HUMOUR IN THE SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE COSTUMES IN THE COMEDIES BY PLAUTUS
HUMOUR IN THE SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE COSTUMES IN THE COMEDIES BY PLAUTUS

Summary/Abstract: The article examines certain elements of the costumes not mentioned in Catharine Saunders’ monograph but presented in the Plautine plays. The author discusses such issues as the physical condition of the character (drunk and pregnant) and its reflection in aspects of the costume, the ethnic elements of garments (costume of the foreigner – from Carthage, Illyria and Persia) and the comic potential of the stage clothing. It appears that many terms used to refer to costumes often indicate grotesque features of the theatrical clothes used to portray Plautine characters. This phenomenon concerns male characters which are portrayed as having the big belly (leno and servus) or large feet (servus) and female characters which are presented as having large breasts (meretrix, tibicina and nutrix).

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