Plautus Menaechmi Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions 1st Edition by Sophie Klein ISBN 978-1350092730 1350092738

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Product details: 

ISBN 10:  1350092738

ISBN 13: 978-1350092730

Author: V. Sophie Klein

This new volume in the Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions series is perfect for students coming to one of Plautus’ most whimsical, provocative, and influential plays for the first time, and a useful first point of reference for scholars less familiar with Roman comedy. Menaechmi is a tale of identical twin brothers who are separated as young children and reconnect as adults following a series of misadventures due to mistaken identity. A gluttonous parasite, manipulative courtesan, shrewish wife, crotchety father-in-law, bumbling cook, saucy handmaid, quack doctor, and band of thugs comprise the colourful cast of characters. Each encounter with a misidentified twin destabilizes the status quo and provides valuable insight into Roman domestic and social relationships. The book analyzes the power dynamics at play in the various relationships, especially between master and slave and husband and wife, in order to explore the meaning of freedom and the status of slaves and women in Roman culture and Roman comedy. These fundamental societal concerns gave Plautus’ Menaechmi an enduring role in the classical tradition, which is also examined here, including notable adaptations by William Shakespeare, Jean François Regnard, Carlo Goldoni and Rodgers and Hart.

Table of contents: 

1 TWINtroduction to Menaechmi, Plautus and

Roman Comedy

Menaechmi: A prologue

Plot summary

Plautus: Life and work

Greek new comic and Italian dramatic origins

Cultural context of performance: Ludi; actors; audience

Practicalities of performance

a) Music and dance

b) Masks

c) Costumes

d) Props

2 Persons (and Places) of TWINterest: Setting, Characters and Themes

A Tale of Two Cities: Rome vs Epidamnus

The characters

a) The Prologue

b) The young men

c) The slaves

d) The prostitute

e) The cook

f) The parasite

g) The wife

h) The old man

i) The doctor

3 TWINterplay of Comic Language and Stage Business: Bits, Banter and Buffoonery

The Mistaken Identity Bit

Metatheatrical devices

a) Prologue and epilogue

b) Monologue/soliloquy

c) Asides; role-playing

d) Eavesdropping scenes

Plautine language

Visual gags and physical comedy

A happy ending?

4 TWINfluence on the Classical Tradition

Early transmission and revival

Plautus, Menaechmi, translated perhaps by Duke Ercole I of Ferrara (1486)

William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors (1594)

Jean-François Regnard, The Menechmes, or The Twins (1705)

Carlo Goldoni, The Venetian Twins (1748)

Richard Rodgers (music), Lorenz Hart (lyrics), and George Abbott (book), The Boys From Syracuse (1938)

Conclusion

Appendix: Texts, translations and commentaries

Notes

References

TWINdex

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Tags: Sophie Klein, Plautus Menaechmi, Bloomsbury Ancient