5 research outputs found
(P.) Schierl Die TragĂśdien des Pacuvius. Ein Kommentar zu den Fragmenten mit Einleitung, Text und Ăbersetzung. (Texte und Kommentare 28.) Pp. xvi + 678. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Cased, âŹ128, US$172.80. ISBN: 978-3-11-018249-1.
Cavda Canem Qvatit - (R.) Raffaelli, (A.) Tontini Lecturae Plautinae Sarsinates X: Menaechmi (Sarsina, 30 settembre 2006). Pp. 185. Urbino: Quattro Venti, 2007. Paper, âŹ22. ISBN: 978-88-392-0809-5.
Plays of mistaken identity
Building on the theatrical tradition of comic incidents which arise out of the confusion involving identical twins or pairs of people who, for some reason, appear to be the mirror-image of one another, Plautus has masterfully composed his plays Menaechmi and AmphitruoâShakespeareâs primary sources of inspiration for his Comedy of Errorsâwith a view to exploring issues of unreliable vision, inaccurate knowledge, unstable personal identity, illicit sexual desire, and irresponsible social behavior. This destabilization of the world in which the fictional characters lead their lives becomes an emblem for Plautine drama itself, which we are invited to view as complex and illusory, presenting us with a distorted mirror-image of âRomanâ life