Mr. Steel
Prior to modern times, all
theatrical writing was classified as either "comedy" or
"tragedy" -- comedy being anything laughable (human things that pass away),
tragedy being anything serious (such as eternal questions). Ibsen's play is
neither comedy nor tragedy. It deals with "human things" critically
just as the ancients might with their comedies, but Ibsen's social commentary
on the rights of women is not humorous. Similarly, all questions about eternal
things are silenced in Ibsen's plays. Clearly, they are not tragedies.
Read this excerpt from
Aristophanes' ancient classic, The Clouds. Like Ibsen, he too wishes to criticize social forces at work
in his own society. However, unlike Ibsen, Aristophanes uses biting wit and
"potty humour" to vilify who he sees as corrupters of the youth,
namely, philosophers like Socrates.
In this excerpt, Strepsiades, a bankrupt Athenian, is knocking at the door
to Socrates' "thinkery" -- his school of
philosophy -- in order to learn how to speak cleverly so as to weasel his way
out of his debts.
On a separate page, offer
a brief analysis of Aristophanes' social commentary. What does he think of Strepsiades? Enumerate the various ways in which
Aristophanes makes the philosophers look like an obscene, ridiculous, or
corrupting influence upon the young.