Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Small Latin

Like the alchemy jargon in The Alchemist, the stream of Latin legalisms and theology in V.i of Epicoene seem intended to disarm the reader/audience member as much as the target character(here Morose). How far would Jonson have expected his audience to follow this linguistic turmoil? Is this a send-up of legalistic language, those who abuse it, or both? Is Jonson appealing to a reading public over a performance audience with this choice?

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