Search results
Class does not equal intelligence: With the stock character, the clever slave (played by Pseudolus), the audience gets a glimpse that, despite the assumptions that Pseudolus, a slave, cannot possibly outwit the upperclass citizens, Ballio and Simo, this indeed does occur. Pseudolus is able to prove just how clever he is by fooling multiple others in order to help his owner's son, Calidorus.
Alone on stage, Pseudolus boasts of his ability to carry about schemes. Soon Pseudolus encounters Harpax, the Macedonian soldier’s slave, who is looking for Ballio. Pseudolus pretends to be Ballio’s slave, Surus, and tells Harpax he can leave the money for Phoenicium with him. Harpax refuses, but he does leave a sealed letter from his master.
Pseudolus is frustrated that Simo’s knowledge of his plan presents an unexpected complication. Noticing Pseudolus, Simo tells Callipho he wants him tortured; Callipho tells him to ask about the rumors. In response to Pseudolus’s witty comments, Simo notes that Pseudolus is “high and mighty” (458); Callipho agrees there is “no lack of ...
Important Quotes. "As the grass of summer, so brief is my life: Quickly did I rise, so quickly was I mowed down." (Scene 1 , Lines 38-39) Calidorus, with great melodrama, explains to Pseudolus that his lover, the prostitute Phoenicium, is about to be sold by Ballio to a Macedonian soldier. Calidorus’s overblown language annoys Pseudolus, who ...
Sep 5, 2023 · Pseudolus is a comedy with many elements of farce. While it pokes fun at the individual characters’ foibles, and its action hinges on stock devices such as deceit, disguise, and mistaken ...
Apr 29, 2021 · The following section is a full-scale interpretation of the Pseudolus and contains in a nutshell what the editor has to say about the play. Departing from the assumption that it “is largely a comedy about the making of Plautine comedy” (p. 25), Christenson traces elements of metacomedy throughout the play.
People also ask
What does Pseudolus say to Simo?
What does Pseudolus say about Simia?
What does Pseudolus tell Ballio about Simia?
Is Pseudolus a comedy?
What does Pseudolus promise Simo?
How does Pseudolus interact with Simo?
Pseudolus. Mosaic of Actors Preparing to Perform a Play. As in both the plays of Aristophanes and Menander, the roman playwright Plautus addresses the issues of class consciousness and status in his works. Plautus particularly addresses the influence that class and status had on ancient Roman society and thinking.
