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Pseudolus
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Symbols & Motifs
Insults
In Pseudolus, characters’ language is crude, biting, and universal, limited by neither social status nor ability. When Calidorus tells Pseudolus that he wants a rope with which to hang himself, Pseudolus snidely asks, “Then how would I get my drachma back?” (91). When Calidorus continues to complain about losing Phoenicium, Pseudolus states, “Stop crying, you fool. You’ll live” (96).Just as Pseudolus insults his intellectual inferior, Simo insults Pseudolus, his social inferior, calling him, among other things, “the worst human being alive” (1285). Ballio issues a long host of insults at his slaves and prostitutes, calling them “slackers” (132) and “asses” (136), claiming their “shameless skulls are so thick” (149) they won’t work unless whipped, and criticizing them for doing nothing “except make trouble and guzzle wine” (183). He also insults the cook he has hired for his birthday party, telling him he should “just go to hell” (846), that he “could not possibly find a poorer / Specimen of a cook than the one I’ve brought here” (793), and that “anyone who values his goods won’t hire you” (850).
Interestingly, characters do not appear offended by the insults. They do not protest, and in fact sometimes they agree. When Pseudolus issues his “verbal assault” (359) on Ballio, Ballio responds with “Got that right” (360), “Ain’t that the truth” (360), and “Can’t deny it” (363). When Ballio describes how Pseudolus called him “a nasty scumbag” (1083), Simo tells him “[h]e got that right!” (1084)—to which Ballio responds, “Yes, I wasn’t upset at all” (1084). Often, insults are self-deprecating, as is the case between conniving slaves Pseudolus and Simia: when Simia assures Pseudolus he’s “got the scam right in” (942) his chest, Pseudolus exclaims, “What a fine fellow!” (943) to which Simia responds, “You can’t mean either of us” (943). Characters in Pseudolus are brazenly self-aware, and at times seem almost to brag about their unsavoriness. Insults are, in a sense, a form of currency that represents power between characters and gains laughs from the audience.
Luck
Though Pseudolus acknowledges that his quick thinking and determination make him uniquely qualified for plotting—he boasts of “[h]ow everything [he does] turns out with such finesse and success!” (574)—he does not discount the role of luck. Though he’d “earned the right to boast and bluster” (674) because he “had every last detail drafted up and drawn” (676), after obtaining the Macedonian soldier’s sealed letter, he notes that “the work of / One single goddess trumps the plotting of a hundred men!” (677-78). One must “make use of” (680) the goddess Fortune to be “successful and wise in men’s eyes” (680). He benefits from good luck again when Simia is inside Ballio’s house, retrieving Phoenicium; though he worries that Simia “will go AWOL” (1026) or “even join up with the enemy” (1027), that Simo will catch “us thieves with our booty” (1029), and that “the other Harpax may get here before / Our Harpax gets away from here with the girl” (1030-31), none of these events come to pass, and Simia frees Phoenicium unobstructed. Pseudolus comments that “[i]f the immortal gods ever help mortals at all, / Then they’re for rescuing Calidorus and me and for wrecking the pimp!” (905-06). He believes this is the only way “to account for the creation of this cunning and clever fellow [Simia] to help [them]” (907). Whether the gods have tipped the scale in Pseudolus’s favor is not explicitly stated; however, Pseudolus’s skills and his ready use of Fortune make his ultimate success seem determined from the start.
Military Conquest
Pseudolus often uses military language to describe his plan to steal Phoenicium. He describes how he will wage his “war” with Simo and his “battle” (524) with Ballio by using his “army of tricks” (572). He says he’s “marshaled [his] troops” (579) and that he will “lead [his] legions” (587) to Simo’s house, or “this ancient citadel” (588). He uses words like “troops,” “booty,” and “loot” (589), and he speaks of his “enemy’s defeat” (1270). In fact, even Simo wonders “what my Ulysses has accomplished” (1063). Pseudolus’s appropriating military language demonstrates his confidence and cockiness. It also reinforces the inversion of the powerful and powerless, suggesting, perhaps, that power rests less in one’s status than in one’s innate ability.
Interaction with the Audience
Pseudolus frequently references or speaks directly to the audience. In Scene 3, when Calidorus asks Pseudolus about his plan, Pseudolus replies, “I don’t want to have / To repeat myself: plays are long enough as it is” (387-88). In Scene 5, he tells the audience he understands his duty as an actor is “to be original / Enough to bring something original on stage” (568-69). In Scene 9, he tells Calidorus that the audience already saw him speak with Harpax and that he’ll “bring you up to speed later” (721). In the final scene, Simo asks Pseudolus if they should ask the audience to join them for a drink. By directly addressing the audience and acknowledging that he’s in a play, Pseudolus not only amuses and engages audience members but also invites spectators not to take the events too seriously.
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