Taylor
Gonzalez
GSI:
Kuan
Humor Exposes Character of Chaerea
In the play Eunuchus by Terence, a central plot point is that of the brother of
Phaedria (Chaerea) raping the servant of Thais by posing as a Eunuch. The
perpetuator of the crime, Chaerea, appears in Act 2, Scene 3 of the work.
Chaerea’s posing as the Eunuch is humorous because of the juxtaposition of the
youthful, handsome, virile soldier against the form of an old, ugly, impotent
servant. To build this juxtaposition up to truly draw the most impactful contrast
possible, Terence writes Chaerea’s entrance scene with a series of subtle
comedies to highlight these characteristics which are in conflict with those of
the Eunuch. In this scene, Terence employs bathos,
deus ex machina, and asyndeton in order to put on display the traits of Chaerea
that make him different from the Eunuch in his quest to obtain Pamphila.
The use of bathos in Chaerea’s command to Parmeno to help him gain Pamhila “by
force, stealth, or entreaty” is used to emphasize the commanding, driven
personality of the young, lovesick soldier. The anticlimax adds a level of
humor to the character. Chaerea’s preferred method to obtain the object of his
affections is by force. This suggests that, first and foremost, Chaerea is a
man of action. In a normal construction of this sentence, one may have said
‘entreaty, stealth, or force’ to convey that the way to go about this ordeal is
to try a humble plea for the young woman to be given to him and if that didn’t
work to go on from there. However, by the use of bathos rather than auxesis,
Terence perpetuates a comedic tone while exposing the true essence of
unwavering masculinity in the character of Chaerea.
Furthermore, Terence employs deus ex
machina by having the family servant Parmeno jokingly offer to dress Chaerea as
the Eunuch and deliver him to the house of Thais. This sudden solution to the
complicated problem of how to unite Chaerea with the object of his desires adds
to our understanding of the young soldier. By the suggestion of a plan to
switch places with a lowly servant, Terence exposes the masculine traits of
strong mindedness and tenacity within Chaerea. He is built up as a character of
confidence, resolved to get what he wants. By continuing to craft the
personality of Chaerea in this way, Terence is ripening the juxtaposition that
occurs once Chaerea takes on the appearance and role of the Eunuch.
Lastly, when Chaerea decides that
Parmeno’s joke is actually a brilliant idea he resolutely proclaims that they
must set the plan in motion at once. The scheme of asyndeton is used to further
demonstrate the opportunist mentality of the young man. The lack of
conjunctions in the order given to Parmeno to “dress [him] up, take [him] away,
lead [him] to her” conveys urgency in his mission to procure Pamphila. This
urgency is not meant to seem frantic or shaken, but to stand as a marker of his
steadfast dedication to attaining his goal.
When Chaerea is finally put into the
clothing of the Eunuch and enters the home of Thais, he is embodying the antithesis
of himself. It is by this contrast of characteristics that Terence makes a joke
of Chaerea’s masculinity and society’s obsession with appearances.
1 comment:
You did a great interpretation of this particular passage. My attention was focused on the juxtapositions that you mentioned in the first paragraph. Then my attention was shifted towards understanding the meaning of the effect of a "eunuch". I wanted to know further explanation of the humorous effect of this figure. Lastly, I would like to say that your usage of the word "bathos" is something that I have never seen before. Often times this word is hard to use as when describing a situation or a thing, however, you made it flow very smoothly in your text.
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