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When we take a close look at two of the most important comedies of Plautus, namely “Menaechmi” and “Amphitryo”, we discover that Shakespeare has definitely borrowed a lot from these two ancient masterpieces.
#SOURCE FOR PLAUTUS MENAECHMI SERIES#
In Plautus’ comedies Shakespeare saw the ideal ingredients for a crowd-pleasing comedy evolving around a series of mistaken identity. All the elements work together to hold the attention of the fickle audience. Like all Roman comedies, Plautus’ plays were originally performed for the lower classes at festivals.
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Shakespeare most have known the works of Plautus very well, since these plays were performed not only at courts, but also in the academies and schools throughout the late fifteenth century. The Roman dramatist Plautus adapted and translated a lot of the works of Menander, and therefore the device of mistaken identity is also very prominent in his comedies. Since ancient Roman theatre was heavily influenced by the Greek tradition, we can find a lot of the elements of Menander’s comedies in Plautus’ work. The Greek playwright Menander uses mistaken identity plots to make the character go through a learning process in which he will come to understand himself and his situation a lot better than before. It dates back as far as the times of the Greeks and the Romans, and became prominent especially in the writings of Menander and Plautus. But the ploy of mistaken identity has been a common theatrical device long before Shakespeare’s time. Shakespeare employs the concept of mistaken identity more or less in almost every one of his comedies. Mistaken indentity in the writings of Memander and PlautusĢ) Mistaken identity in the writings of Menander and Plautus