Appalachian State University
Department of Theatre & Dance presents
Play Analysis
In most cases, a good production of a well-written play is able to entertain, move, and stimulate its audiences, regardless of whether the audience members are familiar with the play or its subject matter. But if you want to understand a play more deeply--whether your an intrigued audience member, a student, a scholar, or a theatre artist--you can analyze one or more aspects of the work. There are many different approaches to play analysis and the approach you choose depends on what you're interested in discovering. To get a sense of the variety of approaches, look at the following analyses of Lysistrata by various scholars:
The article, "The Women on the Acropolis: A Note on the Structure of the 'Lysistrata'"* by A. O. Hulton gives an interesting, four-page analysis of what Hulton calls Lysistrata's two plans, how they are developed, and how they relate. Her plan to withhold sex is "Plan A" and her plan to seize the Acropolis and the treasury is "Plan B." He demonstrates that the plot of the play tends to ping-pong back and forth between these two plans and doesn't merge them much.
In her article, "Control of Costume in Three Plays of Aristophanes,"* Gwendolyn Compton-Engle argues that characters in Aristophanes' plays manipulated their costumes (including phalluses) in a sort of comic competition--control of one's costume indicated power and masculinity and lack of control signified the opposite.
In the article, "Poetic Metaphor and Dramatic Allegory in Aristophanes,"* Katherine Lever discusses Aristophanes use of allegorical characters. She describes some of his allegorical characters, including Reconciliation and Lysistrata, on page 221.
*Note that, except on a campus computer, you may have to enter your Banner ID to access some resources.
