Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

This being a play, which features, you know, actors, it makes sense that we learn about characters through their actions. For example, when the Women's Leader douses the Men's Leader with water, we know that she is one tough lady who won't let any male geezers boss her around. Likewise, when Myrrhine keeps sexually teasing her husband, Cinesias, but ducks out before actually doing the deed, we can see that she is committed to Lysistrata's cause.

Direct Characterization

The actors in the play don't just dance around gesturing like mimes. They speak, too. This means that another way we learn about characters is from things they say. For example, when Lysistrata tells us that she used to listen to her father and his friends talking, we get some insight into how she got her serious smarts: through cunning and eavesdropping. Well done, Lysistrata.

Family Life

Another way we can learn about characters is through their family life. For example, when Lysistrata tells us how she always used to keep quiet instead of asking her husband too many questions about his business in the political assembly, we learn that she is a mild-mannered, traditional woman overall. She just finally decided that enough was enough.

Physical Appearances

We also learn about characters from the way they look. This form of characterization is especially effective in a comedy like Lysistrata. For example, Lampito's buff physique tells us that she is a typical Spartan—in Sparta, women underwent rigorous physical training, as well as the men.

Even more obviously, when all the men in the play start walking around with massive, visible erections, we can tell that they are desperate for the chance to have sex with their wives (or anyone, really) again.