Charles Chaplin's Films

Birds (414 B.C.E.)

Comedy makes it much easier to discuss the ever-present conflict between classes. Chaplin’s comedy may serve to make the lower classes feel more comfortable about their status; Aristophanes’, on the other hand, might encourage the audience to be more aware of those around them who might take advantage of them. Chaplin glorifies the difficulties that define the lower class while the plays of Aristophanes shame the common man for his ignorance and simplicity of motive.

Films

Dyskolos (316 B.C.E.)

DYSKOLOS

In Dyskolos, Gorgias and Sostratos become friends and learn to trust each other despite their differences in class. Gorgias at first proclaims: “It’s not fair that you, with time on your hands, should plague us who have none. And let me tell you, when a poor man’s wronged, he becomes a very difficult customer. To start with, he gets a lot of sympathy: and then he takes his bad treatment not just as an injury, but as a personal insult” (lines 290-300-ish). Gorgias takes it upon himself to educate the wealthy Sostratos of the differences in social status. By the end of the play, the duo works together to orchestrate the marriage of Sostratos to Knemon’s daughter.

SAMIA

Chrysis, the live-in mistress of Demeas, begins as a low-class woman but is taken in to Demeas' well-to-do Athenian family, in effect briding the gap between the two classes because of their love for each other.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

In It Happened One Night, Ellen Andrews is at first portrayed as a rich, spoiled daddy’s girl who is upset because things aren’t going her way. She certainly proves to think highly of herself, a perception that is quickly broken down by Peter Warne as the two overcome adversity together in order to get to New York. Warne’s common sense and Andrew’s loftiness mesh together and manage to teach the other a valuable lesson: Warne passes on his passion for life and spontaneity and Andrews passes on her high expectations. Audiences nationwide were shown that the classes can mingle and coexist peacefully.

Class conflict is resolved through the learning process; when people of differing classes are put in situations in which they must work together to be successful, in the process they learn about the other person and his or her way of life, a valuable lesson that fosters understanding and appreciation.

IRAN MAN (PERSA)

Plautus’ Persa educates the audience on the low lives of Roman society and how they live, which may or may not be shocking to the spectators. The slaves in the play live up to the stereotypical image of the servus callidus, scheming right and left and dodging their masters, all the while getting themselves into ridiculous situations that are overly complex and comically successful. The character of Bowman must have been very shocking to Roman audiences, as he portrays a slave hopelessly in love, a role not usually taken on by slaves. His role would certainly have stirred up some emotions in the audience.

TOWELHEADS (POENULUS)

Similarly, Poenulus chronicles the lives of the bottom feeders of Roman society, weaving a story of deception and sex, which was surely attractive to Romans of the time. Just as in Persa, Plautus uses comedy to poke fun at differences in class, perhaps only perpetuating the class struggle.

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

A Night at the Opera does a wonderful job at highlighting the dramatic differences that exist between classes, and the comic ease with which the Marx Brothers approach the issues not only make the class distinctions more obvious, but they also make it acceptable for those differences to be discussed in public. Rosa and Ricardo’s relationship bridges the gap between high society and immigrant culture, and they themselves acknowledge the problems presented by the difference is their statuses. Rosa claims that Ricardo is a “bonafide chorusman,” but they can never marry.