It is a well-established principle that the most intimate cognizance of
the spectator's existence is a characteristic of the lowest types of
dramatic production (v. Part I, ASec. 1, fin.). The use of soliloquy, aside
and monologue all indicate the effort of the lines to put the player on
terms of intimacy with his public. But even this is transcended by the
frequent recurrence in jocular vein of deliberate, conscious and direct
address of the audience, when they are called by name. In _Truc._ 482
Stratophanes says: Ne expectetis, spectatores, meas pugnas dum
praedicem.... In _Poen Truc._ 597 we are told: Aurumst profecto hic,
spectatores, sed comicum; i. e., "stage-money." During a halt in the
action of the _Ps._ (573) we are graciously informed: Tibicen vos interibi
hic delectaverit. Mercury's comments (_Amph._ 449-550 passim), probably
with copious buffoonery, on the leave-taking of Jove and Alemena contain
the remark (507): Observatote, quam blande mulieri palpabitur. At the
close of the _Men._ (1157 ff.) Messenio announces an auction and invites
the spectators to attend.
When Euclio discovers the loss of his hoard, he rushes forth in wild
lament. In his extremity he turns to the audience (_Aul._ 715 ff.):
"EUC. I beg, I beseech, I implore you, help me and show me the man that
stole it. (_Picking out one of the spectators, probably a tough looking
"bruiser", and stretching out his hand to him._) What do _you_ say? I know
I can trust _you_. I can tell by your face you're honest. (_To the whole
audience, in response to the laughter sure to ensue._) What's the matter?
What are you laughing at?" etc.
MoilA"re has imitated this scene very closely in _L'Avare_ (IV. 7), with a
super-Plautine profusion of verbiage.
In _Mil._ 200 ff. Periplecomenus obligingly acts as guide and personal
conductor to the manoeuvers of Palaestrio's mind, while it is in the
throes of evolving a stratagem. Palaestrio of course indulges in vivid,
pointed pantomime:
"PER. I'll step aside here awhile. (_To audience, pointing to
Palaestrio._) Look yonder, please, how he stands with serried brow in
anxious contemplation. His fingers smite his breast; I trow, he fain would
summon forth his heart. Presto, change! His left hand he rests upon his
left thigh. With the fingers of his right he reckons out his scheme. Ha!
He whacks his right thigh!" etc.
It is very amusing too, when Jupiter in _Amph._ 861 ff. strolls in and
speaks his little piece to the pit:
"JUP. I am the renowned Amphitruo, whose slave is Sosia; you know, the
fellow that turns into Mercury at will. I dwell in my sky-parlor and
become Jupiter the while, ad libitum."[158]
Even in olden times Euanthius censured this practice (_de Com._ III.
6)[159]: <Terentius> nihil ad populum facit actorem velut extra comoediam
loqui, quod vitium Plauti frequentissimum.
Naturally we shall hardly consider under this head the speech of the whole
_grex_, or the "Nunc plaudite" of an actor that closes a number of the
plays. It is no more than the bowing or curtain-calls of today[160],
unless it was an emphatic announcement to the audience that the play was
over.
B. _Inconsistencies and carelessness of composition_.
We have referred above to the voluminous mass of inconsistencies,
contradictions and psychological improbabilities collected by Langen in
his _Plautinische Studien_. He really succeeds in finding the crux of the
situation in recognizing that these features are inherent in Plautus'
style and are frequently employed solely for comic effect, though he is
often overcome by a natural Teutonic stolidity. He aptly points out that
Plautus in his selection of originals has in the main chosen plots with
more vigorous action than Terence. We shall have occasion to quote him at
intervals, but desire to develop this topic quite independently.