THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS

II
EVIDENCES OF LOOSE COMPOSITION WHICH PROVE A DISREGARD
OF TECHNIQUE AND HENCE INDICATE THAT ENTERTAINMENT
WAS THE SOLE AIM
OlD speeches and passages.
W· I. Asides and soliloquies.
. is often important for the audience to know the thoughts of
stage characters, the aside and the soliloquy in all species of dramatic
composition have always been recognized as the only feasible
conventional mode of conveying them. According to the strictest
canons of dramatic art, the ideally constructed play should be
entirely free from this weakness. Mr. Gillette is credited with
having written in "Secret Service" the first aside-less play. But
this is abnormal and rather an affectation of technical skill. The
.aside is an accepted convention. But in the plays of Plautus we
have a profuse riot of solo speeches and passages that transcends
the conventional and becomes a gross weakness of composition,
pointing plainly to a poverty of technique and hence further
strengthening the conception of entertainment as the author's sole
purpose. And often too, as we shall point out, this very form can
be used for amusement. To attempt a complete collection of these
passages would mean a citation of hundreds of lines, comprising a
formidable percentage of all the verses.
And furthermore, the Plautine character is not so tame and
spiritless as merely to think aloud. He has a fondness for actual
conversation with himself that shows a noble regard for the value
of his own society. This is attested by many passages, such as
Amph. 3 81 : Etiam muttis ?; Aul. S2 : At ut scelesta sola secum
murmurat ; Aul. 190: Quid tu solus tecum loquere ?; Bac. 773 :
Quis loquitur prope ?; Cap. 1 33 : Quis hic loquitur ?25
One charact,er standing aside and commenting on the main
action is a familiar situation and often productive of go·od fun.
An excellent example is Most. 166 ff., where Philematium is per­
forming her conventionally out-door toilet with the aid of her
25Cf. As. 447, Cur. III, Men. 125, 478 f ., 909, Mer. 364, 379, Mil. 275,
Most. 548, Per. 99, Poen. 840, Ps. 445, 615, 908, Rud. 97, St. 88, Trin. 45, 567 ,
True. 499, etc.
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