The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy provides a comprehensive critical introduction to Roman comedy and its reception through more than twenty accessible and up-to-date chapters by leading international scholars. This book defines the fundamentals of Roman comedy by examining its literary and comic technique as well as its stagecraft and music, and then traces the genre's influence through the centuries. Roman comedy has served as a model for writers as well as artists ranging from Shakespeare to Moli�re and from Martin Luther to Cole Porter. Just as the Middle Ages spawned Christianised versions of Terence's comedies, in which harlots find God rather than a husband and young men become martyrs rather than never-do-well lovers, the twentieth century has also given us its take on Roman comedy with Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and numerous modern versions of Plautus' Amphitryon. FM......Page 1 DEDICATION......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 7 ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 10 CONTRIBUTORS......Page 12 PROLOGUE......Page 17 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 27 EXTANT PLAYS BY PLAUTUS AND TERENCE......Page 28 ABBREVIATIONS USED FOR REFERENCES TO FRAGMENTS......Page 30 Introduction: Roman Comedy......Page 31 Plautus and Terence in Their Roman Contexts......Page 45 Native Italian Drama and Its Influence on Plautus......Page 60 Roman Comedy and the Poetics of Adaptation......Page 75 The Politics of Roman Comedy......Page 94 Stage Action in Roman Comedy......Page 113 Music and Metre......Page 127 Comic Technique......Page 146 Metatheatre......Page 162 The Language of Roman Comedy......Page 177 Fathers and Sons......Page 197 Slaves and Roman Comedy......Page 212 Mothers and Whores......Page 224 Gods and Roman Comedy......Page 241 Legal Laughter......Page 253 Family Finances......Page 265 The Reception of Republican Comedy in Antiquity......Page 283 The Manuscripts and Illustration of Plautus and Terence......Page 298 The Anti-Terentian Dramas of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim......Page 319 Roman Comedy in Early Modern England......Page 334 Roman Comedy in Early Modern Italy and France......Page 347 Roman Comedy in Germany (from Humanism to Lessing)......Page 361 Roman Comedy on Stage and Screen in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries......Page 372 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 389 INDEX LOCORUM......Page 429 INDEX RERUM......Page 432 The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy provides a comprehensive critical introduction to Roman comedy and its reception through more than twenty accessible and up-to-date chapters by leading international scholars. This book defines the fundamentals of Roman comedy by examining its literary and comic technique as well as its stagecraft and music, and then traces the genre's influence through the centuries. Roman comedy has served as a model for writers as well as artists ranging from Shakespeare to Moliere and from Martin Luther to Cole Porter. Just as the Middle Ages spawned Christianised versions of Terence's comedies, in which harlots find God rather than a husband and young men become martyrs rather than never-do-well lovers, the twentieth century has also given us its take on Roman comedy with Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and numerous modern versions of Plautus' Amphitryon. The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy provides a comprehensive critical introduction to Roman comedy and its reception through more than twenty accessible and up-to-date chapters by leading international scholars. This book defines the fundamentals of Roman comedy by examining its literary and comic technique as well as its stagecraft and music, and then traces the genre's influence through the centuries. Roman comedy has served as a model for writers as well as artists ranging from Shakespeare to Molière and from Martin Luther to Cole Porter. Just as the Middle Ages spawned Christianised versions of Terence's comedies, in which harlots find God rather than a husband and young men become martyrs rather than never-do-well lovers, the twentieth century has also given us its take on Roman comedy with Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and numerous modern versions of Plautus' Amphitryon Roman comedy has been a model for writers and artists ranging from Shakespeare to Martin Luther and from Molière to Cole Porter. This volume supplies a comprehensive critical introduction to Roman comedy and its reception presented by leading international scholars in more than twenty accessible and up-to-date chapters written by leading scholars. Roman comedy has been a model for writers and artists ranging from Shakespeare to Martin Luther and from Moliere to Cole Porter. This volume supplies a comprehensive critical introduction to Roman comedy and its reception presented by leading international scholars in more than twenty accessible and up-to-date chapters written by leading scholars.