Plautus and the English Renaissance of Comedy (eBook)

Richard F. Hardin (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017
206 Seiten
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (Verlag)
9781683931294 (ISBN)

Infos

This book shows the impact of the 1428 rediscovery of Plautus’s plays on the theory and composition of comedy, and sets Plautus’s reception apart from that of the quite different dramatist Terence. The latter half takes up the Plautine traits that appear in the practice of English comic dramatists ca. 1500–1640.

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The fifteenth-century discovery of Plautus's lost comedies brought him, for the first time since antiquity, the status of a major author both on stage and page. It also led to a reinvention of comedy and to new thinking about its art and potential. This book aims to define the unique contribution of Plautus, detached from his fellow Roman dramatist Terence, and seen in the context of that European revival, first as it took shape on the Continent. The heart of the book, with special focus on English comedy ca. 1560 to 1640, analyzes elements of Plautine technique during the period, as differentiated from native and Terentian, considering such points of comparison as dialogue, asides, metadrama, observation scenes, characterization, and atmosphere. This is the first book to cover this ground, raising such questions as: How did comedy rather suddenly progress from the interludes and brief plays of the early sixteenth century to longer, more complex plays? What did "e;Plautus"e; mean to playwrights and readers of the time? Plays by Shakespeare, Jonson, and Middleton are foregrounded, but many other comedies provide illustration and support.

Autor

Richard F. Hardin is professor emeritus in the Department of English at the University of Kansas.

Inhalt

PrefaceIntroductionChapter 1: A Humanist Debate on ComedyChapter 2: Reception in Northern Europe and EnglandChapter 3: Plautus and English Comedy: Points of Comparison in EssentialsChapter 4: Plautus and English Comedy: Talking through ScenesChapter 5: Plautus and English Comedy: Further Points of ComparisonConclusion: “Nothing is Said that has not been said before”Bibliography

Produkt-Details

• Zusatzinfo: 3 Illustrations including: - 3 Tables.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Essays / Feuilleton
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: classics • Literary Studies • theater studies
• ISBN-13: 9781683931294 / 9781683931294