of the +same name, really assisted in "cutting up a little lad"? + +Korting regains his usual clear-headedness in pronouncing 'that there is +little in the technique of _palliatae_ to excite our admiration.' Again we +insist (to borrow the jargon of the modern dramatic critic) it was but a +"vehicle" for popular amusement. + +[Sidenote: Schlegel] Wilhelm Schlegel, in his _History of the Drama_[39] +has the point of view of the dramatic critic, rather than the professional +scholar; while expressing a measure of admiration for the significance of +Plautus in literature, he is impelled to say: "The bold, coarse style of +Plautus and his famous jokes, savour of his familiarity with the vulgar +... <He> mostly inclines to the farcical, to overwrought and often +disgusting drollery." This is doubtless true, but, by making the +incidental a criterion for the whole, it gives a gross misconception to +one that has not read Plautus. + +[Sidenote: Donaldson] J. W. Donaldson, in his lectures on the Greek +theatre[40], has plagiarized Schlegel practically _verbatim_, while giving +the scantest credit to his source. His work thus loses value, as being a +mere echo, or compilation of second-hand material. + +We learn from Schlegel that Goethe was so enamored of ancient comedy that +he enthusiastically superintended the translation and production of plays +of Plautus and Terence. Says Schlegel[41]: "I once witnessed at Weimar a +representation of the _Adelphi_ of Terence, entirely in ancient costume, +which, under the direction of Goethe, furnished us a truly Attic evening." + +[Sidenote: Scott] In this connection the opinion of Sir Walter Scott may +be interesting. He too, not being a classical scholar _par excellence_, +may be better equipped for sound judgment. In the introduction to Dryden's +_Amphitryon_ he says: "Plautus ... left us a play on the subject of +Amphitryon which has _had the honour_ to be deemed worthy of imitation by +Molière and Dryden. It cannot be expected that the plain, blunt and +inartificial style of so rude an age should bear any comparison with that +of the authors who enjoyed the highest advantages of the polished times to +which they were an ornament." There speaks the sophisticated and conscious +literary technician![42] + +[Sidenote: LeGrand] The most comprehensive and judicious estimate of all +is certainly attained by LeGrand in _Daos_.[43] He appreciates clearly +that "la nouvelle comédie n'a pas été, en toute circonstance stance, une +comédie distinguée. Elle n'a pas dédaigné constamment la farce et le gros +rire."[44] How much more then would this apply to _palliatae_! + +We now believe that we have on hand a sufficiently large volume of +criticism to appreciate practically every phase of judgment to which +Plautus has been subjected.[45] The ancients overrated him stylistically, +but he was a man of their own people. Men such as Becker, Weise, Lorenz +and Langrehr have proceeded upon a distinctly exaggerated ideal of +Plautus' eminence as a master dramatic craftsman and literary artist and +therefore have amputated with the cry of "Spurious!" everything that +offends their ideal. Lessing is obsessed with too high an estimate of the +_Captivi_. Lamarre, Naudet and Ritschl commit the error of imputing to our +poet a moral purpose. Schlegel and Scott deprecate the crudity of his wit +without an adequate appreciation of its sturdy and primeval robustness. +Langen, Mommsen, Korting and LeGrand approach a keen estimate of his +inconsistencies and his single-minded purpose of entertainment, but +Korting accuses him of attempting to create an illusion of life while +aiming solely at provoking laughter. + +From this heterogeneous mass of diversified criticism we glean the +prevailing idea that Plautus is lauded or condemned according to his +conformity or non-conformity to some preconceived standard of comedy +situate in the critic's mind, without a consideration of the poet's +original purpose. We must seriously propound the question as to how far a +grave injustice has been done him almost universally in criticising him +for what he does not pretend to be. Did Plautus himself suffer from any +illusion that his plays were constructed with cogent and consummate +technique? Did he for a single instant imagine himself the inspired +reformer of public morality? Did he believe that his style was elegant and +polished? Indeed, he must have effected an appreciable refinement of the +vernacular of his age to produce his lively verse, but without losing the +robust vitality of "Volkswitz." Or is it true that nothing further than +amusement lay within his scope? + +If so, we may at least posit that almost unbounded license must be allowed +the pen which aims simply to raise a laugh. We do not fulminate against a +treatise on Quaternions because it lacks humor. If the drawings of +cartoonists are anatomically incorrect, we are smilingly indulgent. Do we +condemn a vaudeville skit for not conforming to the Aristotelian code of +dramatic technique? Assuredly we do not rise in disgust from a musical +comedy because "in real life" a bevy of shapely maidens in scant attire +never goes tripping and singing blithely though the streets. If then we +can establish that Plautus regarded his adapted dramas merely as a rack on +which to hang witticisms, merely as a medium for laugh-provoking sallies +and situations, we have at once Plautus as he pretended to be, and in +large measure the answer to the original question: "What manner of drama +is this?" + +We say only "in large measure," because it is part of our endeavor to +settle accurately the position of our author in the dramatic scale, +considered of necessity from the modern viewpoint. We cannot believe that +he had any pretensions to refined art in play building, or rather +rebuilding, or to any superficial elegance of style, or to any moralizing +pose. We believe him an entertainer pure and simple, who never restricted +himself in his means except by the outer conventions and form of the Greek +New Comedy and the Roman stage, provided his single aim, that of affording +amusement, was attained. To establish this belief, and at the same time to +interpret accurately the nature of his plays and the means and effect of +their production, is our thesis. + +If then we run the gamut of the dramatic scale, we observe that as we +descend from the higher forms, such as tragedy, psychological drama and +"straight comedy," to the lower, such as musical comedy and burlesque, the +license allowed playwright and actor increases so radically that we have a +difference of kind rather than of degree. Certain conventions of course +are common to all types. The "missing fourth side" of the room is a +commonplace recognized by all. If we ourselves are never in the habit of +communicating the contents of our letters, as we write, to a doubtless +appreciative atmosphere, we never cavil at such an act on the stage. The +stage whisper and aside, too, we accept with benevolent indulgence; but it +is worth noting that in the attempted verisimilitude of the modern +"legitimate" drama, the aside has well nigh vanished. As we go down the +scale through light comedy and broad farce these conventions multiply +rapidly. + +With the introduction of music come further absurdities. Melodious voicing +of our thoughts is in itself essentially unnatural, to say the least. +Grand opera, great art form as it may be, is hopelessly artificial. +Indeed, so far is it removed from the plane of every day existence that we +are rudely jolted by the introduction of too commonplace a thought, as +when Sharpless in the English version of "Madame Butterfly" warbles +mellifluously: "Highball or straight?" And when we reach musical comedy +and vaudeville, all thought of drama, technically speaking, is abandoned +in watching the capers of the "merry-merry" or the outrageous "Dutch" +comedian wielding his deadly newspaper. + +It is important for our immediate purposes to note: first, (as aforesaid), +that the amount of license allowed author and actor increases immeasurably +as we go down the scale; second, that the degree of familiarity with the +audience and cognizance of the spectator's existence varies inversely as +the degree of dramatic value. Thus, at one end of the scale we have, for +instance, Mrs. Fiske, whose fondness for playing to the centre of the +stage and ignoring the audience is commented upon as a mannerism; at the +other, the low comedian who says his say or sings his song directly at the +audience and converses gaily with them as his boon companions. Now it will +be shown that familiar address of the audience and the singing of monodies +to musical accompaniment are essential features of Plautus' style, and +many other implements of the lower types of modern drama are among his +favorite devices. If then we can place Plautus toward the bottom of the +scale, we relieve him vastly of responsibility as a dramatist and of the +necessity of adherence to verisimilitude. Where does he actually belong? +The answer must be sought in a detailed consideration of his methods of +producing his effects and in an endeavor to ascertain how far the audience +and the acting contributed to them. + + + +§2. The Performance + + +[Sidenote: The Audience] As it is perfectly patent that every practical +playwright must cater to his public, the audience is an essential feature +in our discussion. The audience of Plautus was not of a high class. +Terence, even in later times, when education had materially progressed, +often failed to reach them by over-finesse. Plautus with his bold brush +pleased them. Surely a turbulent and motley throng they were, with the +native violence of the sun-warmed Italic temperament and the abundant +animal spirits of a crude civilization, tumbling into the theatre in the +full enjoyment of holiday, scrambling for vantage points on the sloping +ground, if such were handy, or a good spot for their camp-stools. In view +of the uncertainty as to the actual site of the original performances, +this portraiture is "atmospheric" rather than "photographic." (See +Saunders in TAPA. XLIV, 1913). At any rate, we have ample evidence of the +turbulence of the early Roman audience. (Ter. Prol. _Hec._ 39-42, and +citations immediately following). Note the description of Mommsen:[46] +"The audience was anything but genteel.... The body of spectators cannot +have differed much from what one sees in the present day at public +fireworks and gratis exhibitions. Naturally, therefore, the proceedings +were not too orderly; children cried,[47] women talked and shrieked, now +and then a wench prepared to push her way to the stage; the ushers had on +these festivals anything but a holiday, and found frequent occasion to +confiscate a mantle or to ply the rod."[48] + +Impatient if the play be delayed, and voicing their disapproval by lusty +clapping, stamping, whistling and cat-calls, they are equally ready with +noisy approval if the dramatic fare tickle their palate.[49] The +_tibicen_, as he steps forth to render the overture, is greeted +uproariously as an old favorite. The manager perhaps appears and announces +the names of those taking part, each one of whom is doubtless applauded or +hissed in proportion to his measure of popularity. Differences of opinion +as to the merits of an individual actor may culminate in the partisans' +coming to blows.[50] Horace (_Ep._ II. I. 200 ff.) comments on the +turbulence of the audiences of his day too; while under the Empire +factions for and against particular actors grew up, as in the circus.[51] +Late-comers of course often disturbed the Prologus in his lines. The +continual reiteration that we find in such prologues as the _Amph._, +_Cap._ and _Poen._ was naturally designed as a safeguard against such +disturbance. Yet these prologues were undoubtedly composed, as Ritschl has +shown (_Par._ 232 ff.), shortly after 146 B.C., and the turbulence of the +original audience must have been far greater. + +To win the favor of such a crowd, which would groan if instead of the +expected comedy a tragedy should be announced,[52] what methods were +necessary? Slap-sticks, horse-play, broad slashing swashbuckling humor, +thick colors daubed on with lavish brush! + +By Cicero's time the public had attained to such a degree of +sophistication that the slightest slip on the part of the wretched actor +was greeted by a storm of popular disapproval. "Histrio si paulum se movit +extra numerum, aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut +longior, exsibilatur, exploditur," says Cicero.[53] The actor dare not +even have a cold, for on the slightest manifestation of hoarseness, he was +hooted off, though favorites such as Roscius might be excused on the plea +of indisposition.[54] The Scholiast Cruquius to Hor. _Ser._ I. 10.37 ff. +notes: "Poemata ... in theatris exhibita imperitae multitudinis applausum +captare." + +It is evident from all this that, while the Roman public had made +considerable advances in education, their demonstrative temperament had +not cooled. It seems eminently fair to deduce that the far ruder and less +cultivated audiences of Plautus' day were even more violent in their +manifestations of pleasure and displeasure, but that their criterion of +taste was solely the amount of amusement derived from the performance and +that they bothered themselves little about niceties of rhythm. To the +Roman, the scenic and histrionic were the vital features of a production. +Again we reiterate, only the bold brush could have pleased them. + +That the plays of Plautus attained a permanent position in ihe theatrical +repertoire of Rome is of course well known; but he wrote primarily for his +own age, and in a difficult environment. Not only did he have to please a +highly volatile and inflammable public, but he must have been forced to +exercise tact to avoid offending the patrician powers, as the imprisonment +of Naevius indicates. Mommsen has an apt summary:[55] "Under such +circumstances, where art worked for daily wages and the artist instead of +receiving due honour was subjected to disgrace, the new national theatre +of the Romans could not present any development either original or even at +all artistic." + +[Sidenote: The Actor] This brief discussion of the relation between public +and playwright will suffice for our purposes. In the course of it we have +insensibly encroached upon the next topic: the relation of public and +actor. Who after all is the chief factor in the success or failure of a +drama, in spite of the oft misquoted adage, "The play's the thing?" The +actor! The actor, who can mouth and tear a passion to tatters, or swing a +piece of trumpery into popular favor by the brute force of his dash and +personality. That this was true in Plautus' day, no less than in our own, +is plainly indicated by the personal allusion inserted in the _Bac._ +(214-5): + + Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo, + Nullam aeque invitus specto, _si agit Pellio_. + +The servile status of the ancient actor is an index to the energy of his +performance, if to nothing else. Failure meant a beating, success a drink +at least.[56] Augustus humanely abrogated the whipping of actors, but an +attempt was made in Tiberius' time to renew the practice.[57] On the other +hand, there seem to have been prizes awarded to successful actors,[58] as +well as to the poet;[59] but this practice surely arose after Plautus' +lifetime. At any rate, whatever was the nature of the reward, in his day +the large emoluments won by Roscius and other popular favorites were +impossible.[60] The effort demanded by the elaborate education of the +actor,[61] in which naturally gesticulation was the most vital element, +was out of all proportion to the precarious reward. A rigid course of +training was prescribed and strenuous exercises were required, for both +actor and orator to keep the voice in proper form.[62] Indeed, Quintilian +advises the budding orator to take instruction in voice production and +gesticulation from the comic actor.[63] For the comic actor was at all +times recognized as livelier and more vivid in his performance than the +tragedian.[64] The two were usually sharply differentiated.[65] +Specialization arose, too, and we hear of actors who confined their +efforts to feminine roles,[66] though naturally every performer was cast +for parts to which his physique was best suited.[67] + +It is doubtful whether such an elaborate system had been developed in +Plautus' time, but this much is certain: the comedian was on the stage +lively, energetic and constantly spurred on by the fear of punishment from +the _dominus gregis_ and the violent disapproval of a fickle, tempestuous +and withal exacting public. Polybius[68] relates that the visit of a +troupe of Greek actors to Rome was a failure because of their over-staid +deportment, until, learning the desires of the volatile Italians, they +improvised a vastly more vivid pantomime depicting a mock battle, with +huge success. Assuredly the early Roman comedian must have acted with +greater abandon and clownish drollery, if not with the elaborate +histrionic technique of the later actor.[69] We have heard Dr. Charles +Knapp relate that the performance of the _Ajax_ of Sophocles by a troupe +of modern Greek players went with amazing and incredible rapidity and +vivacity. It is all of a piece. We must inevitably associate vivid +temperament with the sons of the Mediterranean in all ages. Yet we have +just seen that the Greeks of old were too self-contained for their Italian +brethren. + +[Sidenote: The Histrionism] With this brief discussion of the condition, +incentive and motive of the Plautine actor, let us pass on to a more +detailed consideration of his methods and technique. Naturally by far the +most important part of this was gesture. Here again, while some of our +evidence is somewhat unreliable, practically every shred of extant +testimony indicates an extreme liveliness and vivacity. In the +rhetoricians frequent warning is issued to the forensic neophyte to avoid +the unrestraint of theatrical gesticulation. Cicero says (_De Or._ I. 59. +251): "Nemo suaserit studiosis dicendi adulescentibus in gestu discendo +histrionum more elaborare." Quintilian echoes (I. 11. 3): "Ne gestus quidem +omnis ac motus a comediis petendus est.... Orator plurimum ... aberit a +scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius." And in the _Auctor +ad Herennium_ we find (III. 15. 26): "Convenit igitur in vultu et pudorem +nec acrimoniam esse, in gestu et venustatem nec turpitudinem, ne aut +histriones aut operarii videamur esse."[70] That the nature and liveliness +of gesture on the stage was determined by the character portrayed, it is +almost needless to say.[71] + +Cicero's analysis (_de Or._ III. 59. 220) of the difference between +theatrical and forensic gesture implies that the former illustrates +individual words and ideas, while the latter comprehends more broadly the +general thought and sentiment.[72] It is most unfortunate that we have +lost Cicero's treatise _De Gestu Histrionis_.[73] + +By Cicero's time a more restrained mode of acting was evidently considered +good taste; witness _de Off._ (I. 36. 130): "Histrionum non nulli gestus +ineptus non vacant, et quae sunt recta et simplicia laudantur."[74] But +the passages cited above bear ample testimony to the vigor of histrionic +gesticulation even at this later and far more cultivated epoch. Again we +repeat, what must have been the energy and abandon of the original +Plautine actor?[75] + +Apart from the rhetoricians, the most fruitful literary source of our +information on gesture is Donatus' commentary on Terence. The +trustworthiness of this has been the subject of much argument. Sittl[76] +accuses him of speaking merely from the standpoint of a professor of +rhetoric, as comedies of Terence were no longer given in the time of +Donatus. Weinberger in his "Beitrage zu den Buhnenaltherthumern aus Donats +Terenz-commentar,"[77] admonishes us to be very careful not to put too +high a value on the commentary. Van Wageningen[78] is of the opinion that +much of the work was inspired by Donatus' having seen in his own time +unmasked actors play. To this view color is lent by Donatus' note to +_And._ 716: "Sive haec <Mysis> personatis viris agitur, ut apud veteres, +sive per mulierem, ut nunc videmus." + +If this is true, it makes Donatus' work of more significance to us, as it +would imply a harking back to the play of feature of the unmasked +performances of Plautus' day. But while it is certain that Donatus had +other sources than the Terentian text for his annotations,[79] it is +equally certain that practically everything he has to say relative to +gesture and stage business is readily to be deduced from the text and is +in the main interesting only as a compilation.[80] However, everything he +says continues to point persistently to lively gesture and action; and +this too in Terentian comedy, where the text makes far less rigorous +demands on the actor's muscles than in Plautus' works. + +Donatus remarks occasionally that certain words must have been accompanied +by especially expressive gesture and byplay, evidently of feature, as +_vultuose, cum gestu_ and similar phrases are used to indicate this.[81] +His note to _And._ 722 is: "Haec scaena actuosa est: magis enim in gestu +quam in oratione est constituta." Of gestures emphatic and yet not foreign +to everyday life Quintilian notes (XI. 3. 123): "Femur ferire--et usitatum +et indignantis decet"; a movement plainly employed in _Mil._ 204 and +_Truc._ 601. But, says Quintilian further (ib.): "Complodere manus +scaenicum est et pectus caedere."[82] + +One of the notable "hits" of the ancient stage is recorded by Donatus ad +_Phor._ 315: Ambivius (as Phormio) entered "oscitans temulenter atque +aurem minimo scalpens digitulo ... et labia lingens ut ebrius et ructans." +But Ambivius' potations resulted in an extremely spirited and lifelike +imitation of the parasite character and he was forthwith forgiven his +drunkenness. + +Passing mention must be made of the Terentian Mss. illustrations, though +they add but little weight to the foregoing. For a complete list of their +sources and editions see Sittl, "Gebärden der Griechen und Römer," Chap. +XI, p. 203 ff.[83] But whatever be the exact date of the original, in our +extant copies the old traditional gestures are lost and the gesture of +everyday life supplied. In fact, in the analyses appended by Leo, van +Wageningen and Warnecke, in the works cited above, we arrive at little but +that the gestures natural to any Italian-born person in a like situation +are reproduced, such as "gestus abeuntis, cogitantis, parasiti," etc. It +is almost too much to make any of this a basis for argument as to +classical and pre-classical stage-craft. It is at least significant that +every character with hands free is gesticulating and the scene from _Eun._ +IV. 6-7 is evidently full of vigorous action. + +An old and discursive article[84] by T. Baden, containing a description +and analysis of the gestures and posture of a number of familiar figures +from comedy exemplified in some collections of statuettes (chiefly those +in Borgia's Museum of Baden's time), is open to the same objection as the +above. The gestures of slave, pander, parasite, etc., described in the +article are lively and expressive to be sure, but contain little to +differentiate them from those of daily life. + +While much of our evidence is still to come, we believe that we are +already justified in the deduction that the actor contemporary with +Plautus must have indulged in the extravagances of the players in the +Atellan farces and the mimes. The _mimus_ of the Empire, we know, +specialized in ridiculous facial contortions.[85] + +We must not forget too the vivacity indicated by the comic scenes among +the Pompeian and Herculanean wall-paintings,[86] which have a close +kinship with the Terentian MSS. pictures. Nor must we lose sight of the +fact that all our pictorial _reliquiae_ portray the later masked +characters, and hence play of feature, which must have been a notable +concomitant of the original Plautine performance, is entirely obscured. + +As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent of our +poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order. Whether we +agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first introduced for comedy +and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius Prothymus respectively,[87] +or with Diomedes' explanation[88] that Roscius adopted them to disguise +his pronounced squint, it is certain that they were not worn in Plautus' +time, when wigs and make-up were employed for characterization.[89] In +fact, the early performances of Plautus, unless we except the original +Terentian productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman +comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the practice of +lively grimace and facial play. + +The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward +appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries of make-up +that rival those of the Old Comedy. From _As._ 400-1 we learn that Saurea +was: + + Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ventriosus, + Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte. + +In the _Mer._ Lysimachus is described as a veritable _thensaurus +mali_ (639-40): + + Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum, + Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum. + +Curculio was one-eyed: "Unocule, salve" (Cur. 392). Pseudolus must have +been a joy to the groundlings _(Ps._ 1218 ff.): + + Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger, + Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum + Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes. + Pseudolus fuit ipsus. + +His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization. +(Cf. Ter. _Phor._ 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer, +he inquires (_Rud._ 316 ff.): + + Ecquem + Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum, + Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?[90] + +The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in +vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this +respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One +must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as +on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too +slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore, +deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and +developed their Greek and Etruscan models.[91] When Livius Andronicus +first fathered _palliatae_, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as +the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his +audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him, +and he doubtless seized upon the _palliata_ form as the natural medium for +the exploitation of his talents. By Cicero's time considerable technical +equipment was required; the actor must be an adept in gesticulation, +gymnastic and dancing.[92] Appreciable refinement had been reached in +Quintilian's age, for he scores the comic actor who departs too far from +reality and pronounces the ideal player him who declaims with a measured +artistic heightening of everyday discourse.[93] It is noteworthy that this +practically coincides with the accepted standard of modern realistic +acting. But the Plautine actor could never have felt himself trammeled by +any such narrow and sophisticated restrictions, as we believe the evidence +accumulated above amply proves. At any rate, the delineation of different +roles must have been at all times strictly in character. The need of +feminine vocal tones, unless another jest is intended is indicated by +_Rud._ 233: + + Certe vox muliebris auris tetigit meas. + +And Quintilian admonishes the youth who is taking lessons from a comic +actor in voice-production not to carry his precepts so far as to imitate +the female falsetto, the senile tremolo, the obsequiousness of the slave, +the stuttering accents of intoxication or the intonations of love, greed, +fear.[94] + +Where Donatus gives instructions as to the vocal expression with which +certain lines are to be delivered, as in the case of his comments on +gesture, they are almost painfully evident from the context. He cites for +instance irony[95], anger[96], exhaustion [97], amazement [98], +sympathy[99], pity[100]. He appears as the lineal ancestor of the modern +"coach" of amateur theatricals in somewhat naively remarking[101] that +upon leaving Thais for two days, Phaedria must pronounce "two days" as if +"two years" were written. + +Another phase of the delivery of the dialogue that deserves passing +mention is song and musical accompaniment. Livy's anecdote[102] of the +employment by Livius Andronicus of a boy to sing for him while he +gesticulated is almost universally accepted as an exceptional instance, +prompted by the failing of Livius' voice through age[103]. We are now +fairly well informed of the tripartite diversion of the dialogue into +_canticum_ or song proper, recitative, and _diverbium_ or spoken +utterance[104], with the incidental accompaniment of the _tibia_. Though +there may be some dispute as to the apportionment of the various classes, +the general truth is established.[105] The important feature of this for +our purpose is that, if the ancient tragedy with its music and dancing was +rather comparable to modern grand opera than to drama proper, the song and +musical accompaniment of comedy lend it a strong flavor of the opera +bouffe and even of the musical comedy of to-day. In Part II we shall draw +numerous other parallels between this style of composition and the plays +of Plautus. West, in A.J.P. VIII. 33, notes one of the few comparisons to +"comic opera" that we have seen. Fay, in the Introduction to his ed. of +the _Most._ (§ 11), likens Plautine drama to "an opera of the early +schools." + +One feature of the performance still remains to be discussed--the +"stage-business," that is, the movements of the actors apart from mere +gesticulation and dialogue. Much of this too will find a place in Part II, +in the treatment of special peculiarities, but in general we note here +that the text itself contains many indications that are as plain as +printed stage directions regarding the movements being made or about to be +made by the characters. Examples of the more significant follow: _Amph._ +308: Cingitur: Certe expedit se; 312: Perii, pugnos ponderat. (Sosia +speaks aside of Mercury and similarly during the succeeding scene); 903: +Potin ut abstineas manum?; 955: Aperiuntur aedis. This motif is +commonplace and frequent; 958: Vos tranquillos video; 1130: quam valide +tonuit; _As._ 39: Age, age, usque excrea; _Bac._ 668: quod sic terram +optuere?; _Cap._ 557: Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuitur?; 594: +Ardent oculi;[106] 793: Hic homo pugilatum incipit; _Ep._ 609: illi +caperrat frons severitudine; _Mer._ 138: iam dudum spato sanguinem; _Mil._ +1324: Nefle; _Most._ 1030: vocis non habeo satis. (He must have been +shouting); _Ps._ 458: Statum vide hominis, Callipho, quam basilicum; 955: +transvorsus ... cedit, quasi cancer solet: _Trin._ 623 f.: celeri +graducunt uterque: ille rcprehendit hunc priorem pallio.[107] + +This practice of indicating business in the lines, of making the +play act, is common to all the older types of drama, Elizabethan as +well as classic. A single striking example from Shakespeare will +furnish a parallel, in the well-known lines from _Macbeth_: + + The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon, + Where gott'st thou that goose look? (V. 3). + +The modern playwright robs his lines of their vividness and +throws the onus on the actor through the medium of his interpolated +direction, a custom which reaches its most exaggerated form +in the plays of Bernard Shaw, as mentioned above. + +[Sidenote: Thesis] We have now made a perceptible advance towards getting +an answer to our original questions: "What manner of drama is this?" and +"How was it done?" The comments of the most eminent critics on the former +question have left us rather bewildered by their diversity. Almost to a +man they have taken Plautus too seriously or else have arraigned him for +not conforming to their preconceived code of comedy, without questioning +whether it were Plautus' own or not. This has really nullified their +efforts to explain away the peculiarities and absurdities of his style. +Some _solvent_ of these difficulties is needed. + +As to the second question, we have examined briefly the extant evidence +regarding the actor's employment of gesture and business, his delivery of +the dialogue, make-up and character delineation, and found a disappointing +paucity, but a general and irresistible trend towards liveliness, vivacity +and broad undiluted comedy that must have been the sort of dramatic fare +demanded by the primeval appetite of the Plautine audience. But again we +find ourselves falling short of a satisfying answer to our question. +Again, some _solvent_ is needed. As the last resort, we turn to the +evidence of the plays themselves and the unbounded realm of subjective +criticism. + +From the earliest times gesture and business in Aristophanes and the Old +Comedy were marked by the riotous license of all the media of that notable +epoch[108] of comedy. From the broad spirit of its frank and vivid +burlesque not even the most stolidly Teutonic of humorless critics ever +thought of demanding a "picture of life." But with the abandonment of the +purpose of political propaganda, the consequent disappearance of the +chorus with its burlesque trappings (largely through motives of state +economy), and the establishment in the New Comedy of a type of dramatic +machinery that had a specious outer shell of reflection of characters and +events in daily life, the critics instantly seem to demand the standard of +dramatic technique of Aristotle and Freytag and condemn all departures +from this standard. In reality, we believe that the kinship of Plautus +with Aristophanes is much closer than has usually been realized. + +Is, then, the change from Old to New Comedy as great as has been +represented? Does not the change consist rather in the outer form and in +the ideas expounded than in the spirit of the histrionism and mimicry? And +must not the vigor, from what we have seen, have been intensified in +Plautus? LeGrand alone seems to have caught the essence of this:[109] "Que +dire de la mimique? D'après les indications contenues dans le texte même +des comédies, d'après les commentaires--notamment ceux de Donat, d'après +les monuments figurés--en particulier les images des manuscrits, elle +devait être en general très vive, souvent trop vive pour le goût des +modernes.... Et puis, ils s'addressaient a des spectateurs méridionaux, +coutumiers dans la vie quotidienne d'une gesticulation plus animée que la +nôtre." And this is said as a combined estimate of New Comedy and +_palliatae_. + +We are now prepared to advance a definite thesis, that shall gather up the +random threads of argument and suggestion scattered through the foregoing +pages and shall, we hope, provide a conclusive and final answer to both of +our original questions. If we can establish: that our author's sole aim +was to feed the popular hunger for amusement; that, while after leaving +much of his Greek originals practically untouched, he considered them in +effect but a medium for the provocation of laughter, but a vessel into +which to pour a highly seasoned brew of fun; that to this end his actors +went before the public, potentially speaking slap-stick in hand, equipped +by nature with liveliness of grimace and gesture and prepared to act with +verve, unction and an abandon of dash and vigor that would produce a riot +of merriment; that his dramatic machinery is hopelessly crippled and that +his evident intentions and effects are hopelessly lost unless interpreted +in this spirit: then we relegate Plautine drama to a low plane of broad +farce, where verisimilitude to life becomes wholly unnecessary because +undesirable; where the canons of dramatic art become inoperative; where, +contrary to what Körting says, we are not asked to believe that +"everything is happening in a perfectly natural manner"; where the poet +may stick at nothing provided the laugh be forthcoming; where all the +apparently absurd conventions of _palliatae_ cease to be absurd, vanish +into thin air and become unamenable to literary criticism, inasmuch as +they are all only part of the laugh-compelling scheme. This is the +_solvent_ that we propose. To establish this, let us proceed to an +examination of the internal mechanism of the plays. + + + + +Part II + +An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus + + + +The salient features that characterize the plays of Plautus include both +his consciously employed means of producing his comic effects, and the +peculiarities and abnormalities that evidence his attitude of mind in +writing them. We should make bold to catalogue them as follows: + +I. Machinery characteristic of the lower types of modern drama--farce, low + comedy, musical comedy, burlesque shows, vaudeville, and the like. + + A. Devices self-evident from the text. + 1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + 2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + 3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + a. True burlesque. + b. True farce. + c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + + B. Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad + farcical spirit. + 1. The running slave. + 2. Wilful blindness. + 3. Adventitious entrance. + +II. Evidences of loose composition which prove a disregard of + technique and hence indicate that entertainment was the sole aim. + + A. Solo speeches and passages. + 1. Asides and soliloquies. + 2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + 3. Direct address of the audience. + + B. Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition. + 1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + 2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + 3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + 4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + 5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + 6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +Let us illustrate these points by typical passages and endeavor to insert +such stage-directions as would indicate how the most telling effects could +be produced and hence aid the reader in visualizing the actual +performance. + + +I. Machinery Characteristic of the Lower Types of Modern Drama + +A. _Devices self-evident from the text._ + +1. Bombast and mock-heroics. + +It is a little difficult to sublimate this entirely from burlesque, but +its true nature is instanced by the opening lines of the _Miles_, where +the vainglorious Pyrgopolinices, with many a sweep and strut, addresses +his attendants, who are probably staggering under the weight of an +enormous shield: + +"Have a care that the effulgence of my shield be brighter than e'er the +sun's rays in a cloudless sky: when the time for action comes and the +battle's on, I intend it shall dazzle the eyesight o' m' foes. (_Patting +his sword_). Verily I would condole with this m' sword, lest he lament and +be cast down in spirit, forasmuch as now full long hath he hung idle by m' +side, thirsting, poor lad, to meet his fellow 'mongst the foe," and so on. + +In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device. So +we find Pseudolus addressing the audience in ringing blustering tones and +with grandiose gesture (_Ps._ 584 ff.): + +"It now becomes my aim today to lay siege to this town and capture it." +(Ballio the procurer is the town). "I shall hurl all my legions against +it. If I take it, ... good luck to you, my citizens, for part of the booty +shall be yours." + +This finds a close counterpart in the _Mil._ 219 ff., a passage which +West[110] thinks was deliberately inserted to rouse the populace into +demanding that Scipio be at once despatched to Africa. + +Periplecomenus is urging Palaestrio to find a stratagem. Actually he +probably addresses the pit: + +"Don't you see that the enemy are upon you and investing your rear? Call a +council of war, reach out for stores and reinforcements in this crisis: +haste, haste, no time to waste! Make a detour through some pass, forestall +your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops! Cut off the enemy's base of +supplies!" etc. + +Whether this passage had an ulterior purpose or not, the motif is +frequent.[111] So we find Chrysalus in _Bac._ 925 ff. holding the stage +for an entire scene with an elaborate comparison of himself to Ulysses, +the brains of the Greek host, overcoming his master Nicobulus who +represents Priam. + +In general the mocking assumption of an heroic attitude recurs with +sufficient frequency to stamp it as a staple of comic effect. Many +passages would become tiresome and meaningless instead of amusing unless +so interpreted. The soliloquy of Mnesilochus in _Bac._ 500 ff. could be +made interesting only by turgid ranting. Similarly in _Bac._ 530 ff. and +612 ff.[112] + + +2. Horse-play and slap-sticks. + +By this we mean what can in nowise be so clearly defined as by +"rough-house." For instance, the turbulent Euclio in _Aul._ delivers +bastings impartially to various _dramatis personae_ and as a climax drives +the cooks and music-girl pell-mell out of the house, doubtless accompanied +by deafening howling and clatter (415 ff.). Similarly in the _Cas._ (875 +ff.) Chalinus routs Olympio and the lecherous Lysidamus. We may well +imagine that such scenes were preceded as well as accompanied by a fearful +racket within (a familiar device of our low comedy and extravaganza), the +effect probably heightened by tempestuous _melodrama_ on the _tibiae_, as +both the scenes cited are in _canticum_. + +In the _Men._ we are treated to a free fight, in which the valiant +Messenio routs the _lorarii_ by vigorous punches, while Menaechmus plants +his fist in one antagonist's eye (_Men._ 1011 ff.): + +(Menaechmus of Epidamnus is seized by _lorarii_; as he struggles, +Messenio, slave of Menaechmus Sosicles, rushes into the fray to his +rescue). "MES. I say! Gouge out that fellow's eye, the one that's got you +by the shoulder, master. Now as for these rotters, I'll plant a crop of +fists on their faces. (_Lays about._) By Heaven, you'll be everlastingly +sorry for the day you tried to carry my master off. Let go! + +MEN. (_Joining in with a will._) I've got this fellow by the eye! + +MES. Bore it out! A hole's good enough for his face! You villians, you +thieves, you robbers! (_General melée. Lorarii weaken._) + +LOR. We're done for! Oh Lord, please! + +MES. Let go then! + +MEN. What right had you to lay hands on me? Give them a good beating up! +(_Lorarii break and scatter wildly under the ferocious onslaught._) + +MES. Come, clear out! To the devil with you all! That for _you_! +(_Strikes._) You're the last; here's _your_ reward! (_Strikes again._)" + +The lines themselves are sufficiently graphic and need but little +annotation. Other pugilistic activities crop up at not infrequent +intervals in the text,[113] and in _Ps._ 135 ff. Ballio generously plies +the whip. In the lacuna of the _Amph._ after line 1034, Mercury probably +bestows a drenching on Amphitruo.[114] In _As._ III. 3, especially 697 +ff., Libanus makes his master Argyrippus "play horsey" with him, doubtless +with indelicate buffonery. With invariable energy, even so simple a matter +as knocking on doors is made the excuse for raising a violent disturbance, +as in _Amph._ 1019 f. and 1025: Paene effregisti, fatue, foribus +cardines.[115] And this idea is actually parodied in _As._ 384 ff. No, +Plautus did not allow his public to languish for want of noise. + + +3. Burlesque, farce and extravagance of situation and dialogue. + +Under this head we include such conscious strivings for comic as are +frankly and plainly exaggerated and hyper-natural. + + +a. True burlesque. + +This is in effect pure parody, cartooning. Patent burlesque of tragedy +appears in _Trin._ 820 ff. (_Charmides returns from abroad._) + +"CHAR. To Neptune, ruler of the deep, and puissant brother unto Jove and +Nereus, do I in joy and gladness cry my praises and gratefully proclaim my +gratitude; and to the briny waves, who held me in their power, yea, even +my chattels and my very life, and from their realms restored me to the +city of my birth," etc., etc. + +To tickle the ears of the groundlings, this must have been delivered in +grandiloquent mimicry with all the paraphernalia of the tragic style. +Horace notes a kindred manifestation of this tendency (to which he himself +is pleasingly addicted), in _Ep._ II. 3.93 f.: + + Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit + Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore. + +Tragic burlesque is again beautifully exemplified in _Ps._ 702 ff. The +versatile Pseudolus after a significant aside: "I'll address the fellow in +high-sounding words," says to his master Calidorus: + +"Hail! Hail! Thee, thee, O mighty ruler, thee do I beseech who art lord +over Pseudolus. Thee do I seek that thou mayst obtain thrice three times +triple delights in three various ways, joys earned by three tricks and +three tricksters, cunningly won by treachery, fraud and villainy, which in +this little sealed missive have I but erstwhile brought to thee.... + +CHAR. The rascal's spouting like a tragedian." + +When Sosia, in the first scene of _Amph._ (203 ff.), turgidly describes +the battle between the Thebans and Teleboans, he is parodying the +Messenger of tragedy. Another echo from tragedy is heard at the end of the +play, when Jupiter appears in the role of deus ex machina.[116] + +Burlesque of character and calling puts in an occasional appearance. The +recreant Sosia in _Amph._ 958 ff. mimics the dutiful slave. _As._ 259 ff. +contains an ironical treatment of augury, while in 751 ff. the poet has +his satirical fling at the legal profession. + + +b. True farce. + +This is of course the comedy of situation and finds its mainstay in +mistaken identity. The _Men._ and _Amph._ with their doubles are +farce-comedies proper, but the element of farce forms the motive power of +nearly all the plots; for example, the shuffling-up of Acropolistis, +Telestis and the _fidicina_ in _Ep._, the quarrel between Mnesilochus and +Pistoclerus in _Bac._ resulting from the former's belief that his friend +had stolen his sweetheart, the exchange of names between Tyndarus and +Philocrates in _Cap._, the entrapping of Demaenetus with the _meretrix_ at +the dénouement of _As._, etc., etc. It is understood, we presume, that the +modern farce occupies no exalted position in the comic scale, is +distinguished by the grotesquerie of its characters, incidents and +dialogue, and is indulgently permitted to stray far from the paths of +realism. Even in Shakespearian farce, note the exaggerated antics of the +two Dromios in "The Comedy of Errors." It is significant then that farce +is a staple of our plays. + +The farcical element is strikingly exemplified in _Amph._ 365-462, where +Mercury persuades Sosia that he is not himself. Impersonation and +assumption of a role is another noteworthy and frequent medium of plot +motivation. In _As._ 407 ff. Leonida tries to palm himself off as the +_atriensis_. Note the violent efforts of the two slaves to wheedle the +cunning ass-dealer (449 ff.). In _Cas._ 815 ff. Chalinus enters disguised +as the blushing bride. In _Men._ 828 ff. Menaechmus Sosicles pretends +madness in a clever scene of uproarious humor. In the _Mil._ (411 ff.) +Philocomasium needs only to change clothing to appear in the role of her +own hypothetical twin sister, and in 874 ff. and 1216 ff. the _meretrix_ +plays _matrona_. Sagaristio and the daughter of the _leno_ impersonate +Persians (_Per._ 549 ff.), Collabiscus becomes a Spartan (_Poen._ 578 +ff.), Simia as Harpax gets Ballio's money (_Ps._ 905 ff.), the sycophant +is garbed as messenger (_Trin._ 843 ff.), Phronesium elaborately pretends +to be a mother (_Truc._ 499 ff.). A swindle is almost invariably the +object in view. But we have said enough on this score: no one who knows +the plays at all can fail to recognize the predominance of farce. Compare +on the modern stage the sudden appearance of "the long-lost cousin from +Chicago." + + +c. Extravagances obviously unnatural and merely for the sake of fun. + +This group of course often contains marked features of burlesque and +farce, and hence shows a close kinship with the foregoing. + +The extravagance of the love-sick swain is a fruitful source of this +species of caricature. The ridiculous Calidorus, always wearing his heart +on his sleeve, rolls his eyes, brushes away a tear and says (_Ps._ 38 +ff.): "But for a short space have I been e'en as a lily of the field. +Suddenly sprang I up, as suddenly I withered." The irreverent Pseudolus +replies: "Oh, shut up while I read the letter over." Calidorus finds his +counterpart in Phaedromus of the _Cur._, who, accompanied by his slave, +approaches milady's abode (_Cur._ 10 ff.): + +"PH. (_In languishing accents, with eyes cast upward_): Shall I not take +sweets to the sweet: what is culled by the toil of the busy bees to my own +little honey?... (_They advance to milady's doorway which he sprinkles +with wine_, 88 ff.): Come, drink, ye portals of pleasure, quaff and deign +to be propitious unto me. + +PALINURUS SER. (_Addressing the door with mimicry of Phaedromus' airs._) +Do you want some olives or sweetmeats or capers? + +PH. (_Continuing._) Arouse your portress; hither send her unto me. +(_Lavishes the wine._) + +PAL. (_In great alarm, grasping his arm._) You're spilling the wine! +What's got hold of you? + +PH. Unhand me! (_Gently shakes himself loose._) Lo! The temple of joys +untold is opening. Did not the hinge creak? 'Tis charming! + +PAL. (_Turning aside in disgust._) Why don't you give it a kiss?" + +In each case the impertinent slave provides the foil. When the lovers +succeed in meeting, they are interlocked in embrace from 172 to 192, +probably invested with no small amount of suggestive "business." This +would doubtless hardly be tolerated by the "censor" today. Another variety +of lover's extravagance is the lavishing of terms of endearment, as we +find in _Cas._ 134 ff.[117] + +When this feature of "extravagance" enters the situation instead of the +dialogue, we have episodes such as the final scene of the _Ps._, where the +name character is irrelevantly introduced (1246) in a state of +intoxication which, with copious belching in Simo's face, culminates in a +rebellion of the overloaded stomach (1294). We can scarcely doubt that +such business was carried out in ultra-graphic detail and rewarded by +copious guffaws from the populace. In sharp contrast to this, the +drunkenness of Callidamates in _Most._ 313 ff. is depicted with unusual +artistry, but still from the very nature of such a scene it may be labeled +"extravagant." + +Manifestation of violent anger is another source of exaggerated stage +business. _Ep._ 512 ff. should be interpreted somewhat as follows: + +"(_The deluded Periphanes has just discovered that the fidicina is an +impostor and not his daughter._) FID. (_Sweetly._) Do you want me for +anything else? + +PER. (_Stamping foot and shaking fists in a passion._) The foul fiend take +you to utter perdition! Clear out, and quickly too! + +FID. (_In alarm._) Won't you give me back my harp? + +PER. Nor harp nor pipes! So hurry up and get out of here, if you know +what's good for you! + +FID. (_Stamping her foot in tearful rage._) I'll go, but you'll have to +give them back later just the same and it will be all the worse for you. + +PER. (_Striding up and down in wildest anger._) What!... shall I let her +go unpunished? Nay, even if I have to lose as much again, I'll lose it +rather than let myself be mocked and despoiled with impunity!" and so +on.[118] + +Other random scenes that may be classed as "extravagant" are found in +Strobilus' cartoon of Euclio (_Aul._ 300 ff.), Demipho's discovery in the +distance of a mythical bidder for the girl (_Mer._ 434 ff.), Charinus' +playing "horsey" and taking a trip in his imaginary car (_Mer._ 930 ff.), +and the loud "boo-hoo" to which Philocomasium gives vent (_Mil._ 1321 +ff.). These all might be classed under either "farce" or "burlesque," but +they seem to come more exactly under the kindred head of "extravagance." + +A familiar figure in modern farce-comedy is the comic conspirator with +finger on lip, tiptoeing round in fear of listeners. He finds his +prototype in _Trin._ (146 ff.): + +"(_Callicles and Megaronides converse._) + +CAL. (_In a mysterious whisper._) Look around a bit and make sure there's +nobody spying on us--and please look around every few seconds. (_They +pause and peer in every direction, perhaps creeping round on tiptoe._) + +MEG. Now, I am all ears. + +CAL. When you're through, I'll talk. (_Pauses and nods._) Just before +Charmides went abroad, he showed me a treasure, (_stops and looks over his +shoulders_) in his house here, in one of the rooms. (_Starts, as if at a +noise._) Look around! (_They repeat the search and return again._) + +MEG. There's nobody."[119] + +Another old stage friend is the detected plotter trying to lie out of an +embarrassing situation. He is lineally descended from Tranio in the +_Most._ Tranio has just induced his master Theopropides to pay forty minae +to the money-lender on the pretext that Theopropides' son Philolaches has +bought a house (659 ff.): + +"TH. In what neighborhood did my son buy this house? + +TR. (_Aside to audience in comic despair, with appropriate gesture._) See +there now! I'm a goner! + +TH. (_Impatiently._) Will you answer my question? + +TR. Oh yes, but (_Stammering and displaying symptoms of acute +embarrassment_) I--I'm trying to think of the owner's name. (_Groans._) + +TH. Well, hurry up and remember it! + +TR. (_Rapidly, aside._) I can't see anything better to do than tell him +his son bought the house of our next-door neighbor here. (_With a shrug._) +Thunder, I've heard that a _steaming_ lie is the best kind. +(_Mock-heroically._) 'Tis the will of the gods, my mind's made up. + +TH. (_Who has been frowning and stamping in impatience._) Well, well, +well! Haven't you thought of it yet? + +TR. (_Aside._) Curses on him!... (_Finally turning and bursting out +suddenly._) It's our next-door neighbor here--your son bought the house +from him. (_He sees that the lie goes and sighs with relief._)"[120] + +Another variation on this theme is the futile effort of the plotter to get +rid of a character armed with incriminating evidence. Again we quote +_Most._ (573 ff.), where Tranio is conversing with Theopropides. The +money-lender from whom young Philolaches has borrowed appears on the other +side of the stage. Tranio espies him. He must keep him away from the old +man. With a hurried excuse he flies across to meet Misargyrides. + +"TR. (_Taking Misargyrides' arm and attempting to steer him off-stage._) I +was never so glad to see a man in my life. + +MIS. (_Suspiciously, holding back._) What's the matter? + +TR. (_Confidentially._) Just step this way. (_Looks back apprehensively at +Theopropides, who is regarding them suspiciously._) + +MIS. (_In a loud and offensive voice._) Won't my interest be paid? + +TR. I know you have a good voice; don't shout so loud. + +MIS. (_Louder._) Hang it, but I _will_ shout! + +TR. (_Groans and glances over shoulder again._) Run along home, there's a +good fellow. (_Urges him toward exit._)", etc. + +Tranio has a chance for very lively business: a sickly smile for the +usurer, lightning glances of apprehension towards Theopropides, with an +occasional intimate groan aside to the audience. Other farcical scenes of +the many that may be cited as calling for particularly vivacious business +and gesture are, e.g., _Cas._ 621 ff., where Pardalisca befools Lysidamus +by timely fainting, _Rud._ 414 ff., where Sceparnio flirts with Ampelisca, +and the quarrel scene, _Rud._ 485 ff.[121] + +The last four passages quoted in translation are by no means lacking in +artistic humor and a measure of reality, but they imply a pronounced +heightening of the actions and emotions of everyday life and lose their +humor unless presented in the broad spirit that stamps them as belonging +to the plane of farce. We now pass on to motives where the dialogue aims +at effects manifestly unnatural and where verisimilitude is sacrificed to +the joke, as we have seen it is in the employment of "bombast," "true +burlesque," etc. + +The first of these motives is a stream of copious abuse, as in _Per._ 406 +ff., where Toxilus _servos_ and Dordalus _leno_ exchange Rabelaisian +compliments. + +"TOX. (_Hopping about with rabid gestures._) You filthy pimp, you +mud-heap, you common dung-hill, you besmirched, corrupt, law-breaking +decoy, you public sewer, ... robber, mobber, jobber, ...! + +DOR. (_Who has been dancing around in fury, shaking his fist until +exhausted by his paroxysms._) Wait--till--(_Puffing_)--I--get--my +breath--I'll--answer you! You dregs of the rabble, you slave-brothel, you +'white-slave' freer, you sweat-of-the-lash, you chain gang, you king of +the treadmill, ... you eat-away, steal-away run-away....!" etc.[122] + +Perhaps we have here the forerunner of the shrewish wife in modern +vaudeville, who administers to her shrinking consort a rapid-fire +tongue-lashing. Another phase of this profuse riot of words appears in the +formidable Persian name that Sagaristio, disguised as a Persian, adopts in +the _Per._ (700 ff.): + +"DORDALUS. What's your name? + +SAG. Listen then, and you shall hear: False-speaker-us Girl-seller-son +Much-o'-nothing-talk-son Money-gouge-out-son Talk-up-to you-son +Coin-wheedle-out-son What-I-once-get-son Never-give-up-son: there you are! + +DOR. (_With staring eyes and gasping breath._) Ye Gods! That's a +variegated name of yours! + +SAG. (_With a superior wave of the hand._) It's the Persian fashion." + +The second point in this category is own cousin to the above. We should +label it persistent interruption and repetition. An excellent instance is +_Trin._ 582 ff., when Stasimus, Lesbonicus and Philto have just hatched a +plot. Philto departs. + +"LES. (_To Stasimus._) You attend to my instructions. I'll be there +presently. Tell Callicles to meet me. + +ST. Now you just clear out! (_Pushes him after Philto._) + +LES. (_Calls out as he is being shoved away._) Tell him to see what has to +be done about the dowry. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Raising his voice._) For I'm determined not to marry her off +without a dowry. + +ST. Won't you clear out? + +LES. (_Still louder._) And I won't let her suffer harm by reason.---- + +ST. Get out, I say! + +LES. (_Shouts._)--of my carelessness. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. It seems right that my own sins-- + +ST. Clear out! + +LES.--should affect me alone. + +ST. Clear out! + +LES. (_Mock heroically._) Oh father, shall I ever behold you again? + +ST. Out, out, out! (_With a final shove._) (_Exit Lesbonicus._) At last, I +'ve got him away! (_Breathes hard._)" + +The fun, if fun there be, lies in the hammer-like repetition of "I modo," +a sort of verbal buffoonery. A clever actor could din this with telling +effect. The device is employed several times. In _Most._ 974 ff. the word +is _aio_, in _Per._ 482 ff. _credo_, in _Poen._ 731 ff. _quippini_, in +_Ps._ 484 ff. ναι γάρ, in _Rud._ 1212 ff. _licet_ and 1269 ff. +_censeo_. The last two examples are the lengthiest.[123] + +The third of these motives is the introduction of clearly unnatural +dialogue, wholly incidental and foreign to the action, for the sake of +lugging in a joke. The _As._ (38 ff.) yields the following conversation +between Demaenetus _senex_ and his slave Libanus: + +"LI. By all that's holy, as a favor to me, spit out the words you have +uttered. + +DE. All right, I'll be glad to oblige you. (_Coughs._) + +LI. Now, now, get it right up! (_Pats him on the back._) + +DE. More? (_Coughs._) + +LI. Gad, yes, please! Right from the bottom of your throat: more still! +(_Pats._) + +DE. Well, how far down then? + +LI. (_Unguardedly._) Down to Hades is my wish! + +DE. I say, look out for trouble! + +LI. (_Diplomatically._) For your wife, I mean, not for you. + +DE. For that speech I bestow upon you freedom from punishment."[124] + +The childish bandying of words in _Truc._ 858 ff. is egregiously tiresome +in the reading, but in action could have been made to produce a modicum of +amusement if presented in the broad burlesque spirit that we believe was +almost invariably employed. This gives us a clue to the next topic. + + + +B. _Devices absurd and inexplicable unless interpreted in a broad farcical +spirit._ + + +This includes peculiarities that have usually been commented on as +weaknesses or conventions, or else been given up as hopeless +incongruities, but which we hope to prove also yield their quota of +amusement if clownishly performed. The foremost of these is the famous + + +1. Running Slave or Parasite. + +We all know him: rushing madly cross stage at top-speed (if we take the +literal word of the text for it), with girded loins, in search of somebody +right under his nose, the while unburdening himself of exhaustive periods +that, however great the breadth of the Roman stage, would carry him +several times across and back: as Curculio in 279 ff.: + +"Make way for me, friends and strangers, while I carry out my duty here. +Run, all of you, scatter and clear the road! I'm in a hurry and I don't +want to butt into anybody with my head, or elbow, or chest, or knee.... +And there's none so rich as can stand in my way, ... none so famous but +down he goes off the sidewalk and stands on his head in the street," and +so on for ten lines or more. After he has found his patron Phaedromus, he +is apparently so exhausted that he cries: "Hold me up, please, hold me up! +(_Wobbles and falls panting into Phaedromus' arms._) + +PH.... Get him a chair ... quick!" + +When Leonida enters (_As._ 267 ff.) as the running slave, he is still out +of breath at 326-7! Stasimus in _Trin._ 1008 ff., though his mission is +also proclaimed as desperately urgent, pauses to declaim on public morals! + +Considerable light has been thrown upon this subject recently by the +dissertation of Weissman, _De servi currentis persona apud comicos +Romanes_ (Giessen, 1911), though his explanation of the _modus operandi_ +is inconclusive. Langen has commented on it at some length,[125] but +offers no solution. Weise frankly admits:[126] "Wie sie gelaufen sind, ist +ein Rätsel fur uns." LeGrand[127] follows Weise's conclusion that it is an +imitation from the Greek and in support of this instances Curculio's use, +while running, of the presumed translations from the Greek: _agoranomus_, +_demarchus_, etc. He also cites as parallels some unconvincing phrases from +fragments of New Comedy, while developing an ingenious theory that the +device is a heritage from the Greek orchestra, where it could have been +performed with a hippodrome effect. Terence berates the practice,[128] but +makes use of it himself.[129] + +Weissman's conclusions are worth a summary. He notes the following as the +usual essential concomitants: 1. It is mentioned in the text that the +slave is on the run. 2. He is the bearer of news of the moment; 3. He +fails to recognize other characters on stage; 4. He is halted by the very +man he is so violently seeking. He cites as the genuine occurrences of the +_servus_ or _parasitus currens_, besides the passages mentioned above, +_Cap._ 781 ff., _Ep._ 1 ff., 192 ff., _Mer._ 111 ff., _Per._ 272 ff., +_St._ 274 ff. Furthermore, he argues convincingly that this was an +independent Roman development without a prototype on the Greek stage and +neatly refutes Weise and LeGrand by proving that there are no extant Greek +fragments sufficient to furnish a ground for any but the most tenuous +argument. Above all, he correctly interprets the poet's aim with the +dictum: "Praeterquam quod hac persona optime utitur ad actionem bene +continuandam id maxime spectat ut per eam _spectatorum risum_ captet." And +this from a German youth of twenty-two! + +It is in his attempt to explain the mechanism that we believe Weissman +fails. He essays an exegesis of each passage, though the separate +explanations are naturally similar. It will suffice to quote one, that to +_As._ 267 ff.: "Hoc nullo modo aliter mihi declarari posse videtur nisi +sic: Oratio Leonidae currentis maior est quam ut arbitrari possimus +currentem semper eum habuisse eam. Ex versu 290 Leonidam de celeritate sua +remisisse plane apparet. Quod semel solum eum fecisse cum non satis mihi +esse videatur, saepius--bis vel ter--per breve tempus eum cursum suum +interrupisse, circumspexisse, Libanum autem non spectavisse (hoc consilium +poetae erat, licentia poetica est) et hoc modo per totam scaenam cursum +suum direxisse arbitror." + +It will be observed that for lack of any tangible evidence he very +properly makes use of subjective reasoning. Now it has long been the +opinion of the writer that the maximum of comic effect (and that this was +the purpose of the _servus currens_ there can surely be no doubt) could +best be obtained by the actor's making a violent and frenzied pretense of +running while scarcely moving from the spot. Consider the ludicrous +spectacle of the rapidly moving legs and the flailing arms, with the +actor's face turned toward the audience, as he declaims sonorously of his +haste to perform his vital errand, while making but a snail's progress. +Truly then his plea of exhaustion would not be without excuse! This is an +explanation at once simpler, more potentially comic, more in accord with +what we predicate as the spirit of Plautus, and furthermore we have seen +roars of laughter created by the similar device of a low comedian in a +modern extravaganza. Taking advantage of the same subjective license, we +see nothing in Weissman's theory to offset our opinion. But, what is more, +our subjective reconstruction is given color by a shred of tangible +evidence. Suetonius (_Tib._ 38) refers to a popular quip on the emperor +that compares him to an actor on the classic Greek stage: "Biennio +continuo post ademptum imperium pedem porta non extulit; ... ut vulgo iam +per iocum Callip(p)ides vocaretur, quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem +mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est." That this Callipides was +the ὑποϗριτής mentioned by Xenophon (_Sym._ III. 11), Plutarch +(_Ages._ 21 and _Apophth. Lacon._: s. v. _Ages._), Cicyero (_Ad. Att._ +XIII. 12) and possibly by Aristotle (_Poet._ 26.), seems highly plausible. +Compare the _saltus fullonius_ (Sen. _Ep._ 15.4). + +Most amusing of all is Plautus' introduction of a parody on the parody, +when Mercury rushes in post-haste crying (_Amph._ 984 ff.): + +"Make way, give way, everybody, clear the way! I tell you all: don't you +get so bold as to stand in my road. For, egad! I'd like to know why I, a +god, shouldn't have as much right to threaten the rabble as a mere slave +in the comedies!" + +And perhaps _St._ 307 is a joke on the running slave: Sed spatium hoc +occidit: brevest curriculo: quam me paenitet? That violent haste was +considered a slavish trait is evidenced by _Poen._ 523-3. + + +2. Wilful blindness. + +In the scene recently quoted (_Cur._ 279 ff.), Curculio, after his violent +exertions in search of his patron, is for a time apparently unable to +discover him, though he is on the stage all the time. This species of +blindness must be wilfully designed as a burlesque effect and again finds +its echo in low comedy types of today. The breadth and depth of the Roman +stage alone will not account for this either; indeed, its very size could +be utilized to heighten the humor, as the actor peers hither and yon in +every direction but the right one. So Curculio (front) may pass directly +by Phaedromus (rear) without seeing him, to the huge delight of the +audience, and turn back again, while saying (301 ff.): + +"Is there anybody who can point out Phaedromus, my guardian angel, to me? +The matter's very urgent: I must find this chap at once. + +PALINURUS. (_To Phaedromus._) It's you he's looking for. + +PH. What do you say we speak to him? Hello, Curculio, I want you! + +CUR. (_Stopping and again looking vainly round._) Who's calling? Who says +"Curculio"? + +PH. Somebody that wants to see you. + +CUR. (_At last recognizing him when almost on top of him._) Ah! You don't +want to see me any more than I want to see you." + +Acanthio in _Mer._ 130 ff. is still more blind to the presence of Charinus +and raises a deal more fuss, as he enters in the wildest haste looking for +Charinus, who is of course in plain sight. Acanthio, with labored +breathing and the remark that he would never make a piper, probably passes +by Charinus and goes to the house. + +"AC. What am I standing here for, anyway? I'll make splinters of these +doors without a single qualm. (_Hammers violently. Charinus approaches, +vainly trying to attract his attention._) Open up, somebody! Where's my +master Charinus, at home or out? (_Still hammering._) Isn't anybody +supposed to have the job of tending door? + +CH. (_Shouting._) Here I am, Acanthio! You're looking for me, aren't you? + +AC. (_Still punishing the door._) I never saw such slovenly management. + +CH. (_Finally grabbing and shaking him._) What the deuce has got hold of +you?"[130] And so in the case of practically all the _servi currentes_. + +The opening scene of the _Per._ (13 ff.) between two slaves apparently +unable to distinguish each other's features from opposite sides of the +stage affords an opportunity for a similar species of farcical by-play. +Toxilus and Sagaristio stroll slowly in from the different side-entrances, +alternately soliloquizing. Suddenly, when probably fairly close, both look +up and peer curiously at each other: + +"TOX. (_Shading his eyes with his hand._) Who's that standing over there? + +SAG. Who's this standing over here? + +TOX. Looks like Sagaristio. + +SAG. I bet it's my friend Toxilus. + +TOX. He's the fellow, all right. + +SAG. That's the chap, I'm sure. + +TOX. I'll go over to him. + +SAG. I'll go up and speak to him. (_They draw closer._) + +TOX. Sagaristio, I hope the gods are good to you. + +SAG. Toxilus, I hope the gods give you everything you want. How are you? + +TOX. So so."[131] + +Note that this is _canticum_ and the effect of the two "sing-songing" +slaves on the audience must have been much the same as, upon us, the +spectacle of a vaudeville "duo," entering from opposite wings and singing +perchance a burlesque of grand opera at each other. + + +3. Adventitious entrance. + +This is of a piece with the above, but is usually due to a weakness of +composition, to the goddess Τύχη, who is the presiding deity of +the plots of New Comedy.[132] However, there are times when appreciable +fun can be extracted from this, if the actor speak in a bland jocular +tone, taking the audience into his confidence, as _Trin._ 400 f.: + +"PHILTO. But the door of the house to which I was going is opening. Isn't +that nice? Lesbonicus, the very man I'm looking for, is coming out with +his slave." + +And _Aul._ 176 f.: + +"MEGADORUS. I'd like to see Euclio, if he's at home. Ah, here he comes! +He's on his way home from some place or other."[133] + +We believe that enough has been said to prove that the favorite devices of +the lower types of modern stage-production form the back-bone of Plautus' +methods of securing his comic effects. Let us pass on without more ado to +a discussion of points that establish equally well that he was careless of +every other consideration but the eliciting of laughter. + + + + +II. Evidences of Loose Composition Which Prove a Disregard of Technique +and Hence Indicate that Entertainment Was the Sole Aim + + +A. _Solo speeches and passages_. + + +1. Asides and soliloquies. + +As it is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of stage +characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic +composition have always been recognized as the only feasible conventional +mode of conveying them. According to the strictest canons of dramatic art, +the ideally constructed play should be entirely free from this weakness. +Mr. Gillette is credited with having written in "Secret Service" the first +aside-less play. But this is abnormal and rather an affectation of +technical skill. The aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of +Plautus we + +have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends the +conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition, pointing plainly +to a poverty of technique and hence further strengthening the conception +of entertainment as the author's sole purpose. And often too, as we shall +point out, this very form can be used for amusement. To attempt a complete +collection of these passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, +comprising a formidable percentage of all the verses. + +And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and spiritless as +merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual conversation with +himself that shows a noble regard for the value of his own society. This +is attested by many passages, such as _Amph._ 381: Etiam muttis?; _Aul._ +52: At ut scelesta sola secum murmurat; _Aul._ 190: Quid tu solus tecum +loquere?; _Bac._ 773: Quis loquitur prope?; _Cap._ 133: Quis hic +loquitur?[134] + +One character standing aside and commenting on the main action is a +familiar situation and often productive of good fun. An excellent example +is _Most._ 166 ff., where Philematium is performing her conventionally +out-door toilet with the aid of her duenna Scapha. Philolaches stands on +the other side of the stage and interjects remarks: + +"PHILEM. Look at me please, Scapha dear; is this gown becoming? I want to +please Philolaches, the apple of my eye.... + +SC. Why deck yourself out, when your charm lies in your charming manners? +It isn't gowns that lovers love, but what bellies out the gowns. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) God bless me, but Scapha's clever; the hussy has +horse-sense.... + +PHILEM. (_Pettishly._) Well, then? + +SC. What is it? + +PHILEM. Look me over anyhow and see how this becomes me. + +SC. The grace of your figure makes everything you wear becoming. + +PHILO. (_Aside._) Now for that speech, Scapha, I'll give you some present +before the day is out--and so on for a whole long scene. + +The quips are amusing in an evident burlesque spirit. Such a scene was +easily done on the broad Roman stage, whether it was a heritage from the +use of the orchestra in Greek comedy, as LeGrand thinks,[135] or not. In +similar vein, clever by-play on the part of the cunning Palaestrio would +make a capital scene out of _Mil. 1037 ff._[136] A perfectly unnatural but +utterly amusing scene of the same type is _Amph. 153-262_, where Mercury +apostrophizes his fists, and the quaking Sosia (cross-stage) is frightened +to a jelly at the prospect of his early demise. In Cap. 966, Ilegio, staid +gentleman that he is, introduces an exceeding "rough" remark in the middle +of a serious scene. The aside of Pseudolus in _Ps. 636 f._ could be +rendered as a good-natured burlesque as follows: + +"HARPAX. What's your name? + +PS. (_Hopping forward and addressing audience with hand over mouth._) The +pander has a slave named Surus. I'll say I'm he. (_Hopping back and +addressing Harpax._) I'm Surus." Many other scenes were doubtless rendered +by one character's thus stepping aside and confiding his ideas to the +spectators, as for example _Aul. 194 ff._ and _Trin. 895 ff._ Often our +characters blurt out their inmost thoughts to the public, as in _Cas. 937 +ff._, with eavesdroppers conveniently placed, else what would become of +the plot? + +The soliloquy is constantly used to keep the audience acquainted with the +advance of the plot[137], or to paint in narrative intervening events that +connect the loose joints of the action. This is of course wholly +inartistic, but may often find its true office in keeping a noisy, +turbulent and uneducated audience aware of "what is going on." In many +cases the soliloquy is in the nature of a reflection on the action and +seems to bear all the ear-marks of a heritage from the original function +of the tragic chorus[138]. It devolved upon the actor by sprightly mimicry +to relieve, in these scenes, the tedium that appeals to the reader. So in +_Cap._ 909 ff. the _canticum_ of the _puer_ becomes more than a mere +stopgap, if he acts out vividly the violence of Ergasilus; and in _Bac._ +1067 ff. the soliloquy would acquire humor, if confidentially directed at +the audience. In _As._ 127 ff., as Argyrippus berates the _lena_ within, +it must be delivered with an abundance of pantomime. + + +2. Lengthy monodies, monologues and episodical specialties. + +Frequently the soliloquy takes the form of a long solo passage directed at +the audience, while the action halts for a whole scene to allow the actor +to regale his public with the poet's views on the sins of society, +economic topics of the day, or topics of the by-gone days in Athens, and +the like. The resemblance to the interpolated song and dance of musical +comedy is most striking. The comparison is the more apt, as about +two-thirds of the illustrative scenes referred to in the next paragraph +are in _canticum_. It is a pity that the comic chorus had disappeared, or +the picture were complete. That it is often on the actor's initial +appearance that he sings his song or speaks his piece, strengthens the +resemblance. But this is a natural growth under the influence of two +publics, the Greek and the Roman, notably fond of declamation and oratory. +LeGrand believes this a characteristic directly derived from a narrative +form of Middle Comedy embodied in certain extant fragments.[139] + +The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues +of the loyal slave are extolled[140], or the knavery of the cunning +slave[141]. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the +decline of his profession[142], or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in +haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food[143]. Bankers, lawyers +and panders come in for their share of satire[144]. Our favorite topic +today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the +boards of ancient Athens and Rome[145]. In _Mil._ 637 ff, Periplecomenus +descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The +delights or pains of love[146], the ruminations of old age[147], marriage +reform[148] and divorce[149], the views of _meretrices_ and their victims +on the arts of their profession[150], the habits of cooks[151], the pride +of valor and heroic deeds[152] are fruitful subjects. In _Cur._ 462 ff. +the _choragus_ interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the +manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of +dreams[153], and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a +house[154]. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in _Rud._ 185 ff., +which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's +Chorus (_Rud._ 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to +intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at +all. In this category also belong the revels of the drunken Pseudolus with +his song and dance[155], and the final scene of the _St._[156], where, the +action of the slender plot over, the comedy slaves royster and dance with +the harlot. When Ballio drives his herd before him, as he berates them +merrily to the tune of a whip, we have an energetic and effective +scene[157]. + + +3. Direct address of the audience. + +It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of +the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of +dramatic production (v. Part I, § 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside +and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on +terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the +frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct +address of the audience, when they are called by name. In _Truc._ 482 +Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum +praedicem.... In _Poen Truc._ 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic, +spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the +action of the _Ps._ (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi +hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (_Amph._ 449-550 passim), probably +with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain +the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the +close of the _Men._ (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites +the spectators to attend. + +When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild +lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (_Aul._ 715 ff.): + +"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that +stole it. (_Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking +"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him._) What do _you_ say? I know +I can trust _you_. I can tell by your face you're honest. (_To the whole +audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue._) What's the matter? +What are you laughing at?" etc. + +Moilère has imitated this scene very closely in _L'Avare_ (IV. 7), with a +super-Plautine profusion of verbiage. + +In _Mil._ 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal +conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the +throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid, +pointed pantomime: + +"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (_To audience, pointing to +Palaestrio._) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in +anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would +summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his +left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha! +He whacks his right thigh!" etc. + +It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in _Amph._ 861 ff. strolls in and +speaks his little piece to the pit: + +"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the +fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and +become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."[158] + +Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (_de Com._ III. +6)[159]: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam +loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum. + +Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole +_grex_, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the +plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today[160], +unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was +over. + + + +B. _Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition_. + + +We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies, +contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in +his _Plautinische Studien_. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the +situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus' +style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is +often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that +Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with +more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at +intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently. + + +1. Pointless badinage and padded scenes. + +Strong evidence of loose construction and lack of a technical dramatic +ideal is contained in the large number of scenes padded out with pointless +badinage, often tiresome, often wholly episodical in nature, as the +monodies, and putting for a time a complete check on the plot. The most +striking of these is _Aul._ 631 ff., when Euclio, suspecting Strobilus of +the theft of his gold, pounces upon him and belabors him: + +"STR. (_Howling and dancing and making violent efforts to free himself._) +What the plague has got hold of you? What have you to do with me, you +dotard? Why pick on me? Why are you grabbing me? Don't beat me! (_Succeeds +in breaking loose._) + +EUC. (_Shaking stick at him._) You first-class jailbird, do you dare ask +me again? You're not a thief, but three thieves rolled into one! + +STR. (_Whining and nursing bruises_) What did I steal from you? + +EUC. (_Still threatening._) Give it back here, I say? + +STR. (_Trembling and edging off._) What is it you want me to give back? + +EUC. (_Watching him narrowly._) You ask? + +STR. I tell you, I didn't take a thing from you. + +EUC. (_Impatiently._) All right, but hand over what you did take! +(_Pause._) Well, well! + +STR. Well, what? + +EUC. You can't get away with it. + +STR. (_Bolder._) Look here, what do you want?... + +EUC. (_Angrier and angrier._) Hand it over, I say! Stop quibbling! I'm not +trifling now! + +STR. Now what shall I hand over? Speak out! Why don't you give the thing a +name? I swear I never touched or handled anything of yours. + +EUC. Put out your hands. + +STR. There you are! I've done so. See them? + +EUC. (_Scrutinizing his hands closely._) All right. Now put out the third +too. + +STR. (_Aside, growing angry._) The foul fiends of madness have possessed +this doddering idiot. (_Majestically._) Confess you wrong me? + +EUC. (_Dancing in frenzy._) To the utmost, since I don't have you strung +up! And that's what'll happen too, if you don't confess. + +STR. (_Shouting._) Confess what? + +EUC. What did you steal from here? (_Pointing to his house._) + +STR. Strike me if I stole anything of yours, (_Aside to audience_) and if +I don't wish I'd made off with it. + +EUC. Come now, shake out your cloak. + +STR. (_Doing so._) As you please. + +EUC. (_Stooping to see if anything falls out._) Haven't got it under your +shirt? (_Pounces upon him and ransacks clothing._) + +STR. (_Resignedly._) Search me, if you like;" and so on with "Give it +back," What is it? "Put out your right hand," etc., etc. + +Molière again imitated almost slavishly (_L'Avare_, V. 3). Longwinded as +the thing is, it is clear that the liveliness of the action not only +relieves it, but could make it immensely amusing. At least it is superior +to the average vaudeville skit of the present day. It must not be +forgotten too that, as Plautus was in close touch with his players, he +could have done much of the stage-directing himself and might even have +worked up some parts to fit the peculiar talents of certain actors, as is +regularly done in the modern "tailormade drama." + +There are numbers of scenes of the sort quoted above, where the apparent +monotony and verbal padding could be converted into coin for laughter by +the clever comedian. _Amph._ 551-632 could be worked up poco a poco +crescendo e animato; in _Poen._ 504 ff., Agorastocles and the _Advocati_ +bandy extensive rhetoric; in _Trin._ 276 ff., the action is suspended +while Philto proves himself Polonius' ancestor in his long-winded +sermonizing to Lysiteles and his insistent _laudatio temporis acti_; in +_St._ 326 ff., as Pinacium, the _servus currens_, finally succeeds in +"arriving" out of breath (he has been running since 274), bursting with +the vast importance of his news, he postpones the delivery of his tidings +till 371 while he indulges in irrelevant badinage. This is pure +buffoonery. And we can instance scene upon scene where the self-evident +padding can either furnish an excuse for agile histrionism, or become +merely tiresome in its iteration[161]. The danger of the latter was even +recognized by our poet, when, at the end of much word-fencing, Acanthio +asks Charinus if his desire to talk quietly is prompted by fear of waking +"the sleeping spectators" (_Mer._ 160). This was probably no exaggeration. + +When the padding takes the form of mutual "spoofing," the scene assumes an +uncanny likeness to the usual lines of a modern "high-class vaudeville +duo." Note Leonida and Libanus, the merry slaves of the _As._ in 297 ff., +Toxilus and Sagaristio in the _Per._, Milphio and Syncerastus in the +_Poen._ (esp. 851 ff.), Pseudolus and Simia in _Ps._ 905 ff., Trachalio +and Gripus in _Rud._ 938 ff., Stichus and Sagarinus in the final scene of +the _St._, and in _Ps._ 1167 ff. Harpax is unmercifully "chaffed" by Simo +and Ballio. Or, in view of the surrounding drama, we might better compare +these roysterers to the "team" of low comedians often grafted on a musical +comedy, where their antics effectually prevent the tenuous plot from +becoming vulgarly prominent. + + +2. Inconsistencies of character and situation. + +The Plautine character is never a consistent human character. He is rather +a personified trait, a broad caricature on magnified foibles of some type +of mankind. There is never any character development, no chastening. We +leave our friends as we found them. They may exhibit the outward +manifestation of grief, joy, love, anger, but their marionette nature +cannot be affected thereby. That we should find inconsistencies in +character portrayal under these circumstances, is not only to be expected, +but is a mathematical certainty. The poet cares not; they must only dance, +dance, dance! + +Persistent moralizers, such as Megaronides in the _Trin._, who serve but +as a foil from whom the revelry "sticks fiery off," descend themselves at +moments to bandying the merriest quips (Scene I.). In _Ep._ 382 ff., the +moralizing of Periphanes is counterfeit coinage. Gilded youths such as +Calidorus of the _Ps._ begin by asking (290 f.): "Could I by any chance +trip up father, who is such a wide-awake old boy?", and end by rolling +their eyes upward with: "And besides, if I could, filial piety prevents." +The Menaechmi twins are eminently respectable, but they cheerfully purloin +mantles, bracelets and purses. Hanno of the _Poen._ should according to +specifications be a staid _pater familias_, but Plautus imputes to him a +layer of the _Punica fides_ that he knew his public would take delight in +"booing." And the old gentleman enters into a plot (1090) to chaff +elaborately his newly-found long-lost daughters, whom he has spent a +lifetime in seeking, before disclosing his identity to them (1211 ff.). +Saturio's daughter in the _Per._ is at one time the very model of maidenly +modesty and wisdom (336 ff.), at others an accomplished intriguante and +demi-mondaine (549 ff., esp. 607 ff.). When the plot of the _Ep._ is +getting hopelessly tangled, of a sudden it is magically resolved as by a +deus ex machina and everybody decides to "shake and make up." + +Slaves ever fearful of the mills or quarries are yet prone to the most +abominable "freshness" towards their masters. The irrepressible Pseudolus +in reading a letter from Calidorus' mistress says (27 ff.): + +"What letters! Humph! I'm afraid the Sibyl is the only person capable of +interpreting these. + +"CAL. Oh why do you speak so rudely of those lovely letters written on a +lovely tablet with a lovely hand? + +"PS. Well, would you mind telling me if hens have hands? For these look to +me very like hen-scratches. + +"CAL. You insulting beast! Read, or return the tablet! + +"PS. Oh, I'll read all right, all right. Just focus your mind on this. + +"CAL. _(Pointing vacantly to his head._) Mind? It's not here. + +"PS. What! Go get one quick then![162]." + +In order that the machinations of these cunning slaves may mature, it is +usually necessary to portray their victims as the veriest fools. Witness +the cock-and-bull story by which Stasimus, in _Trin._ 515 ff., convinces +Philto that his master's land is an undesirable real estate prospect. +Dordalus in _Per._ (esp. 493 ff.) exhibits a certain amount of caution in +face of Toxilus' "confidence game," but that he should be victimized at +all stamps him as a caricature. + +LeGrand is certainly right in pronouncing the cunning slave a pure +convention, adapted from the Greek and so unsuitable to Roman society that +even Plautus found it necessary to apologize for their unrestrained +gambols, on the ground that 'that was the way they did in Athens!'[163] + +Certain of the characters are caricatures _par excellence_, embodiments of +a single attribute. Leaena of the _Cur._ is the perpetually thirsty +_lena_: "Wine, wine, wine!"[164] Cleaerata of the _As._ is a plain +caricature, but is exceptionally cleverly drawn as the _lena_ with the +mordant tongue. Phronesium's thirst in the _Truc._, is gold, gold, gold! +The _danista_ of the _Most._ finds the whole expression of his nature in +the cry of "Faenus!"[165] Assuredly, he is the progenitor of the modern +low-comedy Jew: "I vant my inderesd!" Calidorus of the _Ps._ and +Phaedromus of the _Cur._ are but bleeding hearts dressed up in clothes. +The _milites gloriosi_ are all cartoons;[166] and the perpetually +moralizing pedagogue Lydus of the _Bac._ becomes funny, instead of +egregiously tedious, if acted as a broad burlesque. + +The panders[167] are all manifest caricatures, too, especially the famous +Ballio of the _Ps._, whom even Lorenz properly describes as "der +Einbegriff aller Schlechtigkeit," though he deprecates the part as "eine +etwas zu grell and zu breit angefuhrte Schilderung."[168] "Ego scelestus," +says Ballio himself.[169] He calmly and unctuously pleads guilty to every +charge of "liar, thief, perjurer," etc., and can never be induced to lend +an ear until the cabalistic charm "Lucrum!" is pronounced (264). + +The famous miser Euclio has given rise to an inordinate amount of +unnecessary comment. Lamarre[170] is at great pains to defend Plautus from +"le reproche d'avoir introduit dans la peinture de son principal +personnage <Euclio> des traits outres et hors de nature." Indeed, he +possesses few traits in accord with normal human nature. But curiously +enough, as we learn from the _argumenta_ (in view of the loss of the +genuine end of the _Aul._), Euclio at the _denouement_ professes himself +amply content to bid an everlasting farewell to his stolen hoard, and +bestows his health and blessing on "the happy pair." This apparent +conversion, with absolutely nothing dramatic to furnish an introduction or +pretext for it, has caused Langen to depart from his usual judicious +scholarship. After much hair-splitting he solemnly pronounces it +"psychologically possible."[171] LeGrand points out[172] that his change +of heart is not a conversion, but merely a professed reconciliation to the +loss. But there is no need for all this pother. The simple truth is that +Plautus was through with his humorous complication and was ready to top it +off with a happy ending. It is the forerunner of modern musical comedy, +where the grouchy millionaire papa is propitiated at the last moment +(perhaps by the pleadings of the handsome widow), and similarly consents +to his daughter's marriage with the handsome, if impecunious, ensign. + + +3. Looseness of dramatic construction. + +Lorenz with commendable insight has pointed out[173] that Τύχη, the +goddess of Chance, is the motive power of the Plautine plot, as +distinguished from the μοῖρα of tragedy. A student of Plautus readily +recognizes this point. The entire development of the _Rud._ and _Poen._ +exemplifies it in the highest degree. Hanno in the _Poen._, in particular, +meets first of all, in the strange city of Calydon, the very man he is +looking for! When Pseudolus is racking his wits for a stratagem, Harpax +obligingly drops in with all the requisites. The ass-dealer in the _As._ +is so ridiculously fortuitous that it savors of childlike naiveté. + +Characters are perpetually entering just when wanted. We hear "Optume +advenis" and "Eccum ipsum video" so frequently that they become as +meaningless as "How d'ye do!"[174]; though, as shown above[175], even this +very weakness could at moments be made the pretext for a mild laugh. + +For a complete catalogue of the formidable mass of inconsistencies and +contradictions that throng the plays, the reader is referred to the +_Plautinische Studien_ of Langen, as aforesaid. It will be of passing +interest to recall one or two. In _Cas._ 530 Lysidamus goes to the "forum" +and returns _32 verses later_ complaining that he has wasted the whole day +standing "advocate" for a kinsman. But this difficulty is resolved, if we +accept the theory of Prof. Kent (TAPA. XXXVII), that the change of acts +which occurs in between, is a conventional excuse for any lapse of time, +in Roman comedy as well as in Greek tragedy. But it is extremely doubtful +that Prof. Kent succeeds in establishing the truth of this view in the +case of Roman comedy. We see no convincing reason for departing from the +accepted theory, as expressed by Duff (_A Literary History of Rome_, pp. +196-7): "In Plautus' time a play proceeded continuously from the lowering +of the curtain at the beginning to its rise at the end, save for short +breaks filled generally by simple music from the _tibicen_ (_Ps._ 573). The +division into scenes is ancient and regularly indicated in manuscripts of +Plautus and Terence." + +Langen seems surprised[176] when Menaechmus Sosicles, on beholding his +twin for the first time (_Men._ 1062), though he was the object of a six +years' search, wades through some twenty lines of amazed argument before +Messenio (with marvelous cunning!) hits on the true explanation. It is of +course conceived in a burlesque spirit. What would become of the comic +action if Menaechmus II simply walked up to Menaechmus I and remarked: +"Hello, brother, don't you remember me?" + +That the seven months of _Most._ 470 miraculously change into six months +in 954 is the sort of mistake possible to any writer. In the _Amph._ 1053 +ff., Alcmena is in labor apparently a few minutes after consorting with +Jupiter; but the change of acts _may_ account for the lapse of time, here +as in _Cas._ 530 ff. + +But after the exhaustive work of Langen, we need linger no longer in this +well-ploughed field. We repeat, the evidence all points irresistibly to +the conclusion that Plautus is wholly careless of his dramatic machinery +so long as it moves. The laugh's the thing! + +The _St._ is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' +mind. The virtue of the Penelope-like Pamphila and Panegyris proves too +great a strain and unproductive of merriment. The topic gradually vanishes +as the drolleries of the parasite Gelasimus usurp the boards. He in turn +gives way to the hilarious buffoonery of the two slaves. The result is a +succession of loose-jointed scenes[177]. The _Aul._ too is fragmentary and +episodical. The _Trin._ is insufferably long-winded, with insufficient +comic accompaniment. The _Cis._ is a wretched piece of vacuous +inanity[178]. + + +4. Roman admixture and topical allusions. + +Plautus' frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the +interjection of Roman references--what De Quincey calls "anatopism"--is +another item of careless composition too well known to need more than +passing mention. The repeated appearance of the _Velabrum,_[179] or +_Capitolium,_[180] or _circus,_[181] or _senatus_, or _dictator_,[182] or +_centuriata comitio,_[183] or _plebiscitum,_[184] and a host of others in +the Greek investiture, becomes after a while a matter of course to us. We +see however no need to quarrel with _forum_; it was Plautus' natural +translation for ἀγορά. But it all adds inevitably and relentlessly to +our argument--Plautus was heedless of the petty demands of technique and +realism. His attention was too much occupied in devising means of +amusement. + +The occasional topical allusions belong in the same category as above; for +example, the allusion to the Punic war (_Cis._ 202),[185] the _lex +Platoria_ (_Ps._ 303, _Rud._ 1381-2), Naevius' imprisonment (_Mil. _ +211-2), Attalus of Pergamum (_Per._ 339, _Poen._ 664), Antiochus the Great +(_Poen._ 693-4). Again we have a modern parallel: the topics of the day +are a favorite resort of the lower types of present-day stage production. + + +5. Jokes on the dramatic machinery. + +But the most extreme stage of intimate jocularity is reached when the last +sorry pretense of drama is discarded and the dramatic machinery itself +becomes the subject of jest. So in the _Cas._ 1006 the cast is warned: +Hanc ex longa longiorem ne faciamus fabulam. In _Per._ 159-60 Saturio +wants to know where to get his daughter's projected disguise: + +"SAT. πόθεν ornamenta? + +TOX. Abs chorago sumito. Dare debet: praebenda aediles locaverunt." (Cf. +_Trin._ 858.) + +Even the _Ps._, heralded as dramatically one of the best of the plays, +yields the following: Horum caussa haec agitur spectatorum fabula (720); +hanc fabulam dum transigam (562) and following speech; verba quae in +comoediis solent lenoni dici (1081-2); quam in aliis comoediis fit (1240); +quin vocas spectatores simul? (1332). In _St._ 715 ff., the action of the +play is interrupted while the boisterous slaves give the musician a drink. +From the _Poen._ comes a gem that will bear quoting at length (550 ff.): + + Omnia istaec scimus iam nos, si hi spectatores sciant. + Horunc hic nunc causa haec agitur spectatorum fabula: + Hos te satius est docere ut, quando agas, quid agas sciant. + Nos tu ne curassis: scimus rem omnem, quippe omnes simul. + Didicimus tecum una, ut respondere possimus tibi.[186] + +This is the final degeneration into the realm of pure foolery. It is a +patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content." Once +more we venture to point a parallel on the modern stage, in the vaudeville +comedian who interlards his dancing with comments such as: "I hate to do +this, but it's the only way I can earn a living." + + +6. Use of stock plots and characters. + +We must touch finally, but very lightly, on the commonplaces of stock +plots and characters. The whole array of puppets is familiar to us all: +the cunning slave, the fond or licentious papa, the spendthrift son and +their inevitable confrères appear in play after play with relentless +regularity. The close correspondence of many plots is also too familiar to +need discussion.[187] The glimmering of originality in the plot of the +_Cap._ called for special advertisement.[188] In the light of the +foregoing evidence, the pertinence of these facts for us, we reiterate, is +that Plautus merely adopted the New Comedy form as his comic medium, and, +while leaving his originals in the main untouched, took what liberties he +desired with them, with the single-minded purpose of making his public +laugh.[189] + + + + +In Conclusion + + + +In contrast to these grotesqueries certain individual scenes and plays +stand out with startling distinctness as possessed of wit and humor of +high order. The description by Cleaereta of the relations of lover, +mistress and _lena_ is replete with biting satire (_As._ 177 ff., 215 +ff.). The finale of the same play is irresistibly comic. In _Aul. _ 731 +ff. real sparks issue from the verbal cross-purposes of Euclio and +Lyconides over the words "pot" and "daughter." The _Bac._ is an excellent +play, marred by padding. When the sisters chaff the old men as "sheep" +(1120 ff.), the humor is naturalistic and human. The _Cas._, uproarious +and lewd as it is, becomes excruciatingly amusing if the mind is open to +appreciating humor in the broadest spirit. The discourse of Periplecomenus +(_Mil._ 637 ff.) is marked by homely satirical wisdom. In the _Ps._ the +badinage of the name-character is appreciably superior to most of the +incidental quips. Pseudolus generously compliments Charinus on beating him +at his own game of repartee (743). When Weise (_Die Komodien des Plautus_, +p. 181) describes _Ps._ IV. 7 as "eine der ausgezeichnetsten Scenen, die +es irgend giebt," his superlative finds a better justification than usual. + +When Menaechmus Sosicles sees fit "to put an antic disposition on," we +have a scene which, while eminently farcical, is signally clever and +dramatically effective. Witness the imitation by Shakespeare in _The +Comedy of Errors_, IV. 4, and in spirit by modern farce; for instance, in +_A Night Off_, when the staid old Professor feels the recrudescence of his +youthful aspirations to attend a prize-fight, he simulates madness as a +prelude to dashing wildly away. + +The following from _Rud._ (160 ff.) is theatrical but tremendously +effective and worthy of the highest type of drama. Sceparnio, looking +off-stage, spies Ampelisca and Palaestra tossed about in a boat. He +addresses Daemones: + +"SC. But O Palaemon! Hallowed comrade of Neptune ... what scene meets my +eye? + +DAE. What do you see? + +SC. I see two poor lone women sitting in a bit of a boat. How the poor +creatures are being tossed about! Hoorah! Hoorah! Fine! The waves are +whirling their boat past the rocks into the shallows. A pilot couldn't +have steered straighter. I swear I never saw waves more high. They're safe +if they escape those breakers. Now, now, danger! One is overboard! Ah, the +water's not deep: she'll swim out in a minute. Hooray! See the other one, +how the wave tossed her out! She is up, she's on her way shoreward; she's +safe!" + +Sceparnio clasps his hands, jumps up and down, grasps the shaking Daemones +convulsively and communicates his excitement to the audience. It is a +piece of thrilling theatrical declamation and must have wrought the +spectators up to a high pitch. In general, the _Rud._ is a superior play. + +In _Cas._ 229 ff. there is developed a piece of faithful and entertaining +character-drawing, as the old roué Lysidamus fawns upon his militant +spouse Cleostrata, with the following as its climax: + +"CLE. (_Sniffling._) Ha! Whence that odor of perfumes, eh? + +LYS. The jig's up." + +In the whole panorama of Plautine personae the portrayal of Alcmena in the +_Amph._ is unique, for she is drawn with absolute sincerity and speaks +nothing out of character. Certainly no parody can be made out of the nobly +spoken lines 633-52, which lend a genuine air of tragedy to the professed +_tragi(co)comoedia_ (59, 63); unless we think of the lady's unwitting +compromising condition (surely too subtle a thought for the original +audience). Note also the exalted tone of 831-4, 839-42. But all through +this scene Sosia is prancing around, prating nonsense, and playing the +buffoon, so that perchance even here the nobility becomes but a foil for +the revelry. And in 882-955 his royal godship Jove clowns it to the lady's +truly minted sentiments. + +No, we are far from attempting to deny to Plautus all dramatic technique, +skill in character painting and cleverness of situation, but he was never +hide-bound by any technical considerations. He felt free to break through +the formal bonds of his selected medium at will. He had wit, esprit and +above all a knowledge of his audience; and of human nature generally, or +else he could not have had such a trenchant effect on the literature of +all time. + +At any rate, the above lonely landmarks cannot affect our comprehensive +estimate of the mise-en-scène. Enough has been said, we believe, in our +discussion of the criticism and acting and in our analysis of his dramatic +values, to show that the aberrations of Plautus' commentators have been +due to their failure to reach the crucial point: the absolute license with +which his plays were acted and intended to be acted is at once the +explanation of their absurdities and deficiencies. This was true in a far +less degree of Terence, who dealt in plots more _stataria_ and less +_motoria_.[190] Though using the same store of models, he endeavored to +produce an artistically constructed play, which should make some honest +effort to "hold the mirror up to nature." We are convinced that even his +extensive use of _contaminatio_ was designed to evolve a better plot. The +extravagance of Plautus is toned down in Terence to a reasonable +verisimilitude and a far more "gentlemanly" mode of fun-making that was +appropriate to one in the confidence of the aristocratic Scipionic circle. +But when all is said and done, Terence lacks the vivid primeval +"Volkswitz" of Plautus. We dare only skirt the edges of this extensive +subject.[191] + +Above all, our noble jester _succeeds_ in his mission of laugh-producing. +But his methods are not possessed in the main of dramatic respectability. +And it must be apparent that our analysis and citations have covered the +bulk of the plays. + +We conclude then that the prevalence of inherent defects of composition +and the lack of serious motive, coupled with the author's constant and +conscious employment of the implements of broad farce and extravagant +burlesque, impel us inevitably to the conclusion that we have before us a +species of composition which, while following a dramatic form, is not +inherently drama, but a variety of entertainment that may be described as +a compound of comedy, farce and burlesque; while the accompanying music, +which would lend dignity to tragedy or grand opera, merely heightens the +humorous effect and lends the color of musical comedy or opera +bouffe.[192] Körting is right in calling it mere entertainment, Mommsen is +right in calling it caricature, but we maintain that it is professedly +mere entertainment, that it is consciously caricature and if it fulfills +these functions we have no right to criticise it on other grounds. If we +attempt a serious critique of it as drama, we have at once on our hands a +capricious mass of dramatic unrealities and absurdities: bombast, +burlesque, extravagance, horse-play, soliloquies, asides, direct address +of the audience, pointless quips, and so on. The minute we accept it as a +consciously conceived medium for amusement only, we have a highly +effective theatrical mechanism for the unlimited production of laughter. +And, in fact, every shred of evidence, however scant, goes to show that +the histrionism must have been conceived in a spirit of extreme +liveliness, abandon and extravagance in gesture and declamation, that +would not confine the actor to faithful portrayal in character, but would +allow him scope and license to resort to any means whatsoever to bestir +laughter amongst a not over-stolid audience. + + + + + + + +Footnotes + + + +[1]: E.g., Casina in the _Cas._, Silenium in the _Cis._, +Planesium in the _Cur._, Adelphasium and Anterastylis in the +_Poen._, Palaestra in the _Rud._ + +[2]: V. infra, part II, sec. I. B. I. + +[3]: E.g., Lorcnz's Introd. to _Most._ and _Pseud._ V. infra, +part I, § i. + +[4]: We are not concerned in this question with technical discussion as to +the position of the banquet table on the stage, the nature of the dog of +the _Most._ and the like, but with the delivery and movements of the +actors themselves. + +[5]: De Off. I. 29.104. + +[6]: X. 1.99. Cf. Ritschl's citations of Varro: _Parerga_, p. 71 ff. +Cf. Epig. quoted by Varro and attributed to Plautus himself, ap. Gel. +N.A., I. 24.1-3. But that this was a patent literary forgery is proved by +Gudeman in TAPA. XXV, p. 160. + +[7]: N.A., VI. 17.4. + +[8]: I.7.17. + +[9]: XIX. 8.6. + +[10]: _A.P._, 270 ff. Cf. _Ep._ II. I.170 ff. and Fay, ed. +_Most._, Intro. § 2. + +[11]: _De Com._ III. 6, Donatus ed. Wessner. For full quotation, v. +infra, Part II, Sec. II. A. 3, Note 50. + +[12]: _Excerpta de Com._ V. 1. + +[13]: For a complete list, see _Testimonia_ prefixed to Goetz and +Schoell's ed. of Plautus. + +[14]: P. 217 M. + +[15]: 404, 412, 823. + +[16]: Ed. _Men._ (Leipzig, 1891), ad 410. + +[17]: Cf. opening lines of Eurip. _Iph. in Taur._ + +[18]: Pp. 13--19. V. Langen, _Plautinische Studien_, pp. 139-142. Cf. +also comments of Brix to _Menaechmi_ passim. + +[19]: Op. cit., p. 146. + +[20]: Cf. Gel. N. A., III. 3-14 ff. + +[21]: V. infra, Part II, under 'Careless Composition'. + +[22]: _Beschluss der Critik iiber die Gefangenen des Plaulus_. + +[23]: 23: Op. cit., fin. + +[24]: _La Litterature latine depuis la fondation de Rome_ (Paris, +1899), Bk. II. chap. 3. sec. 15, p. 362. + +[25]: Introd. to ed. _Mosl._, p. 37. + +[26]: Bk. II, Ch. 4. + +[27]: Lamarre, op. cit., Bk. II, Ch. 4, Sec. 12, p. 475. + +[28]: _Théâtre de Plaute_ (Paris, 1845), Introd. p. 18. + +[29]: _Opuscula Philologica_, Vol. II p. 743. + +[30]: _Opusc._ II. 733 ff. + +[31]: In _Opusc._ III. 455, Ritschl relates that Varro wrote six books +on drama, with Plautus as the especial object of his interest: _de +originibus scaenicis, de scaenicis actionibus, de actibus scaenicis, de +personis, de descriptionibus, quaestiones Plautinae_. + +[32]: Langen, op. cit., p. 127. + +[33]: _Opusc._ II. 746. + +[34]: Op. cit., p. 165. + +[35]: Op. cit., p. 167. + +[36]: _Mil._ 522 ff. (All citations from Plautus are based on the text +and numbering of the lines in the text of Goetz and Schoell). + +[37]: _History of Rome_, (Transl. Dickson, Scribner, N.Y., 1900), Vol. +III, p. 143. + +[38]: E.g., LeGrand, _Daos_, V. supra. Cf. also N. 80, Part II. + +[39]: P. 190, trans. John Black (London, 1846), Lecture XIV. + +[40]: _Theatre of the Greeks_, p. 443. + +[41]: P. 197. + +[42]: Cf. Ritschl's opinion, Note 30. + +[43]: V. supra. + +[44]: P. 620. But cf. Note 37. + +[45]: Cf. further Plessis, _La poésie latine_ (Paris, 1909), p. 54 +ff.; Patin, _Études sur la poésie latine_ (Paris, 1869), Vol. II, p. +224 ff.; Ribbeck, _Geschichte der römischen Dichtung_ (Stuttgart, +1894), Vol. I, p. 57 ff.; Tyrrell, _Early Latin Poetry_, p. 44 ff. A +very excellent discussion is contained in Duff, _A Literary History of +Rome_ (N.Y., 1909), p. 183 ff. + +[46]: _History of Rome_, Vol. III, p. 139. Cf. note 37. + +[47]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 28-9. + +[48]: Prol. _Poen._, II ff. + +[49]: _Plaudere_, πάλιν, _sibilare_ or _exsibilare, explodere, +eicere_ were expressions used to indicate approval or disapproval. +Cf. the discussion of Oehmichen, article _Bühnenwesen_ in Von Müller's +_Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, 5ter Band, 3te +Abteilung, § 73. 2, p. 271. + +[50]: Cf. Prol. _Poen._ 36 ff. + +[51]: Cf. Tac. _Ann._ I. 77. V. Oehmichen, op. cit., § 39.3, p. 220. + +[52]: V. Prol. _Amph._ 52-3: + + Quid contraxistis frontem? + Quia tragoediam Dixi futuram hanc? + +[53]: _Parad._ III. 2.26. Cf. _Or._ 51.173, _de Or._ III. +50.196: _"theatra tota reclamant_"; Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.200 ff.; +Suet. _Nero_, 24.1. + +[54]: Cic. _de Or._ I.61.259, I.27.124. + +[55]: _Hist. Rome_, ed. cit., Vol. III, p. 140. + +[56]: _Cist._ 785: Qui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet. Cf. +_Trin._ 990. _Amph._ 83-4, (if this is not merely an imitation +of the Greek original). + +[57]: Tac. _Ann._ 1.77. + +[58]: _Amph._ 65 ff., _Poen._ 36 ff., Ter. _Phor._ 16 ff., +Cic. _ad Att._ IV. 15.6, Hor. _Ep._ II. 1.181. + +[59]: _Cas._ 17 ff., _Trin._ 706 ff. But others argue that these +passages are only translations from the Greek. V. Leo in _Hermes_, +1883, p. 561, F. Ostermayer, _De hist. fab. in com. Pl._ (Greifswald, +1884), p. 7. Ritschl (_Parerga_, p. 229) argues that the passages +refer to cases of extraordinary public approval, not to formal contests. +Cf. Var. _L.L._ V. 178. + +[60]: Cic. _pro. Ros. Com._ 10.28-9, Plin. _N. H._ 7.39.128, Dio +77.21. Cf. Sen. _Ep._ 80.7. + +[61]: Körting, op. cit., p. 244 ff. + +[62]: Cic. _de Or._ I.59.251, Suet. _Nero_ 20, Quint. XI. 3.19. + +[63]: I.ii.i-2, I.ii.12. + +[64]: Quint. XI.3.iii. + +[65]: Cic. _Or._ 31.109. + +[66]: Quint. XI.3.178, Juv. III. 98-9. + +[67]: Cic. _de Off._ I.31.114, _ad Att._ IV.15.6. + +[68]: Ap. Athen. XIV. 615 A. + +[69]: For a full discussion of the ancient actor v. Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, s. v. +_histrio_; Friedlander in Marquardt-Mommsen _Handbuch der romischen +Altertumer_, VI. p. 508 ff.; J. van Wageningen, _Scaenica Romana_; +Warnecke, _Die Vortragskunst der romischen Schauspieler_, in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1908, p. 704 ff. + +[70]: Cf. _de Or._ III.56.214, III.22.83, Quint. XI. 3.125, 181-2. + +[71]: Quint. XI.3.112. + +[72]: Cf. Quint. XI.3.89. + +[73]: Cic. _ad Att._ VI.1.8. + +[74]: Cf. _de Or._ III.26.102, Quint. XI.3.71, 89. + +[75]: For further treatment of the gestures of orators see Pauly-Wissowa, +_Real-Encyclopadie_, s. v. _histrio_; Warnecke in _Neue +Jahrbucher_, 1910, p. 593; Sittl, _Die Gebarden der Griechen und +Romer_, Chap. XI; Mart. Cap. 43. In the other rhetoricians of the later +Empire there is much copying of Cicero and Quintilian, but nothing of +significance for our purpose, unless it be the comparison of the rigid +training recommended to the embryo orator. For further citations, v. +Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit. + +[76]: 0p. cit., p. 203. + +[77]: _Wiener Studien_, Vol. XIV, p. 120. + +[78]: _Scaen. Rom._, p. 52. Cf. Karsten in _Mnem._ XXXII, (1904), +pp. 209-251, 287-322, who concludes that at least four hands aided in the +commentaries. + +[79]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 88, _Eun._ 187, 986, _Phor._ +315. + +[80]: A11 the passages in Donatus dealing with gesture have been collected +by Leo, _Rheinisches Museum_ XXXVIII, p. 331 ff. + +[81]: E.g., Donat. ad _And._ 180, 363, 380-1, _Eun._ 209, 559, +974, _Ad._ 84, 499, 661, 795, 951, _Hec._ 612, 689, _Phor._ +49, 315. Cf. _Ad._ 285: superbe ac magnifice. Cf. Schol. ad +_And._ 332: Vultuose hoc dicitur, hoc est cum gestu. Cf. also +Warnecke in _Neue Jahrbücher_, 1910, note 75. + +[82]: Cf. XI.3.103, _Auct. ad Her._ III.15.27. + +[83]: Their precise age and antiquity have been disputed with some +acrimony. With Sittl cf. Bethe, _Praef. Cod. Ambros._ p. 64; van +Wageningen, op. cit., p. 50 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII, p. 342 +ff. V. reproductions in Wieseler, _Theatergebäude und Denkmäler des +Bühnenwesens bei den Griechen und Römern,_ Tafel X; and Bethe, ed. of +Codex Ambrosianus. + +[84]: _Neue Jahr._, Sup. Band I (1832), p. 447 ff. + +[85]: Quint. VI.3.29, Mart. Cap., Chap. 43, p. 543 ed. Kopp. + +[86]: V. reproductions in Baumeister, _Denkmäler des klassischen +Altertums_, s. v. "Lustspiel" and Wieseler, op. cit., note 83. + +[87]: Donat. _de Com._ VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names +have been interchanged. + +[88]: _Ars Gram._ III, p. 489, 10 K; Festus, s.v. _personata_, +p. 217. Cf. Cic. _de Nat. Deo._ I. 28.79. Ribbock, _Romische +Tragodie_ p. 661, and Dziatzko in _Rhein. Mus._ XXI. 68, have made a +violent effort to reconcile the conflicting statements by arguing +that Roscius belonged to the troupe of Minucius. This is denied by +Weinberger, _Wien. Stud._ XIV. 126. For further discussion v. van +Wageningen, _Scaen. Rom._ p. 34 ff.; Leo in _Rhein. Mus._ XXXVIII. +342; Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, _Ueber Antike +Theatermasken_; Teuffel, _Romische Litteraturgeschichte_ §16. +Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s.v. _histrio_, pp. 2120-21. A +recent article by Saunders (A.J.P., XXXII, p. 58) gives an admirable +summing-up of the whole controversy, with substantial proof that at +any rate the performers of Plautus' day were unmasked. + +[89]: Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, _Costume in Roman +Comedy_; Marquardt-Mommsen, _Handbuch der romischen Altertumer_, +VI. p. 525; Pauly-Wissowa, l.c. Cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ VII. 6. + +[90]: Cf. _Mil._ 629 ff., 923, _Ps._ 967, _Rud._ 125 f., 313 +f., 1303, _Trin._ 861 f., _Truc._ 286 ff.; Ter., _Phor._ +51. + +[91]: V. van Wageningen, op. cit. pp. 40 f. + +[92]: _De Or._ III. 22.83. + +[93]: II. 10.13. Cf. XI. 3.91. + +[94]: I. II. 1-2 + +[95]: Donat. ad _And._ 505, _Eun._ 224, 288, 403, _Ad._ 187, +395. + +[96]: Ad _And._ 194, 301, _Eun._ 467, 986, _Hec._ 98, 439, +640, _Ad._ 101. Cf. _Ad._ 96.; cum admiratone indignantis; 97; +intento digito et infestis in Micionem oculis. + +[97]: Ad _Eun._ 1055. + +[98]: Ad _And._ 633, _Eun._ 233, 451, _Hec._ 63, _Ad._ +259. + +[99]: Ad _Phor._ 145. + +[100]: Ad _Ad._ 200. + +[101]: Ad _Eun._ 187. + +[102]: VII. 2.8-10. + +[103]: Cf. Diom. 291, 23 ff., K; Ribbeck, _Rom. Trag._ p. 634, +believes that this was the rule, but he is apparently alone in the +opinion. Cf. Budensteiner in Bursian's _Jahresbericht_ CVI, p. 162 +ff., who agrees with the proof of van Eck, _Quaest. Sten. Rom._ +(Amsterdam 1892), that it was an isolated intance. + +[104]: We are not even remotely concerned with metrical analysis. For that +phase, with a discussion as to the effect of the various metrical systems, +see Klotz, _Grundzuge der altromischen Metrik_, esp. p. 370 ff. Cf. +Duff, _A Lit. Hist. of Rome_, p. 196. Note Donat, _de Com._ +VIII. 9 and Diom. 491, 23K. + +[105]: For arguments as to the divisions of the three classes, v., besides +Klotz, Ritschl, _Parerga_, p. 40; Conradt, _Die metrische +Komposition der Komodien des Terenz_ (Berlin 1876); Bucheler in _Neue +Jahr. fur Phil._ CXLI (1871), p. 273 ff.; Dziatzko in _Rhein. +Mus._ XXVI (1871), pp. 97-100: G. Hermann, _de Canticis in Romanorum +Fabulis, Opusc._ I. 290; which have all been landmarks in the +discussion. Cf. also Teuffel, _Rom. Lit._, § 16. Sec. 5, etc. + +[106]: Cf. Cic. _de Or._ II.46.193. + +[107]: Cf. _As._ 265, 587, 640, 403, _Bac._ 611, _Cap._ 637, +_Cas._ 845 ff., _Cis._ 53 ff., _Cur._ 278, 309, 311, +_Ep._ 623 ff., _Men._ 828 f., 910, _Mer._ 599 f., +_Mil._ 200 ff. (quoted infra, Part II), 798-9 (Palaestrio must shout +at Periplecomenus to provoke such a reply), _Most._ 265 ff., 594, +_Per._ 307 f., _Ps._ 911, 1287, _St._ 271, 288 f., +_Trin._ 1099, _Truc._ 276, 476 ff., 549, 593 f., 599 ff., 822. +Cf. also Ter. _Phor._ 210-11 and Moliere's imitation in _Les +Fourberies de Scapin_, l. 4. + +[108]: Cf. Sittl, _Gebarden_, p. 201 and Warnecke's citations from the +Scholiast to Aristophanes in _Neue Jahr._ 1910, p. 592. + +[109]: _Daos_, p. 617. + +[110]: A.J.P. VIII. 15 ff. + +[111]: Cf. _As._ 554 ff., _Bac._ 710 ff., _Cap._ 159 ff. +_Cur._ 572 ff., _Ep._ 437 ff., _Men._ 1342., _Per._ +753 ff., _Ps._ 761 ff., _Trin._ 718 ff., etc. + +[112]: For further examples of bombast and mock-heroics v. _As._ +405-6, _Bac._ 792 f., 842 ff., _Cis._ 640 ff., _Cur._ 96 +ff. 439 ff., _Ep._ 181 ff. (in similar vein most of the soliloquies +of the name part), _Her._ 469 ff., 601 ff., 830 ff., _Mil._ 459 +ff., 486 ff., 947 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Poen._ 470 ff., 1294 +ff., _Ps._ 1063 f., _Truce._ 482 ff., 602 ff. + +[113]: V. _Amph._ 370 ff., _As._ 431, _Cas._ 404 ff., +_Cur._ 192 ff., 624 ff., _Mil._ 1394 ff., _Mos._ i ff., +_Per._ 809 ff., _Poen._ 382 ff., _Rud._ 706 ff. + +[114]: V. Frag. IV, G. & S., ap. Non. p. 543. + +[115]: Cf. _Bac._ 581 ff., 1119, _Cap._ 830 ff., _Most._ 898 +ff., _Rud._ 414, _St._ 308 ff., _Truc._ 254 ff. + +[116]: Cf. also _Bac._ 925 ff., _Per._ 251 ff., _Men._ 409 +ff. (v. supra, Part I, § I, s.v. _Festus, Brix_). On _Bac._ 933, +v. Ribbeck, _Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta_, on Enn., frag. +_Androm._ 81; Kiessling, _Analecta Plautina_, I. 14 f.; +Ostermayer, _De historia fabulari in comoediis Plautinis_, p. 9. On +_Men._ 808 ff., v. Kiessling, II. 9. + +[117]: Cf. further _As._ 606 ff., _Cur._ 147 ff., _Most._ +233 ff., _Poen._ 275 ff. and passim, _Truc._ 434 ff. + +[118]: Cf. _Ep._ 580 ff. Cf. also "bombast," supra A. 1, and "copious +abuse" infra, A. 3. c. Cf. also wall-painting labeled "Der erzurnte +Hausherr," in Baumeister, _Denkmaler des klassischen Altertums_, s. +v. _Lustspiel_. + +[119]: Cf. _Mil._ 596 ff., _Most._ 454 ff., _Trin._ 517 ff. + +[120]: Cf. _Mer._ 748 ff., _Men._ 607 ff. + +[121]: Cf. further _Most._ 265 ff., 456 ff. and note Donat. ad +_Phor._ 210-11: hic locus magis actoris quam lectoris est. + +[122]: Cf. _Most._ 38 ff., _Poen._ 1309 ff. Cf. also "Lavishing +of terms of endearment," supra, A. 3. c. + +[123]: Cf. also _Poen._ 426 ff., _Rud._ 938 ff. + +[124]: Cf. similarly _Cap._ 121 ff., 177 ff., _Cas._ 725 ff., +_Most._ 909, 999 f. Cf. infra II. B.5. + +[125]: _Plaut. Stud._ pp. 121 f. Cf. pp. 101, 137 f., 158 f., 217, 229 +f. + +[126]: _Die Kom. des Pl._, pp. 70-71. + +[127]: _Daos_, p. 430-1. + +[128]: Prol. _Haut._ 32-40, Prol. _Eun._ 35-40. Cf. Eugraphius ad +_Haut._ 31: quid tale hic est, cum servus currit, cum populus +discedit, quod domino insano oboediat servus? Cf. also ad _Haut._ 37; +Donatus ad _Phor._ 1.4. + +[129]: _And._ 338 ff., _Phor._ 179 ff., 841 ff., _Ad._ 299 +ff. Weissman agrees with Donat. that in the last passage humor is not the +object. Cf. _ancilla currens_ in _Eun._ 643 ff. + +[130]: Cf. _servi currentes_ supra. Cf. also _Aul._ 811 ff., +_Ep._ 195 ff., _Mer._ 865 ff., _Ps._ 243 ff., _St._ +330 ff., _Trin._ 1068 ff., _Truc._ 115 ff. + +[131]: For other passages containing the comedy of "peering," v. +_Bac._ 534, _Ep._ 526 ff., _Rud._ 331 ff., et al. Cf. +Weise, op. cit., p. 72 f. + +[132]: Further comments infra II. B. 3. + +[133]: Cf. _As._ 403, and passim. + +[134]: Cf. _As._ 447, _Cur._ 111, _Men._ 125, 478 f., 909, +_Mer._ 364, 379, _Mil._ 275, _Most._ 548, _Per._ 99, +_Poen._ 840, _Ps._ 445, 615, 908, _Rud._ 97, _St._ 88, +_Trin._ 45, 567, _Truc._ 499, etc. + +[135]: _Daos, p. 431 ff._ See Dieterich, _Pulcinella, PI. II_. +Note esp. _As. 851 ff._ + +[136]: Cf. _Per. 81 ff., 599 ff., Poen. 210 ff., et al._ + +[137]: V. _Amph._ 952-3, _As._ 118 ff., 243 ff., _Aul._ 67 +ff., 667 ff., 701 ff., _Bac._ 170 ff., 349 ff., 573 ff., 761 ff., +_Cas._ 504 ff., _Cis._ 120 ff., _Cur._ 216 ff., 591 ff., +_Mer._ 544 ff., 588 ff., _Mil._ 464 ff., _Most._ 931 ff., +1041 ff., _Rud._ 1191 ff., _St._ 674 ff., et al. + +[138]: V. Cas. 424 ff., 759 ff., _Ep._ 81 ff., _Men._ 1039 ff., +_Ps._ 1017 ff., 1052 ff., 1102 ff., _Rud._ 892 ff., 1281 ff., +_St._ 641 ff., _Trin._ 199 ff., 1115 ff., _Truc._ 322 ff., +335 ff., 645 ff., 699 ff. + +Cf. the treatment of Le Grand, _Daos_, p. 412 ff., where he has an +analysis from a different point of view. The soliloquy and aside are +evidently not so frequent in New Comedy. + +[139]: _Daos_ p. 379. Cf. p. 550. + +[140]: _Aul._ 587 ff., _Men._ 966 ff. Cf. _Most._ 858 ff. +and _As._ 545 ff., a duologue in _canticum_. + +[141]: _Bac._ 640 ff. Cf. _Ps._ 767 ff. + +[142]: _Cap._ 461 ff., Cf. _Per._ 53 ff. + +[143]: _Men._ 77 ff., 446 ff., _St._ 155 ff. + +[144]: _Cur._ 371 ff., (Cf. 494 ff.), _Men._ 571 ff., +_Poen._ 823 ff. + +[145]: _Ep._ 225 ff. + +[146]: _Cas._ 217 ff., _Trin._ 223 ff. (Cf. 660 ff.) + +[147]: _Men._ 753 ff. + +[148]: _Aul._ 475 ff. (496-536 branded as spurious by Weise, op. cit., +pp. 42-44). + +[149]: _Mer._ 817 ff. + +[150]: _Poen._ 210 ff. (though not a solo), _Truc._ 22 ff., 210 +ff., 551 ff. + +[151]: _Ps._ 790 ff. + +[152]: _Truc._ 482 ff. + +[153]: _Mer._ 825 ff., _Rud._ 593 ff. + +[154]: _Mosl._ 85 ff. + +[155]: _Ps._ 1246 ff. + +[156]: _St._ 683 to end. + +[157]: _Ps._ 133 ff. For further passages of the episodical type, cf. +_Bac._ 925 ff. (v. supra under "bombast," I. A. 1), _Poen._ 449 +ff., _Rud._ 906 ff., _Trin._ 820 ff. (v. supra under +"burlesque," I. A. 3). + +[158]: Cf. further _Amph._ 463, 998, _Bac._ 1072, _Cap._ 69 +ff., _Cas._ 879, _Cis._ 146, 678, _Men._ 880, _Mer._ +313, _Mil._ 862, _Most._ 280, 354, 708 ff., _Poen._ 921 f., +_Ps._ 124, _St._ 224,446, 674 ff., _Truc._ 109 ff., 463 +ff., 965 ff. Cf. infra II. B. 5. + +[159]: In Donat. ed. Wessner. + +[160]: V. _As., Bac., Cap., Cis., Cur., Ep., Men., Mer., Most., Per., +Rod., St._ Cf. _Cas._ 1013 ff., _Poen._ 1370 f. + +[161]: V. _Bac._ 235-367, _Cap._ 835-99, _Cis._ 203 ff., +540-630, 705 ff., _Cur._ 251-73 and passim (this play is full of +bandying of quips), _Ep._ 1 ff., _Men._ 137-81, 602-67, +_Mer._ 474 ff., 708 ff., 866 ff., _Most._ 633 ff., 717 ff., 885 +ff., _Per._ 1 ff., 201 ff., _Poen._ 210 ff., _Ps._ 653 ff. +and passim, _Rud._ 485 ff. (the jokes here are unusually good), 780 +ff., _St._ 579 ff., _Trin._ 39 ff., 843 ff., _Truc._ 95 ff. + +[162]: Cf. Sosia im _Amph._ (esp. 659 ff.), Libanus in _As._ 1 +ff., Palinurus in _Cur._, Acanthio in _Mer._ (esp. 137 ff.), +Milphio in _Poen._, Sceparnio in _Rud._ (esp. 104 ff.) and +Trachalio, Pinacium in _St._ (esp. 331 ff.), Stasimus in _Trin._ + +[163]: _St._ 446 ff., Prol. _Cas._ 67 ff. For an exhaustive +discussion of the 'truth to life' of the characters, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, Part I, Chap. V. + +[164]: V. esp. 96 ff. + +[165]: 603 ff. + +[166]: Pyrgopolinices in _Mil._, Therapontigonus in _Cur._, the +_miles_ in _Ep._, Anthemonides in _Poen._ Stratophanes in +_Truc_, is not so violent. + +[167]: Cappadox in _Cur._, Dordalus in _Per._, Lycus in +_Poen._, Labrax in _Rud._ Similarly the _lenae_. + +[168]: Introd. to ed. of _Ps._ + +[169]: 355. Cf. 360 ff., 974 ff. + +[170]: _Hist. de la lit. lat._ Bk. II, Ch. III., Sec. 4. p. 307. + +[171]: _Plaut. Stud._, p. 105. + +[172]: _Daos_, pp. 557 f. Cf. 218 f. + +[173]: Introd. to _Ps._ Cf. _Daos_, p. 452 ff. + +[174]: E.g., _Amph._ 957, _Bac._ 844, _Cas._ 308, +_Men._ 898, _Mil._ 1137, 1188, _Per._ 301, 543, +_Poen._ 576, _Rud._ 1209, _St._ 400-1, _Trin._ 482. + +[175]: Part II, Sec. I. B. 2. + +[176]: P. 157. + +[177]: Cf. _Daos_, p. 60. + +[178]: Cf. in general the conclusions of LeGrand, _Daos_, p. 550, and +his admirable analysis (Part II) of "La structure des comedies." He has +recognized the existence of a number of the characteristics treated above, +but his discussion is in different vein and with a different object in +view. + +[179]: _Cap._ 489, _Cur._ 483. + +[180]: _Cur._ 269, et al. + +[181]: _Mil._ 991. + +[182]: _Ps._ 416, et al. + +[183]: _Ps._ 1232. + +[184]: _Ps._ 748. For a fairly complete collection, v. LeGrand, +_Daos_, p. 44 ff. Cf. Middleton and Mills, _Students' Companion to +Latin Authors_, p. 20 ff. + +[185]: Cf. West in A.J.P. VIII. 15. Cf. note 1, Part II, supra. + +[186]: Cf. _Amph._ 861 ff., _As._ 174 f., _Cap._ 778, +_Cur._ 464, _Her._ 160, _Poen._ 1224. + +[187]: Cf. _Daos_, Part I, Chap. III: Les personnages, and p. 303 ff.; +Mommsen, _Hist._ pp. 141 ff. + +[188]: Prol, 53 ff. + +[189]: For a discussion of the relation of Plautus to his originals, v. +Schuster, _Quomodo Plautus Attica exemplaria transtulerit_; LeGrand, +_Daos_, passim; Ostermayer, _de hist. fab. in com. Pl._; +Ritschl, _Par._ 271, etc. The efforts to distinguish Plautus from his +models have so far been fragmentary and abortive and will not advance +appreciably until a complete play that he adapted has been found. At any +rate, the discussion has no real bearing on our subject, since we can +consider only the plays as actually transmitted; their sources cannot +affect our argument. The comparisons in _Daos_ seem to indicate that +Plautus did not debase his originals so much as Mommsen, Körting, Schlegel +and others had thought. Even in 1881, Kiessling (_Anal. Plaut._ II. +9) boldly expresses the opinion: "Atque omnino Plautus multo pressius +Atticorum exemplarium vestigia secutus est quam hodie vulgo arbitrantur". +Cf. Kellogg in PAPA. XLIV (1913). + +[190]: Euanthius, _de Com._ IV. 4. + +[191]: For an interesting comparison of Plautus and Terence, v. Spengel, +_Über die lateinische Komödie_, (Munich 1878). + +[192]: The importance of the music is indicated by the transmission of the +composer's name in all extant _didascaliae_, esp. those of Terence. +V. Klotz, _Altröm. Met._ p. 384 ff. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dramatic Values in Plautus +by William Wallace Blancke + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS *** + +This file should be named 8plut10.txt or 8plut10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8plut11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8plut10a.txt + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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