C/LT 320I: Notes on Miles Gloriosus and Roman Comedy Waters
Overview
Miles Gloriosus (The Braggart Soldier) is one of the finest examples of Roman Comedy. Written by the leading Roman comic playwright, Titus Maccius Plautus, around 200BC, the plot of Miles Gloriosus revolves around the conflict over the affections of a beautiful young girl, who loves a handsome, charming, good-hearted young man, but who is under the control of the wicked but powerful Miles Gloriosus. Assisting the young lovers as they try to get together is a clever slave, who sees in his master Miles Gloriosus’s overpowering lust for the young girl a possible opportunity to gain his own freedom.
Plot Structure
The play is broken up into five distinct segments:
1. An initial scene between Miles Gloriosus and the clever slave
2. A delayed prologue in which the clever slave (the lead actor in the play) addresses the audience directly
3.The first plot, which involves convincing a villainous, but dim-witted, rival slave that he has not really seen the young girl kissing the young man; rather the rival slave is tricked into thinking he has seen the young girl’s (fictitious) identical twin sister. The first plot ends with the rival slave having a nervous breakdown.
4. A brief “intermission” comic dialogue between the young man and his neighbor, a feisty old man who is wise in the ways of love
5. The second plot, which is the major story of the play. The clever slave enlists the help of the young man, the feisty old neighbor, a couple good-hearted hookers, and a cook with a quick temper and a very sharp butcher knife. This group of conspirators, through various con games and disguises and outright lies, tricks Miles Gloriosus into giving up all his property, his military status, his money, his slaves plus the young girl for the promise of unlimited sex with wild women. The play ends with Miles Gloriosus stripped naked and threatened with castration unless he gives up rights to the girl plus gives the clever slave his freedom. After capitulating, a ruined, humiliated Miles Gloriosus admits that he deserves his woeful fate and cautions his audience against making the mistakes he has made.
Terms and Themes
Pseudolus (false light) archetype
Fabula palliata
Fabula togata
Contaminatio
Ephesus
Greek New Comedy
The Grouchy Old Man, Menander (c.300 BC)
The passive agon
The comic anti-hero
A modern adaptation: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
(Directed by Richard Lester, 1966)
Influences on contemporary situation comedy