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Slave Resistance In Pseudolus And The Cane

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Under the power and jurisdiction of their masters, slaves lost their humanity and became extensions of their masters (Rauch, Sherman, & Hagel). Consequently, slaves wished to escape their cycle of subordination as presented in many non-fictional slave texts, such as in Mariano Pereira’s interview after slavery or in the Ilheus, Bahia slave treaty in 1789 (Krueger). Given that the slave could not challenge the institution with enough power to eliminate it, slaves must have sought other means to oppose the institution and gain some autonomy. Hence, primary sources become excellent texts to extract and define the form of resistances slaves utilized to oppose their masters. In Plautus’s play, Pseudolus, and Machado de Assis’s short story, The Cane, slaves used the manipulation of language, the master’s power in persuasion, and the reliance on others to wager on gaining autonomy.
The author’s status and context of each literary work help validify the accuracy of depictions of slaves and, in turn, forms of slave resistance present in these primary sources. Plautus, a Roman comic dramatist, grew up and developed an interest in theater …show more content…

For example, the trickster slave faces mistrust multiple times from other characters, albeit warranted given the nature of tricksters; slaves must endure unfair punishments even when circumstances make it impossible for the slave to prevent it, such as the boy who is unable to buy Ballio a present; and subordinates must unconditionally carry out selfish desires of authorities, as exemplified in The Cane. With such difficulties present in slavery, forms of slave resistance seem like reasonable ways to preserve what little autonomy slaves had. However, the form of resistance a slave chooses may depend on the degree of desperation of the

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