No, you haven't been beamed back to your grandparents' front porch, but it might feel that way—there's a lot of reminiscing about the "good old days" in The Clouds, and chatter about how much better life was in the past. Socrates and his Thinkery are all about newfangled ideas and methods, but Strepsiades is so stuck in the past (and, as he keeps reminding us, old) that he can't quite keep up, so he has to send his son there to learn the rhetorical skillz they think they need to shake off their creditors.
Better Argument, the personified school of thought that is all about pushing for tradition, reverence for elders, and morals, believes that the new "worse" argument (personified as Worse Argument) is poisoning Athenian youth, but Strepsiades is all about it… until he realizes that it gives his son the ammunition he needs to be as badly behaved as he can be.
Questions About Change and Aging
- If they play is trying to praise tradition/the elder generation, why does it make its one elderly figure such a fool?
- Is Better Argument's yearning for tradition and the "old" days portrayed positively? Negatively? Neutrally? Does nostalgia seem to be helpful or harmful?
- Is change ever portrayed as a good thing in the play?
Chew on This
Strepsiades is portrayed as foolish so that the audience focuses on the right thing when critiquing Socrates's ideas: it's not that the older generation and its values are better; it's just that Socrates's philosophy/approach is bad.
Better Argument's values—tradition, morals, etc.—are portrayed as good, but his pining nostalgia doesn't come off as super powerful or positive.