Feminine Discourse in Roman Comedy: On Echoes and Voices

by Dorota M. Dutsch

Overview

As literature written in Latin has almost no female authors, we are dependent on male writers for some understanding of the way women would have spoken. Plautus (3rd to 2nd century BCE) and Terence (2nd century BCE) consistently write particular linguistic features into the lines spoken by their female characters: endearments, soft speech, and incoherent focus on numerous small problems. Dorota M. Dutsch describes the construction of this feminine idiom and asks whether it should be considered as evidence of how Roman women actually spoke.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199533381
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Series:	Oxford Studies in Classical Literature and Gender Theory
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dorota M. Dutsch is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Plautus' Pharmacy3. Of Pain and Laughter4. (Wo)men of Bacchus5. Father Tongue, Mother Tongue