A pun or paronomasia is a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect.
Lysistrata is filled with puns and their use, to my knowledge, is far more than just that for fun!!!
The puns in the play can be seen as an element that the aouthpr uses with the intent to create a more sexually explicit dialogue between the characters and to portray the idea behind the line of sexual abstinence and how it affects the development of the plot.
Puns also serve as an aid to the translator because they make the job of translating the basic and main ideas of the play much more quicket yet it doesnt take away from the original effect of the oroginal text.
So why puns? Why not just have stright sex talk?
I think this was done to romaticise the idea of the explicitness of the play and to make it a more targetable piece of literature for a broader audience.
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2 comments:
i think that while the puns made a point, and made the sex more romantic, i didnt like them overall, they seemed to be too forced, and i lost some meaning of the play because of it, but thank you for making clear exactly what a pun was.
I said that the puns add to the comedy of the play, and they distracted from the possible serious tones that the play could have. while this play could have had the potential to take on some serious themes, aristophanes chooses the route of comedy. I also said that it's possible that he is commenting that this situation could only happen in a fantastical situation such as in this comedy. I found them funny, though.
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