31 pages • 1-hour read
The Brothers Menaechmus
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Essay Topics
The influence of The Brothers Menaechmus ranges from Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors to the popular musical, The Boys from Syracuse. What has allowed the comedy to stand the test of time?
How does Plautus dramatize the downfall of Menaechmus and the rise of Menaechmus II?
What role does Greek myth play in The Brothers Menaechmus?
What is comic about misunderstanding? Feel free to compare and contrast The Brothers Menaechmus with other comedies of mistaken identity.
How does Plautus use music, song and rhythm in this play?
Discuss the attitude towards women in The Brothers Menaechmus.
“When I see you–how I hate her!”How does Plautus use contrast, mirroring and reversals as a method of characterization in the play?
Is Peniculus’s vision for the city utopian or dystopian? Discuss with reference to Greek, Roman and contemporary examples.
Does this play set out to teach the audience anything, or only to entertain?
What is the role of madness in Plautus’s play? Try to consider this question on thematic, structural, linguistic and metatheatrical levels.
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