Terence Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Gilbert Norwood

Critical Essay by Gilbert Norwood

SOURCE: "Plot-Structure in Terence" in Plautus and Terence, 1932. Reprint by Cooper Square Publishers, 1963, pp. 141-80.

In the following excerpt from his reconsideration of Terence, Norwood presents a detailed examination of the plot structure of Terence's comedies.

From first to last Terence devotes great attention to plot, but does not at first succeed: in fact we cannot regard him as a master of construction till Phormio. In the two latest plays he employs the perfected method with still greater ease, boldness and versatility.

The Andria shows grave faults amid undoubted merits. Simo's change of purpose provides a delightful entanglement. Having urged his son's acceptance of a marriage that Simo himself does not really wish, he is so pleased by Pamphilus' feigned eagerness that he decides to turn the sham into earnest. As he expounds this change of plan to Davus, Pamphilus' valet, we can imagine the slave's jaw dropping...
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