Seneca's Characters addresses one of the most enduring and least theorised elements of literature: fictional character and its relationship to actual, human selfhood. Where does the boundary between ...character and person lie? While the characters we encounter in texts are obviously not 'real' people, they still possess person-like qualities that stimulate our attention and engagement. How is this relationship formulated in contexts of theatrical performance, where characters are set in motion by actual people, actual bodies and voices? This book addresses such questions by focusing on issues of coherence, imitation, appearance and autonomous action. It argues for the plays' sophisticated treatment of character, their acknowledgement of its purely fictional ontology alongside deep – and often dark – appreciation of its quasi-human qualities. Seneca's Characters offers a fresh perspective on the playwright's powerful tragic aesthetics that will stimulate scholars and students alike.
That Lucan's Pharsalia is a narrative of disillusionment is widely recognized in recent criticism. That it bemoans Rome's loss of power to a would-be tyrant is, currently, almost an axiomatic ...observation. Here, Bexley examines the political geography of Lucan's epic. She investigates a particular series of connections that appear to have passed unnoticed: the distinctive parallels Lucan constructs between Rome and three other geographic locations--Delphi, Pharsalus, and Ammon--and the ways in which he uses these sites to represent the physical and conceptual dislocation of the urbs. She argues that the contradictory geography Lucan creates symbolizes contested power: Caesar's desperate grab for command literally carves up the world and undermines Rome's assumed role as the political pivot of the globe. Of the three locales, Delphi and Ammon are associated with Rome's past; Lucan equates them with the mores maiorum, especially in the figure of Cato, and with the senatorial government, led by Pompey, that Caesar threatens to overthrow.
This chapter examines the stagecraft and performance of Plautus's and Terence's comedies. The first section gives an overview of the production process, discussing ancient rehearsal practices, ...possible performance locations, and the structural characteristics of Roman theater buildings. To complement this historical background, the chapter's second section concentrates on four individual scenes and describes various ways in which they could be staged. For Pseudolus 129-229 and Menaechmi 1050-1162, the major performance issues are role division, stage properties, and the size of acting troupes; Eunuchus 46-206 demonstrates clearly the dramatic effects of impersonation; and Hecyra 623-726 calls for the creative enactment of one character's asides. Throughout, these discussions of performance emphasize the effects that different staging techniques will have on the audience.
Appearance Bexley, Erica M.
Cambridge University Press eBooks,
06/2022
Book Chapter
Odprti dostop
Chapter 3 charts the prevalence of physical description in Senecan tragedy, arguing that this is not a symptom of Rezitationsdrama, but a consequence of Seneca’s interest in physiognomy and ...pathogonomy, both of which use bodily signals to evaluate the quality of people’s internal psychological / emotional / mental states. Like coherence and exemplarity, physiognomic analysis unites the quasi-personal and purely fictional elements of character, on the one hand by encouraging audiences to infer a psychology behind characters’ surfaces, and on the other by focusing attention on textual signs and symbols. This chapter discusses the confluence of bodily and mental states in Seneca’s Phaedra and Oedipus.
Introduction Bexley, Erica M.
Seneca's Characters,
06/2022
Book Chapter
The Introduction sets forth the book’s main parameters and situates its study within the current landscape of Senecan scholarship. In addition, it provides a detailed overview of major theoretical ...approaches to literary character from the late nineteenth century to the present, arguing against the limitations inherent in both the formalist/structuralist method of character criticism, and the humanist/psychological method, and proposing instead a blended theory of character that recognises both structural and person-like qualities. The final section of the Introduction narrows focus to theatrical contexts and considers how stage performance affects the presentation and reception of fictional character.
PDF
