In this way, Plautus could greatly simplify complex characters and give the audience what it wanted. “The audience to whose tastes Plautus catered was not interested in the character play,” instead it wanted humor that was easy to understand by many people. Stock setups offered such humor. Plautus used puns, he played with words, or he gave the words another meaning. Usually, the humorous characters in Plautine plays are of low social standing. This helps the comedy overall, because lower-class characters were often taken less seriously, and had to be less careful what they said.