A Spectacle to the World: The Theatrical Meaning of St. Augustine’s Soliloquies

“A Spectacle to the World” examines the various conversations about the theater that are held by the characters Augustine and Reason in Augustine of Hippo’s early dialogue the Soliloquies, as well as the theatrical metaphors used in the work itself. Through an analysis of not only the dialogue’s arguments but also the way in which those arguments are presented, we argue that the Soliloquies is itself a kind of theatrical representation that both imitates and remedies what Augustine refers to elsewhere as the theatrum of living in the world. Specifically, the Soliloquies is a comic drama intended as a partial remedy to the tragedy of sin and error as well as a new theological art form drawing from the tradition of philosophical comedy pioneered by Plato.