Aristophanes and Critics

A true playwright through and through, works of amazing gold, is how people would describe Aristophanes. Recently I had to do some homework on him and taking advantage of this forced work,I am using it to write this blog. He is known as the best comedy playwright of all old comedy wrights, which is a bold statement in its self neglecting the fact that he is the only comedic playwright from old times that play's exist today. How I want to ask is this possible that you can compare a play to plays you known not the wonder of. This being in your mind i want to slowly bring you over to the idea of judging a play. Its seems simple when we watch it we go, "I love it or I hated it." In an idealistic mind set it is all that matter for most successful play is one that appeals the first time to an audience. Not any specific audience just the average Joe that walks in off the street. Not only that they depend on the fact that you have no past experience of that style of play to base it on. If you are confused let me link this idea to a story. Our friend Joe goes to see his first ever musical. He walks out of the musical saying, "Wow that is amazing." He has nothing to judge on or compare to he simply saw one musical that he thinks is different and as long as the actor song well it appealed to him. This will happen for maybe the first 10 musical but he will slowly set an order and then when he comes out of his 20th musical he can analysis based on past experience. Now here is my question so where should we stand to judge a play, on the side of how it amazes a random person who has only seen a couple. On the other side there is that we should judge it among our past experience (all that i care to point out are different) and say that one is better then the other based the points we can see because of the effects different cast can have on us. Both to me and hopefully to you seem irrational and stupid, which is why I hope I can slowly find that fine line in between where it helps the man who has seen a thousand of that play and the person who is going for there first time.