Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Influence of Plautus on the Comedies of Ben Jonson: A Thesis for the Doctorate in Philosophy
There must be some reason for this general imitation of the Plautine comedies, some merit in the plays them selves. That a writer Of Ben Jonson's acknowledged classical tastes and tendencies 2 should turn to the greatest comedian the ancient Roman world could pro duce for assistance, ' is not strange; but it is remark able that he should have made direct adaptation of portions of the Plautine comedies in various instances, and that other authors also, as Shakespeare and Field ing, who were not classicists naturally, should turn to Plautus for ideas. This can be accounted for by estab lishing three facts, i. E.: 1, that the Plautine comedies were highly esteemed and popular 2, that the literary style of Plautus was such as to appeal directly to the people 3, that these comedies by continued presenta tion on the stage had grown to be familiar to the pub lic. As such proof is material and precedent to any statement of direct in?uence which Plautus may have had on Ben Jonson's comedies, it will be advantageous to consider these questions.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
