FOR Plautus, then, the aim of theater was pleasure; and one of the primary features of the relationship between his actors and their audience was the former's conspicuous determination to provide the greatest possible pleasure to the latter. This determination is especially prominent in two plays: Pseudolus and Amphitruo. In Pseudolus, Plautus uses the close relationship between actors and audience to reinforce the play's effectiveness as a tour de force, appropriate for the extraordinary occasion at which the play was first produced. In Amphitruo, blandishment of the audience and theatrical awareness help remove potentially disquieting elements of the unusual plot.

A number of critics have noted the success of Pseudolus as a piece of metatheater, observing that Plautus repeatedly describes the action onstage in theatrical terms, and that he has created in the play's title character both an actor accomplishing ever more dazzling theatrical feats and a metaphor for the playwright himself." The success of a play, however, depends ultimately not on its playwright or actors, but on the reaction of its audience; and Pseudolus shows a remarkable degree of self-consciousness about this third element of dramatic performance as well. In Pseudolus, Plautus not only offers a tour de force, but also repeatedly reminds the audience that the play's unique qualities have been designed for their pleasure; and he involves the spectators in the action onstage in unparalleled ways. The plot of Pseudolus revolves around the very typical acquisition of a