Analysis Of Plautus s Comedies Seem Be A Double Edged Sword

Plautus’s comedies seem to be a double edged sword. One edge makes an audience laugh while the other is embedded with hidden messages. A Roman audience watching The Brothers Menaechmus might even laugh at a cleverly concealed insult. Plautus, a Roman playwright, managed to create this double tasking play by using a setting which down played the stereotypical Greek setting of Athens, and opted instead for something a little less Greek. The setting also played a part in creating a link between brother and culture. The main setting allowed Menaechmus I to symbolize the Greek persona while the sub setting correlated Menaechmus II with the Romans. In the end, Plautus’s play is highly ironic since the surface of the play could mean one†¦show more content†¦Setting is clearly a tool used by Plautus. For example, take the scene where Menaechmus I starts to sing about clients, â€Å"They want lots of clients, all want lots of clients./Who cares if they’re honest or not – are they rich?/Who cares if they’re honest, we’ll take them with zest - /If they’re rich.† While this song, void of virtue, might amuse a Roman audience, it would nonetheless prove to be ironic because the system of clients and patrons is a Roman tradition. Underneath that entertaining melody is an elusive criticism to a Roman tradition. Underneath that joyful tune is an insult to the Romans, where they are called both greedy and dishonest. Consequently, Plautus gets away with this by embedding it into a song that might otherwise be overlooked as nothing more than a device to amuse the audience. Plautus does not only shroud commentary with melodies but within the characters as well. He does this by almost making the play an allegory. Menaechmus I, because he was kidnapped as a child and lived most of his life in Epidamnus, a Greek setting, he affiliates with the Greek persona. On the other hand, because Menaechmus II spent most o f his life in Sicily, an acquired Roman territory, he is the symbol for the Romans. With this in mind, one can pull out deeper significance than that which simply lies on the surface of this comedy. Such significance could even be Plautus’s own