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What pleasures did Plautus' heroic tricksters provide their original audience? How should we understand the compelling mix of rebellion and social conservatism that Plautus offers? Through a close reading of four plays representing the full range of his work (Menaechmi, Casina, Persa, and Captivi), Kathleen McCarthy develops an innovative model of Plautine comedy and its social effects. She concentrates on how the plays are shaped by the interaction of two comic modes: the socially conservative mode of naturalism and the potentially subversive mode of farce. It is precisely this balance of the naturalistic and the farcical that allows everyone in the audience--especially those well placed in the social hierarchy--to identify both with and against the rebel, to feel both the thrill of being a clever underdog and the complacency of being a securely ensconced authority figure. Basing her interpretation on the workings of farce and naturalism in Plautine comedy, McCarthy finds a way to understand the plays' patchwork literary style as well as their protean social effects. Beyond this, she raises important questions about popular literature and performance not only on ancient Roman stages but in cultures far from Plautus' Rome. How and why do people identify with the fictional figures of social subordinates? How do stock characters, happy endings, and other conventions operate? How does comedy simultaneously upset and uphold social hierarchies? Scholars interested in Plautine theater will be rewarded by the detailed analyses of the plays, while those more broadly interested in social and cultural history will find much that is useful in McCarthy's new way of grasping the elusive ideological effects of comedy.

Authority in literature. --- Comedy. --- Literature and society - Rome. --- Literature and society -- Rome. --- Master and servant in literature. --- Plautus, Titus Maccius -- Criticism and interpretation. --- Slavery in literature. --- Languages & Literatures --- Greek & Latin Languages & Literatures --- Plautus, Titus Maccius --- Criticism and interpretation. --- Plaute --- Plauto, Tito Maccio --- Plavt, Tit Makt︠s︡iĭ --- Plautus, M. Accius --- Plautus --- Plautus, M. Attius --- Plautus, Marcus Actius --- Plautus, Marcus Accius --- Plautus, Marcus Attius --- Plauto, Marco Accio --- Plautos, Titos Makkios --- פלאוטוס

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Latin poetry --- Literature and society --- Poésie latine --- Littérature et société --- History and criticism. --- Histoire et critique --- Rome --- Social life and customs. --- Moeurs et coutumes --- History and criticism --- Social life and customs --- Poésie latine --- Littérature et société --- Latin poetry - History and criticism --- Literature and society - Rome --- Rome - Social life and customs

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Horace --- Technique --- Literature and society --- Rome --- History --- Authors and patrons --- Rome --- History --- Authors and readers --- Rome --- History --- Latin language --- Social aspects --- Authority in literature --- Persona (Literature) --- Rhetoric [Ancient ] --- Horace - Technique. --- Literature and society - Rome - History. --- Authors and patrons - Rome - History. --- Latin language - Social aspects.

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Classical literature --- Greek literature --- Latin literature --- Popular culture --- Littérature ancienne --- Littérature grecque --- Littérature latine --- Culture populaire --- History and criticism --- Histoire et critique --- Lecture --- --Littérature latine --- --Littérature grecque --- --Classical literature --- Literature and society --- Theory, etc --- Greece --- Rome --- Civilization --- Klassieke letterkunde. --- Rhetoric, Ancient. --- Theory, etc. --- Littérature ancienne --- Littérature grecque --- Littérature latine --- Popular culture. --- Classical literature - History and criticism - Theory, etc. --- Literature and society - Greece --- Literature and society - Rome --- Greece - Civilization --- Rome - Civilization

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Odes, Latin --- Latin poetry --- Literature and society --- Politics and literature --- History and criticism --- Social aspects --- Political aspects --- Greek influences --- Poésie lyrique latine --- Influence grecque --- Horace (0065?-0008? av. J.-C.). --- Conferences - Meetings --- Influence grecque. --- Horace (0065?-0008? av J-C) --- Odes, Latin - History and criticism - Congresses --- Latin poetry - Social aspects - Congresses --- Latin poetry - Political aspects - Congresses --- Latin poetry - Greek influences - Congresses --- Literature and society - Rome - Congresses --- Politics and literature - Rome - Congresses