Roman New Comedy in the Renaissance: The Influence of Plautus in Shakespearean Comedy

Undoubtedly the most well-known playwright in the English language, Shakespeare’s influence can be felt in most every genre in most every era. Allusions to his work can be found anywhere, from horror novels to sci-fi. Beyond allusions, most strongly felt is his stylistic influence in theatre. Names, plot devices, and images have all been taken from Shakespeare’s greatest works and implemented and transformed in new art forms. However, not all elements of Shakespearean drama originated with the bard himself. Shakespeare drew inspiration from the dramatists that preceded him, especially Roman playwrights. In his earlier works, these similarities are apparent. The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s most direct adaptation, based primarily on the plot of the Menaechmi and supplemented by the Amphitruo, both by Plautus. The play consists of two sets of comic twins, separated at birth, with one of the twins journeying to the city of the other where mistaken identity causes all sorts of comedic events. As aforementioned, this play is one of his earliest, with the first known performance in December 1594. There are many theories about the date of composition, spanning as early as 1589. While some dates are more likely than others, the only certainty is that the play was written sometime between 1589 and 1593, making it one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays.1 The most significant difference between the Plautine model and The Comedy of Errors is the addition of another set of comic twins. In the Menaechmi, there is only one set of Menaechmi, Menaechmus of Epidamnus and Sosicles, also known as Menaechmus, of Syracuse. The Comedy of Errors has two sets, Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus and Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse. This addition is from the Amphitruo, where Jupiter and Mercury impersonate Amphitryon and his slave Sosia. Shakespeare also derives several scenes from the Amphitruo, i.e., when Dromio of Syracuse bars Antipholus of Ephesus from entering his own house. The Comedy of Errors is a direct adaptation of Plautus’s works. However, what Shakespeare takes from these works is not just in the plot, but other elements that drive the comedic engines at work in the play. Countless authors have done literary analysis on The Comedy of Errors and the Menaechmi. They’ve uncovered much of how Shakespeare went about building his adaptation of Plautus, but how do these plays differ in dramatic analysis? What insights can be gleamed from approaching these plays in dramatic terms? The goal of this paper is to answer this question. Using formalist analysis as described by James Thomas, this paper will address how these productions differ. A formalist analysis focuses on categorizing information provided by the script as much as possible. It is more extreme than simple Aristotelian divisions, and its many specific criterion make it ideal for comparison. Thomas describes this type of analysis as “A systematic collection of close-ups to form at last the big picture.”2 Another benefit of this type of analysis is its generality. Other types of script analysis tend to focus on the script from one particular perspective, such as from the position of an actor or a director. Formalist analysis is applicable to all, not varying one aspect of a script over another. Dissecting a script into basic components allows for ease of comparison; attempting to compare the entirety of these two plays would be herculean, but the analysis of individual aspects is more manageable. These components are the given circumstances, the background story, characters, idea, mood, and atmosphere. By viewing how these differing elements interact and supplement one another, the style of these two plays can be properly defined and compared to show that through the implementation of tragic and dramatic elements, Shakespeare subverted farce and Plautine style to comment on familial duty and marriage

Graft Within a Graft Endoluminal Graft

A segmented endograft includes at least one positioning segment and at least one main body segment which are separately deployable. The at least one positioning segment and at least one main body segment may be connected one to another. For example, the at least one positioning segment and at least one main body segment may be connected along a portion of a circumference thereof, but unconnected along a remainder of the circumference thereof. The at least one positioning segment overlaps a portion of the at least one main body segment. Deployment systems may include the segmented endograft and the segmented endograft may be deployed according to various methods

Living for the Soul : Dolly\u27s Heroism in Anna Karenina

Most literary critics have either viewed Dolly Oblonsky in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1877) as a somewhat pitiable character who, unlike Anna, submits to the oppressive patriarchal system, or they have neglected her as an insignificant minor character. I feel that such views are reductive and ignore Dolly’s personal strength compared with Anna’s weak character. Dolly’s heroism goes beyond her social, marital, and maternal status. Dolly “lives for the soul,” demonstrating personal and spiritual virtue (Tolstoy [1877] 794). Gary Saul Morson is the most important critical voice on the subject of Dolly in Anna Karenina and in many ways the most influential Tolstoyan critic in recent scholarship of the English-speaking world. Morson is also the main originator of the idea that one of the novel’s seemingly secondary characters – Dolly Oblonsky – is the true hero of Anna Karenina. In his work Anna Karenina In Our Time: Seeing More Wisely (2007) Morson offers an analysis and interpretation of Tolstoy’s great novel in terms of his thesis on “prosaics”. He argues that Tolstoy’s work criticizes romanticism in favor of “prosaic”, everyday love and rejects Anna’s narcissistic and romantic nature in favor of Dolly’s “prosaic love and lowly wisdom” (Morson [2007] 189). In doing so, Morson controversially attempts to establish Dolly as the true hero of the novel by arguing that her “prosaic” love and wisdom align with Tolstoy’s ideas of morality. However, while Morson’s illuminates many aspects of Anna Karenina beautifully, his “prosaics” thesis has two significant shortcomings. Firstly, his analysis almost entirely neglects the pervasive religious content of the novel, in spite of the fact that this religious content strengthens the argument for Dolly’s heroism. Secondly, Morson’s analysis can be open to feminist critique. Morson proves Dolly to be a Tolstoyan “prosaic” hero, but many feminist scholars might suggest that Tolstoy’s own perception of this “prosaic” female heroism and morality is in fact misogynistic. By employing and integrating both feminist and religious-ethical criticism, my thesis demonstrates that in “living for the soul” and exemplifying religious virtue, Dolly Oblonsky achieves a sense of independence and purpose, in spite of her adherence to traditional gender roles and social structures , and is therefore a true hero of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina

Endoluminal Graft System and Method of Implanting the Same

An endoluminal graft system comprising an endoluminal graft including a framework and a flexible fabric surrounding the framework, a deflection means configured for placement through an opening to a branching vessel, and a delivery catheter configured to position the endoluminal graft within a primary vessel. A method of implanting the endoluminal graft includes positioning the endoluminal graft within a primary vessel with a leading edge of the endoluminal graft adjacent to an opening to a branching vessel. A deflecting means is positioned through the opening to the branching vessel adjacent to the leading edge of the endoluminal graft. The endoluminal graft is then advanced along the length of the primary vessel with the deflection means engaging the leading edge of the endoluminal graft to form a scallop along the leading edge of the endoluminal graft

Stepping up for democracy: using new communication media to revitalize citizen participation in climate change activism

Contemporary activists in the United States find it increasingly difficult to negotiate socio-political constraints to build a social movement. Those looking for relatively safe and effective venues for participation in and communication of dissent face oppression by the hegemonic power of the political right and, in the case of climate activism, anti-climate-science discourse. I use the case study of the climate action movement to explore how contemporary activists use new communication media technologies (hereafter new media) to establish and strengthen a movement. Even though climate change affects the daily lives of ordinary Americans, no U.S. policy exists to mitigate carbon emissions. New media offer the potential for new, safer venues for participation in and communication about social movements. I used empirical qualitative and critical methods to analyze the communication of climate change activism in Texas, USA. I examined how Step It Up! 2007 (SIU) used new media to facilitate or constrain public participation in climate action. I used critical discourse analysis to examine information provided to citizens on the SIU website, and I attended the SIU event in San Antonio, Texas. I found SIU organizers successfully used new media to increase agitation and to shift power away from the federal government to the local grassroots level. I recommend activists use new media as a unifying tool, to provide a fragmented and apathetic citizenry with a message that can be used to affect change. I conducted a critical rhetorical analysis of Working Film’s 2007 documentary on global warming, Everything’s Cool, as a means to suggest how, and in what ways, activists use new media to build a movement. I also hosted an activist screening. I examined how new media facilitate or constrain communication of movement messages. I found activists used the documentary and open source activism as a rhetorical exercise in agitation to refigure public understanding of climate science and attitudes toward U.S. climate change policy. Everything’s Cool positioned climate activism, and participating in the movement broadly, as accessible and acceptable, helping to rhetorically constitute a new kind of citizen activist, shifting power roles to a grassroots network of local leaders

The friends and family test : a qualitative study of concerns that influence the willingness of English National Health Service staff to recommend their organisation

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