Loquar libere? Comic freedom and authority on the Plautine stage
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2020-05-18
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en
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This thesis examines the ways in which the carnivalesque elements (grotesque imagery, dialogue-conflicts and inversions) in Roman comedy were presented to the audience and how the audience’s responses were prepared during the performances. Bakhtin’s theory of carnival has been influential in the carnivalesque mode, but we do not find any evidence for a liberating effect in Roman comedy as it occurred in Bakhtinian carnival. The ruling-class authority was frequently challenged during the theatrical event on their piety, intelligence, superiority over the enemy and sexual dominance. However, the counter-posing of different voices and morals did not necessarily lead to full inversions or subversions of this authority. Plautus moved up and down on a scale with the officially constituted reality on the one hand and an inverted world on the other.
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Faculteit der Letteren