%0 Journal Article
%T The theatrical life of things: Plautus and the physical
%A Alison Sharrock
%J Dictynna : Revue de Po¨¦tique Latine
%D 2010
%I Universit¨¦ Lille-3
%X This paper examines the semiotics of props and other physical items in Plautus¡¯ Curculio. The play is over-determined with props: a candle, a door, fragrant wine, water, a ring, which comes in twice (and has a twin), a letter to go with it, a seal with represented elephant-slaying sword, a missing eye, a bad gut, animal names, like the wolfy banker Lyco, and the weevil-parasite Curculio, and a property manager who comes out for a little chat with the audience about the real-life Rome they can see around them. I am particularly concerned with the most powerfully metatheatrical and metapoetic elements, including the preternaturally quiet door, and the ring which has a life of its own weaving through the play and indeed through the comic tradition.
%K Plautus
%K Curculio
%K comedy
%K props
%K semiotics
%K stage conventions
%U http://dictynna.revues.org/419