The Broken Jug: Blowing Things Out of Proportion

As most people have already established, this play is packed full of symbolism. The “Adam and Eve” allusion practically smacks you in the face. But in my attempt to be studious, I found a connection between this play and another one we have already read. The connecting idea is how these two plays blow things out of proportion.

            For starters, let’s reminisce on Lysistrata. This is what I would call a play of epic proportions. Why? Because everything is a little extreme. Would a war really be stopped dead in its tracks just because some women went on a sex strike? Probably not. Would one woman be able to convince an entire mob of women to join this strike? Unlikely.

            Now back to the play at hand. The Broken Jug also makes things more extreme. Think about it. They are going to court over a BROKEN JAR. Literally! Don’t get so caught up in the fact that it is symbolic of her chastity that you forget that they are still arguing over a broken container made of clay. That seems just a smidge ridiculous.

            As to the higher significance of it all, these authors blew things out of proportion to make a point. They didn’t just do it to show off or horrify the audience. These plays were written to point out the shortcomings of mankind, or as Frye says “ a lack of self-knowledge.” Lysistrata points out issues with gender roles in society and The Broken Jug points out the poor structure of the judicial system.