Abstract
In this article Thornton Wilder’s playThe Matchmaker is viewed as a modern example of New Comedy, a dramatic form popular in ancient Athens and Rome, since its plot, characters and humor closely reflect that tradition. The portrayal of its leading character Dolly Levi, moreover, reveals a striking parallel to the ancient figure of the “Parasite” especially as depicted in Terence’sPhormio (161 BC). Like Roman comedies Wilder’s play was an adaptation of an earlier play written in a foreign language. Unsuccessful when it first appeared in 1938 asThe Merchant of Yonkers, it was presented again with only modest revisions sixteen years later (The Matchmaker, 1954) and was reincarnated as a very popular Broadway musical in 1964 (Hello, Dolly!). This comparison also considers interesting differences between ancient and modern light domestic comedy.
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References
See, however, Sander M. Goldberg's article “The Woman of Andros: Terence Made Wilder,” inHelios 5.1 (1977), pp. 11–19; and references toThe Alcestiad in G. Karl Galinsky'sThe Herakles Theme: The Adaptations of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century, (Totowa, N.J. 1972), p. 79, 218–20. A recent guide to writings about Wilder may be found in Claudette Walsh'sThornton Wilder: A Reference Guide, 1926–1990 (New York 1993).
See Amos Niven Wilder,Thornton Wilder and his Public (Philadelphia 1980), p. 54.
See Richard H. Goldstone,Thornton Wilder: An Intimate Portrait (New York 1975), p. 21, and Theodore Ziolkowski,Virgil and the Moderns (Princeton, NJ, 1993), pp. 195–200.
See William L. Vance's discussion of this work and Wilder’s classicism inAmerica's Rome, vol. 2:Catholic and Contemporary Rome (Yale University Press 1989), pp. 256–61.
In his Introduction (p. 8) toOn the Razzle (London 1981) Tom Stoppard quotes one critic who claims that Nestroy is “untranslatable, even into German”.
According to Klaus D. Hanson, s.v. “Johann Nestroy”, in Frank N. Magill'sCirtical Survey of Drama; Foreign Language Series, vol. 4 (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1986), p. 1416.
Wilder’s preface, p. xi of the HarperPerennial edition,Thornton Wilder 3 Plays (New York 1985), the edition ofThe Matchmaker cited in this article. The preface was originally published in the Bantam Books edition,Three Plays by Thornton Wilder (New York, 1958).
Maria P. Alter “The Reception of Nestroy in America As Exemplified in Thornton Wilder'sMatchmaker”,Modern Austrian Literature 20.3/4 [1987], pp. 39–40 suggests that after the great depression, along with the provincialism and xenophobia of “the unsettled 1930s”, Americans had grown more sophisticated and open-minded due to travel experinece abroad “by courtesy of Uncle Sam”.
Stoppard’s Introduction (p. 8),On the Razzle (London 1981).
Cf. the charges of plagiarism leveled against Thornton Wilder that so intimidated the Critics Circle of New York that they deniedThe Skin of Our Teeth their annual award in 1943. (Gilbert A. Harrison,The Enthusiast: A Life of Thornton Wilder [New Haven and New York 1983], p. 233.)
Frank O. Copley's introductory note, p. 59, to his translation inThe Comedies of Terence (New York 1967). Also see R. G. Bury's note (The Symposium of Plato, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1932) on 174B (p. 7): “The jester (gelotopoios) who frequents feasts as an uninvited guest seems to have been a stock character in Epicharmus…Araros the comic poet was, apparently, the first to dub themparasitoi”.
See Donald Haberman,The Plays of Thornton Wilder. A Critical Study (Middletown, CT, 1967), p. 127 ff., who discusses this comparison in detail.
Quoted from Harrison'sThe Enthusiast (see n. 10 above)A Life of Thornton Wilder [New Haven and New York 1983], p. 234.
Instead of following the New Comedy precedent of introducing a relative at the end of the play to clear up the situation, Wilder brings the cast to the relative; but rather than clarifying the situation Miss Van Huysen further misinterprets the relationships. But it is her good will and determination that help unravel the complexity and bring about the resolution.
To further her vocation to spread enjoyment around, Dolly must first tutor Horace to adopt a proper attitude toward money; for her, money must be spread about “like manure” (p. 222) if it is to encourage life and growth. According to Donald Haberman (see n. 12 above)The Plays of Thornton Wilder. A Critical Study (Middletown, CT, 1967), p. 81 and n. 13, this comparison of money to manure comes from Francis Bacon, “Of Sedition and Troubles”: “Money is like muck, not good except it be spread”.
Scenes of deception, e.g., when the senex tries to deceive the adolescent, who discovers the secret: Geta finds out that Chremes is the father of Antipho’s wife (Phormio 872=Copley translation [see n. 11 above], Frank O. Copley’s introductory note, p. 59, to his translation inThe Comedies of Terence (New York 1967). Also see R. G. Bury’s note (The Symposium of Plato, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1932) on 174B (p. 140). InThe Matchmaker Ambrose finds out where Vandergelder is sending his niece (Act One, p. 260); the young men hide from the old man with the assistance of Dolly who covers for them (in Mrs. Molloy’s shop, Act Two, p. 311; also in the restaurant, Act Three, p. 364).
Scenes of confusion (throughout both plays, especially near the end). Also, slapstick and other silly action: Terence does not tend to include as much of this as Plautus does, but two examples are (a) the scene in the last act where Chremes is trying to convey an embarrassing secret to his brother while his wife is present; and (b) the final scene where Chremes and Demipho try to haul Phormio off to court before he calls out Nausistrata to tell her about the secret life of her husband. InThe Matchmaker there is more of this kind of slapstick: e.g., the tomato cans exploding (at end of Act One); or the young men sneezing in the cupboard while hiding in Mrs. Molloy's hat-shop (Act Two, p. 326). There is much more in Stoppard'sOn the Razzle.
Eavesdropping, whether accidental or not, is as common as intentional deception. Slaves often discover crucial information by this technique, or one of the young men overhears and misinterprets some action. InThe Matchmaker Vandergelder has to endure insults while eavesdropping on his niece arriving at the Harmonia Gardens with the forbidden Ambrose in the company of Dolly, who however soon realizes this in time to rectify the situation (Act Three, p. 336 f.). Thus the conniver outfoxes thesenex in his spying efforts, as often happens in Roman comedy.
Unlikely coincidences are common in this kind of comedy; e.g., Chremes meets the nurse of his daughter just as he returns home. InThe Matchmaker, the boys duck into Mrs. Malloy's hatshop quite by accident just as Vandergelder and Dolly are arriving. One of the most significant examples is Phormio’s ingenuity in stumbling upon the very name that Chremes had used to conceal his double life (“Stilpo”). Dolly Levi creates her appropriatealtera ego with “Ernestina Simple.” In Molière's play Frosine does not name the young lady she extolls.
Two famous “one-liners” (sententiae) from Terence’s play:Fortis fortuna adiuvat (Phormio 203, translated by Copley as “The gods help those who help themselves, you know,” p. 69), uttered by the slave Geta when Antipho has just learned about his father's return and is terrified); andah, dictum sapienti sat est (line 541=Copley's “Go on! A word to the wise is sufficient!”, p. 86), Antipho’s comment to Geta as an incentive to get his help. Examples of Wilder's sententiousness may not be selected for Bartlett's Quotations: “There are no free countries for fools” (Vandergelder, Act One, p. 258); or “One vice at a time” (Malachi, Act Three, p. 358). The young men’s curious nickname of “Wolftrap” for Vandergelder is oddly reminiscent of Antipho’s description of his troubles:auribus lupum teneo (Phormio 506=Copley's “I've got a wolf by the ears,” p. 84). Tom Stoppard's comedy, on the other hand, is full of puns: e.g., the following exchange early in Act I ofOn the Razzle (p. 12) between Zangler and Sonders: “Unhand my foot, sir!” “I love your niece.” “My knees, sir?”
Doublets are an interesting aspect of New Comedy. In both Terence and Wilder there are two servants, two couples and two young men. Wilder, however, avoids a sub-plot which would complicate the relationship between his two young men. Molière is closer to Roman comedy in this and many other ways. On the other hand, Vandergelder gives two reasons for re-marrying (Act One, p. 270) and Mrs. Molloy gives two reasons for marrying Vandergelder (Acta Two, p. 297). Dolly arranges two ladies for Vandergelder. (She gives two reasons for marrying the fictitious Ernestina Simple.) Also there is the double life attributed to both Chremes (on the island of Lemnos) and Cornelius (as a playboy in New York).
In Roman comedy the cantor usually has the last words bidding the audiencevos valete et plaudite (line 1055, in Copley’s translation, “Goodbye, all—and give us a good hand!”, p. 112) Of the modern playwrights considered here, Wilder alone follows this precedent. He gives the final words to Barnaby after Dolly says that the youngest person present ought to tell what the moral of the play is: “Oh, I think it’s about adventure…[etc.] So that now we all want to thank you for coming tonight, and we all hope that in your lives you have just the right amount of—adventure.”
Thornton Wilder declines to exploit the comic possiblities of father and son both courting the same woman, as in Molière'sThe Miser.
Wilder’s preface (see n.7 above), p. xi of the HarperPerennial edition,Thornton Wilder 3 Plays (New York 1985), p. xiii. Coincidentally, Terence states in the prologue of hisEunuchus (20–34) that one of the changes he made in his adaptation of Menander'sEunouchos was the addition of the parasite figure from Menander'sKolax (“Flatterer”).
Copley’s translation for Terence'sparasitus, p. 122; Douglass Parker (The Complete Comedies of Terence, edited by Palmer Bovie [New Brunswick, N.J. 1974], p. 242) translates the term as “sponger”.
A good recent survey of the ancient history of Parasites may be found in P. F. McC. Brown, “Menander, Frgs 745 and 746 K-T, Menander'sKolax, and Parasites and Flatterers in Greek Comedy,”Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 92 (1992), pp. 91–107.
Ibid., p. 98.
See W. Geoffrey Arnott, “Phormio Parasitus,”Greece and Rome 17 (1990), pp. 32–57.
In support of this interpretation is the name that Wilder chose for Nestroy's newly hired apprentice Melchior. Wilder changed it to Malachi, perhaps an allusion to the last book of the Old Testament. The name (meaning “messenger”) is appropriate for a character whose first task is to go on an errand for Mr. Vandergelder, to whom he brings a message of greeting from his previous employer.
Alter (see above, n.8) p. 38.
Goldberg (see above, n. 1) article “The Woman of Andros: Terence Made Wilder,” inHelios 5.1 (1977), p. 17.
Frank N. Magill,Masterplots II. Drama Series, vol. 3 (Pasadena, CA, 1990), p. 1067 (also the source for the next quote).
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Ziolkowski, J.E. Dolly Levi: A modern parasite? (Thornton Wilder and Terence). Int class trad 5, 549–560 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02701801
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02701801