Dandy Paris and Patroclus the Vulgar Gent: Comic Pain and Masculinity in Trojan War Epic Burlesques of Nineteenth-Century London Stage - UTU Research Portal

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Dandy Paris and Patroclus the Vulgar Gent: Comic Pain and Masculinity in Trojan War Epic Burlesques of Nineteenth-Century London Stage

Authors: Ala-Lehtimäki, Henna

Publisher: Springer Nature

Publication year: 2026

Journal: International Journal of the Classical Tradition

ISSN: 1073-0508

eISSN: 1874-6292

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12138-026-00738-3

Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access

Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel

Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12138-026-00738-3

Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508994623

Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY

Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF

Abstract

The nineteenth-century burlesques drew inspiration from various sources, including ancient epic and mythology, thus using the classics as a background for contemporary discussions. In this paper, the portrayal of comic pain and masculinity in two epic burlesques of the Trojan War—Thomas Dibdin’s Melodrame Mad! or, the Siege of Troy (1819) and Robert Brough’s Iliad; or, the Siege of Troy (1858)—is brought into closer analysis. Through the characters of Paris and Patroclus, the study explores how violence and comic humiliation served as means for constructing masculine ideals on stage. By parodying classical sources by transforming Homeric duels into pugilistic contests, their comic framing exposed cultural anxieties about effeminacy, social class and national identity.

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Funding information in the publication:
Open Access funding provided by University of Turku (including Turku University Central Hospital). The work was funded by the Kone Foundation as a part of the research project ‘Portrayals of pain and models of masculinity: the suffering male body in Western art and culture’. The author declares no conflicts of interest because of this support.