Terence Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Richard Levin

Critical Essay by Richard Levin

SOURCE: "The Double Plots of Terence," in The Classical Journal, Vol. 62, No. 1, October, 1966, pp. 301-05.

In the essay below, Levin focuses on the two-level plot structure tracing parallel love affairs that is characteristic of several of Terence's plays.

Certainly one of the most striking features of Terence's plays is his use of a double-plot structure which combines the stories of two pairs of young lovers. Virtually all the commentators, from Donatus and Evanthius down to the present day, have dealt with this aspect of his dramaturgy, and virtually all of them have found that it contributes materially to his unquestioned artistic achievement. On the nature of that contribution, also, there appears to be quite substantial agreement, for while these discussions have been as various as the points of view which have been brought to bear upon the subject, the specific advantages claimed for the Terentian "duality-method" generally...
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