Question

analyse plot of gold as a classical comedy?(30 marks)​

Answer 1

Answer:

Comedy:

The Roman Comedy was influenced by Greek comic theatre when the Romans conquered

Greece. This led to several Latin adaptations of Greek comedy. The Roman playwrights rewrote and

adapted the plays into Latin, keeping the scene of the action in Athens, but introducing Roman characters

and topical situations. The Roman plays were performed for the general public thrice a year. They were

also performed at times of celebration, as when a high official took up a new charge. The actors were

often slaves, who could hope for freedom if they impressed an important official with their performance.

The Roman theatres too were modelled on the Greek theatres, but unlike the Athenian theatre, its

audience was not representative of all classes. The Roman audience largely comprised of men from the

lower classes. To cater to this audience, the comedy was coarse and vulgar.

Given the composition of the audience, which was no better than a mob, the Roman dramatists

gave a prologue at the beginning of the plays which explained the opening of the story and gave hints

about how the plot would unfold. All Plautus’ plays have prologues by a character of the play whichintroduces the audience to the complications of the plot. The stage was a plain platform, with a wall as a

background. The wall may have doors which could represent the houses of some characters. The Roman

actors’ speeches were accompanied by a flautist sometimes. This gave the impression of a recitation.

Some of the dialogues were even set to music, like songs. Sometimes a singer came on the stage to sing a

song, while the comedian merely mimed the scene. The Roman dramatists tried to sustain the interest of

their audience at all times. They introduced local colour into the play and tried to make it as topical as

possible. Plautus used Athens as the scene of his plays but he picked characters, dialogues and situations

which the audience would identify with and enjoy. Even though he drew his plots from Menander, his

sketches of the common Roman people found great popularity. Plautus was practical