Juvenal,satire and the persona theory: Some critical remarks

This article briefly outlines the origin of the persona theory as applied to Roman verse satire, particularly Juvenal. Scholars adapting this theory regard the speaker in the satires as a fictitious literary character, a dramatic mask (persona). The central arguments in favour of this concept put forward by W.S. Anderson and some of his followers are examined and discussed, and the validity of the whole persona doctrine in its more exceeding form is challenged.