Alazon

Product Information

Frye, Northrop (1973) [1957]. "First Essay: Historical Criticism". Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton University Press. p.39. ISBN 0-691-01298-9. alazon, which means imposter, someone who pretends or tries to be something more than he is. The most popular types of alazon are the miles gloriosus and the learned crank or obsessed philosopher. The senex iratus or heavy father figure is a comic archetype character who belongs to the alazon or impostor group in theater, manifesting himself through his rages and threats, his obsessions and his gullibility. Some travellers are apt to advance more than is perhaps strictly true; if any of the company entertain a doubt of my veracity, I shall only say to such, I pity their want of faith, and must request they will take leave before I begin the second part of my adventures, which are as strictly founded in fact as those I have already related. In the play Miles Gloriosus ("Boastful Soldier") by Plautus, the term applies to the main character Pyrgopolynices. This foolish Miles Gloriosus brags openly and often about his supposed greatness, while the rest of the characters feign their admiration and secretly plot against him. Heavily borrowing from Plautus, the Stephen Sondheim- Burt Shevelove- Larry Gelbart musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum features a warrior named Miles Gloriosus.

Baron Munchausen from Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia by Rudolf Erich Raspe Captain Parolles is a deceitful character who brags about his triumphs in war but actually turns out to be a coward. This is one of the central features of characters known as alazons. He’s abandoned by Bertram in this play, the only person who was willing to trust him. This was despite the fact that other characters had encouraged Bertram not to trust him to begin with. He falls from whatever remaining good reputation he has by the end of the play and is forced to beg for help. This gets at the heart of his true nature. He’s nothing but talk, and as soon as he encounters a difficult situation, his “bravery” abandons him. Here is a quote from All’s Well that Ends Well: No, but love hath, as it were, milked my thoughts and drained from my heart the very substance of my accustomed courage. It worketh in my head like new wine, so as I must hoop my sconce with iron lest my head break, and so I bewray my brains; but I pray thee, first discover me in all parts, that I may be like a lover, and then will I sigh and die. Take my gun, and give me a gown. One might say: “The alazon in this story is particularly funny.” Or, “Did you hear what he said? He’s like a modern-day alazon.”In the PC game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, there is a non-playable character named Miles Gloriosus, willing to brag about his accomplishments as soldier. Throughout both plays, he engages in bombastic and over-the-top speeches. He is often, without realizing it, the butt of jokes. Aside: a dramatic device that is used within plays to help characters express their inner thoughts.

Published in 1588, this Elizabethan comedy features another good example of an alazon. This time in the form of Sir Tophas. He’s a knight who is described as pompous and willing to over- exaggerate his exploits. The knight is used as comic relief in the play. In one particularly humorous moment in Act III, Tophas declares his love for Dipsas, a hideous sorcerous. Here is a quote from that part of the play. Tophas is responding to Epiton, who asks him if he’s in love with Dipsas:

Victor L. Cahn, Shakespeare the Playwright: A Companion to the Complete Tragedies, Histories, Comedies, and Romances, Praeger, Westport, 1996. p.468.