Reading Greek and Roman New Comedy Through Oscar Wilde’S Society Plays
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READING GREEK AND ROMAN NEW COMEDY THROUGH OSCAR WILDE’S SOCIETY PLAYS Serena S. Witzke A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classics. Chapel Hill 2014 Approved By: Sharon L. James Kimberly Stern C. W. Marshall Owen Goslin Peter Meineck © 2014 Serena S. Witzke ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Serena S. Witzke: Reading Greek and Roman New Comedy Through Oscar Wilde’s Society Plays (Under the direction of Sharon L. James) This dissertation provides the first extended analysis of the influence of Greek and Roman New Comedy on Oscar Wilde’s Society Plays and of the ways in which Wilde adapted the ancient plays he studied in school. Equally, I argue that reading Wilde’s Society Plays can offer new ways of appreciating themes and conflicts in the ancient material. Wilde—ultimately interested in the individual and his place in society—uses New Comedy to explore the ways in which the individual can develop while mired in the hypocrisies of those around him. Conventional morality often comes under fire, as Wilde demonstrates the lip service paid to traditional morality. Wilde also interrogates the ancient New Comedies he adapted: these plays were considered not only funny, but mimetic in their day, with valuable messages. Wilde identifies what is amusing in them, but also sees what is serious or thought-provoking—elements that must have been obvious to ancient viewers, but went underappreciated in Wilde’s time, and indeed our own. Wilde questions the value systems in place and draws attention to the psychology underpinning these plays by restaging them in his time. Chapter 1 outlines Wilde’s classical education and his departure from the values of his tutors, who disparaged New Comedy. Chapter 2 explores the sexual double standard of both antiquity and Victorian England, through philandering husbands and seduced/raped wives in New Comedy and Wilde. Chapter 3 analyzes the successful recognition plots of Menander and iii Plautus alongside The Importance of Being Earnest. Chapter 4 investigates the superficiality of that recognition plot as it is deconstructed in Terence as well as in Lady Windermere’s Fan and A Woman of No Importance—the failure of the recognition plot to reintegrate the broken family is symptomatic of deeper societal flaws. Chapter 5 reads Plautus’ clever slave plays against An Ideal Husband and suggests that servi callidi and dandies have similar functions as provocateurs, that their roles are more integral to the plays than generally credited: servi callidi are necessary both for the resolution of plot and as agents of comeuppance, while dandies both facilitate character development and resolve plot. iv For my mother, my best friend. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I give thanks first to Sharon James, my dissertation advisor, without whose advice and guidance this dissertation would not exist. She taught me to love New Comedy, and she has been an incredible support through the years and tears of the dissertation process. I am grateful to Kimberly Stern for her suggestions on Victorian studies bibliography, and for her help in guiding me through Wilde’s paradoxical prose and philosophies. I would also like to thank Toph Marshall, Owen Goslin, and Peter Meineck for their helpful comments on numerous drafts. Patrick Dombrowski has been invaluable to me through the editing process: his hundreds of microscopic marginal comments have cleaned up my prose enormously. He will probably point out my errors in this acknowledgement too (update: he did!). T. H. M. Gellar-Goad was a helpful resource on all things Roman Comedy, but I’m sorry Ted, I will not be entitling this dissertation “Plautine Girls Gone Wilde” (I do reserve the right to use the title in any future talks/articles). Thanks are due to Jessica Wise and C. “Josephus” Schmidt for their help in editing several chapters of this dissertation. Emma Buckingham, it should be noted, is a sweetie. Deepest gratitude goes to Debra and Frank LaCrosse, my parents, who have supported me with love, hope, and funds throughout my time at university. They may not understand the Latin, but they have always understood my passion for academia. My mother has been the greatest support of all, and I am eternally grateful for all that she has done for me. Without her, none of this would have been possible. vi PREFACE This dissertation begins to explore the complex ways in which Oscar Wilde—an Oxford- trained Hellenist—studied and systematically drew on Greek and Roman New Comedy. I argue that this project illuminates not only Wilde's intellectual and creative processes but also those of the ancients. Reading Menander, Plautus, and Terence through Wilde reveals unsuspected depths and challenges in their theatrical programs, and thus has much to offer classical scholars. All Menander texts and translations are from from G. W. Arnott’s Loebs (1979, 1996, 2000), unless otherwise noted. All Plautus texts and translations are from W. de Melo’s Loebs (2011a/b/c, 2012, 2013). All Terence texts and translations are from J. Barsby’s Loebs (2001a/b). All line numbers for Oscar Wilde’s Society Plays correspond to the New Mermaids editions by I. Small (Lady Windermere’s Fan [1999] and A Woman of No Importance [2006]) and R. Jackson (An Ideal Husband [2009] and The Importance of Being Earnest [1980]). vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: OSCAR WILDE, VICTORIAN SCHOLARSHIP, AND NEW COMEDY.............................1 Oscar Wilde, Classicist........................................................................................................1 Oscar Wilde, Hellenist.........................................................................................................7 Wilde and New Comedy....................................................................................................10 Victorians and New Comedy.................................................................................16 Who Was Wilde’s Menander?...............................................................................28 Menander and Wilde..............................................................................................30 Roman Comedy and Wilde....................................................................................32 Wilde in Opposition...........................................................................................................36 Wilde’s Reading of New Comedy.........................................................................37 How Wilde Wrote..................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 2: THE SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD............................................................................48 Re-evaluating the Sexual Double Standard in New Comedy Through Wilde...................50 Philandering Husbands and Bad Fathers...........................................................................51 Menander’s Husbands............................................................................................52 Plautus’ Husbands..................................................................................................56 Terence’s Husbands...............................................................................................65 Wilde’s Husbands..................................................................................................69 Shocked Exclamations...............................................................................70 viii Protestations for Children..........................................................................74 Expense of Philandering............................................................................76 The Sexual Double Standard.....................................................................78 Solutions for Infidelity...............................................................................83 Compromised Mothers: Rape/Seduction and Single Mothers...........................................87 Menander’s Older Generation Rapes.....................................................................90 Plautus’ Older Generation Rapes...........................................................................94 Terence’s Older Generation Rapes........................................................................98 Seduction in Wilde...............................................................................................101 Social Retirement of the Raped/Seduced Mother....................................101 Shame in Women, Character in Men.......................................................104 Revelation Under Duress.........................................................................108 The Resolution.........................................................................................112 Case Study: Hecyra and Lady Windermere’s Fan...........................................................120 CHAPTER 3: SUCCESSFUL RECOGNITION PLOTS.......................................................................123 Reading New Comic Recognitions in Wilde and Wildean Recognitions in New Comedy...................................................................................................................128 Overview of Recognition Comedies................................................................................130 Euripides’ Ion.......................................................................................................135