Shaw's plays we find interlaced with an elaborate
network of stage direction that enables us to visualize the movements of
the characters even to extreme minutiae. In the text of Plautus we find
nothing but the dialogue, and in the college editions only such
editorially-inserted "stage-business" as is fairly evident from the spoken
lines. The answer then to our second question: "How was it done?", at
least does not lie on the surface of the text.
For an adequate answer to both our questions the following elements are
necessary; first: a digest of Plautine criticism; second: a resume of the
evidence as to original performances of the plays, including a
consideration of the audience, the actors and of the gestures and
stage-business employed by the latter; third: a critical analysis of the
plays themselves, with a view to cataloguing Plautus' dramatic methods. We
hope by these means to obtain a conclusive reply to both our leading
questions.
Sec.1. Critics of Plautus
Plautine criticism has displayed many different angles. As in most things,
time helps resolve the discrepancies. The general impression gleaned from
a survey of the field is that in earlier times over-appreciation was the
rule, which has gradually simmered down, with occasional outpourings of
denunciation, to a healthier norm of estimation.
Even in antiquity the wiseacres took our royal buffoon too seriously.
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