Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1975

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Collins, Robert A.

Abstract

In preparation for developing the original thesis problem, the relationship between Plautus's clever slave and Ben Jonson's Face and Plautus's braggart soldier and Ben Jonson's Sir Epicure Mammon, this study reviews previous criticism based on the relationship of Jonson to classical sources. Chapter I establishes that a firm belief in the necessity and efficacy of right reason is basic to the satiric comedy and hence the characterization of both Plautus and Ben Jonson, and it defines the roles of the servus and the miles and indicates the form the thesis will take by comparing and contrasting Pyrgopolynices and Bobadil. Chapter II concentrates on the Latin sources, examining the prototype servus and miles in the Mostellaria and Miles Gloriosus of Plautus in order to establish types and definitions. Chapter III studies Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, indicating that Sir Epicure Mammon is actually in the miles tradition, that Face is a successful servus callidus and that Doll Common is a development of the Roman meretrix. The thesis concludes that the recognition of these prototypes and the apprehension of increased character development in Jonson enhances an appreciation of The Alchemist.

Extent

61 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1975.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT13710

Format

pdf

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