Chapter II: Part II: An Analysis of the Dramatic Values in Plautus (1)

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]."