Women at The Thesmophoria

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  • Created by: Evie_1997
  • Created on: 21-05-16 17:27
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  • Women at the Thesmophoria
    • ACT ONE
      • begins in a street in Athens with Euripides and Mnesilochus out of breath
      • They stop outside Agathon's house (Agathon is a tragic poet) and a servant walks out and introduces Agathon
      • Euripides is convinced that the women are plotting to kill him. he wants Agathon to defend him
      • Agathon enters and starts singing dressed as a woman. He then refuses to help Euripides
      • Mnesilochus offers to help by accident. Then Euripides and Agathon shave him and dress him as a woman
      • Mnesilochus makes Euripides promise to come and help him if he gets into trouble with the women
      • He enters the Thesmophoria and does his best to blend in. After the chorus begins Mica's monologue
      • Mica speaks of Euripides and his insults that women are boozers, cheats, gossips, bag eggs, curses upon mankind
      • Mnesilochus speaks and uncovers other things that women have supposedlyfone.
      • As a woman Mnesilochus speaks of how she has been married for only a few days and already has a lover boy. she is able to decieve her husband and sneak around meeting him and there is the comic effect of him hiding in her skirt
        • "she" also says how women are able to trick their husband into thinking they're pregnant and their labour process is taking days when in fact they are stalling for time trying to find a baby from a slave or a prostitute and then tells the men they have a child.
      • The chorus cannot believe what he says and Mica stands up to argue that it's unacceptable and she starts to argue with Mnesilochus
      • Cleistheus turns up and tells them Euripides has sent someone to spy on the women
      • The women find out and ***** Mnesilchous. so then he steals Mica's baby and threatens to kill it. It turna out to be a bottle of wine, emphasising the idea that women are alcholics
    • ACT TWO
      • Mnesilochus is being guarded by Crystilla
      • Mnesilochus has an idea to use the plot from Palamedes but it doesn't work so he begins reciting lines from 'Helen' (Aristophones way of mocking Euripides)
      • Euripides shows up dressed as Menelaus-He and Mnesilochus begin reciting lines from the play
      • Then the Magistrate appears and Euripides is forced to leave
      • Euripides ithen dresses as Perseus from Andromeda and Mnesilochus begins reciting lines from Andromeda
    • Humour
      • Aristophones is not mocking just women, he mocks all sorts of people including men and women
      • He wants to impress his audienceby mocking as many people as possible so that the people can relate to at least one of them
      • Mocks men with feminine appearences such as Agathon.he also mocks Mnesilochus as an old man who thinks he knows what hes talking about when in relaity he does not
      • mocks women as they sit on the Phynx hill how they think they can run a council meeting seeing as women had virtually no power in Athens
      • Mocks Euripidesand all tragic poets, by using the chorus (not used in comedy usually) and mocking the idea of using a chorus he is mocking the seriousness pf tragedies
        • Uses lots of sexual humour such as Innuendos and rude comments/gestures e.g 'boy was he good' 'he aided me from behind'
      • Visual humour through costumes, fat bellies, large phallouses, exaggerated beards and ugly masks
      • DramaticIrony, in the assembly we the audienceknow that Mnesilochus is a man but Mica and the chorus do not know, leading to comments and situations of humour
        • The same way that the Scythiandoes not know Euripidesis Mnesilochus rescuer and they are just acting out roles

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