Plautus: Casina

(Hardback)

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This is the first volume dedicated to Plautus' perennially popular comedy Casina that analyses the play for a student audience and assumes no knowledge of Latin. It launches a much-needed new series of books, each discussing a comedy that survives from the ancient world. Four chapters highlight the plays historical context, themes, performance and reception, including its reflection of recent societal trends in marriage and property ownership by women after the Punic Wars, and its complex dynamics on stage. It is ideal for students, but helpful also for scholars wanting a brief introduction to the play. Casina pits a husband (Lysidamus) and wife (Cleostrata) against each other in a struggle for control of a 16-year-old slave named Casina. Cleostrata cleverly plots to frustrate the efforts of her lascivious elderly husband, staging a cross-dressing marriage that culminates in his complete humiliation. The play provides rich insights into relationships within the Roman family. This volume analyses how Casina addresses such issues as womens status and property rights, the distribution of power within a Roman household, and sexual violence, all within a compellingly meta-comic framework from which Cleostrata emerges as a surprising comic hero. It also examines the plays enduring popularity and relevance.

Reviews

Plautus: Casina is an exceptional and extraordinary book. It exceeds my high hopes. I recommend it warmly to every teacher, student, library, and director interested in teaching, reading, or staging Plautus play. * The Classical Outlook *
Christenson's reading of Casina justifies the popularity of this highly entertaining yet provocative comic drama of Plautus and illustrates its allure to audiences and actors across time. * CJ Online *
This accessible and smart companion includes deft accounts of comic performance and nuanced discussions of social and historical context that bring Plautus play vividly to life for modern audiences. -- Catherine Connors, Professor of Classics, University of Washington, USA
Christenson offers a clear, thoroughly informative explication of the Casina in translation, including figures of speech, cultural references, and even key Latin terms. Students will find a readable and reliable guide to the plays historical and literary context. -- Ariana Traill, Associate Professor of Classics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
An engaging and accessible introduction to one of Plautus most unusual and entertaining comedies ... [This] book is a valuable resource for both students and scholars alike. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
This little book is a marvelous introduction to Plautus Casina that has much to offer undergraduates reading the play in the original or in translation. Its bibliography and synthesis of existing scholarship also make this text useful for graduate students looking to orient themselves in the discourse ... does what it sets out to do very well indeed.'' * Gnomon *

Author Bio

David Christenson is Professor of Classics at the University of Arizona, USA.