Ancient scholiasts and modern scholars have long been aware of a specialized feminine vocabulary (terms of endearment, a special word for ‘please’, and interjections) used by the authors of Roman comedy. This study investigates the cultural implications of these linguistic choices for female characters. Lexical mannerisms are, it emerges, only one manifestation of a larger tendency to portray women as disregarding of interpersonal boundaries and moral principles in their attitudes towards others and themselves. Yet comedy also employs allegedly feminine features of speech as a way to undermine ... More

Ancient scholiasts and modern scholars have long been aware of a specialized feminine vocabulary (terms of endearment, a special word for ‘please’, and interjections) used by the authors of Roman comedy. This study investigates the cultural implications of these linguistic choices for female characters. Lexical mannerisms are, it emerges, only one manifestation of a larger tendency to portray women as disregarding of interpersonal boundaries and moral principles in their attitudes towards others and themselves. Yet comedy also employs allegedly feminine features of speech as a way to undermine masculine identities, creating ambiguous figures such as the comic lover. Conversely, masculine points of view are often grafted onto the speech of comedic women. Most comedic roles thus represent both the dominant cultural discourse (male) and the voices this discourse attempts to exclude (female). The tension between these voices, which constitutes an implicit theme in the first half of this study, takes center stage in the second half. This part of the book explores the interfaces between the feminine discourses of Roman comedy and other ancient perceptions about gender and speech. Contemporary Roman notions of gender and boundaries, and Plautus' use of bacchanalia as a metaphor for acting, come into focus first. The narrative moves further away from Plautus and Terence, to examine Greek and Roman assumptions about identity and language, and then moves to propose that the Platonic concept of the chôra is a particularly useful lens for examining the feminine in Roman comedy.