Madeleine's Performing Arts: The Comedy Of Errors

The Comedy Of Errors

The shortest and most farcical of Shakespears comedy's
Involves slapstick and mistaken identity
It has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre
It is generally assumed to be one of Shakespeare's early plays, (perhaps even his very first)
Emphasises on slapstick over verbal humor (in contrast with later comedies) has led many critics to term it an "apprentice comedy."
Shakespeare drew on classical sources for the plot of The Comedy of Errors. The bare bones of the story are drawn from the Roman comedy Menaechmi, written by the ancient dramatist Plautus (c.254- 184 B.C.)
The English playwright made a number of changes to the original story, including the addition of a second set of identical twins (the Dromios), the expansion of Adriana's character and the creation of her sister, Luciana, and, finally, the creation of the back-story involving Egeon and Emilia.
The play also draws on a number of other sources-- the lock-out scene, where Antipholus of Ephesus is locked out of his home for dinner, resembles a scene in another Plautine work, Amphitruo, in which a master is kept out of his own house while the God Jupiter impersonates him.

The Characters

Antipholus of Syracuse - The twin brother of Antipholus of Ephesus and the son of Egeon; he has been traveling the world with his slave, Dromio of Syracuse, trying to find his long-lost brother and mother.

Antipholus of Ephesus - The twin brother of Antipholus of Syracuse and the son of Egeon; he is a well-respected merchant in Ephesus and Adriana's husband.

Dromio of Syracuse - The bumbling, comical slave of Antipholus of Syracuse. He is the twin brother of Dromio of Ephesus.

Dromio of Ephesus - The bumbling, comical slave of Antipholus of Ephesus. He is the Syracusan Dromio's twin brother.

Adriana - The wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, she is a fierce, jealous woman.

Luciana - Adriana's unmarried sister and the object of Antipholus of Syracuse's affections.

Solinus - The Duke of Ephesus; a just but merciful ruler.

Egeon - A Syracusan merchant, husband of the Abbess (Emilia), and the father of the two Antipholi. He is, like his Syracusan son, in search of the missing half of his family; he has been sentenced to death as the play begins.

Abbess - Emilia, the long-lost wife of Egeon and the mother of the two Antipholi.

Balthasar - A merchant in Syracuse.

Angelo - A goldsmith in Syracuse and a friend to Antipholus of Ephesus.

Merchant - An Ephesian friend of Antipholus of Syracuse.

Second Merchant - A tradesman to whom Angelo is in debt.

Doctor Pinch - A schoolteacher, conjurer, and would-be exorcist.

Luce - Also called Nell. Antipholus of Ephesus' prodigiously fat maid and Dromio of Ephesus' wife.

Courtesan - An expensive prostitute and friend of Antipholus of Ephesus.

Synopsis

Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is condemned to death in Ephesus for violating the ban against travel between the two rival cities. As he is led to his execution, he tells the Ephesian Duke, Solinus, that he has come to Syracuse in search of his wife and one of his twin sons, who were separated from him 25 years ago in a shipwreck. The other twin, who grew up with Egeon, is also traveling the world in search of the missing half of their family. (The twins, we learn, are identical, and each has an identical twin slave named Dromio.) The Duke is so moved by this story that he grants Egeon a day to raise the thousand-mark ransom that would be necessary to save his life.
Meanwhile, unknown to Egeon, his son Antipholus of Syracuse (and Antipholus' slave Dromio) is also visiting Ephesus--where Antipholus' missing twin, known as Antipholus of Ephesus, is a prosperous citizen of the city. Adriana, Antipholus of Ephesus' wife, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and drags him home for dinner, leaving Dromio of Syracuse to stand guard at the door and admit no one. Shortly thereafter, Antipholus of Ephesus (with his slave Dromio of Ephesus) returns home and is refused entry to his own house. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse has fallen in love with Luciana, Adriana's sister, who is appalled at the behavior of the man she thinks is her brother-in-law.
The confusion increases when a gold chain ordered by the Ephesian Antipholus is given to Antipholus of Syracuse. Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay for the chain (unsurprisingly, since he never received it) and is arrested for debt. His wife, seeing his strange behavior, decides he has gone mad and orders him bound and held in a cellar room. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse and his slave decide to flee the city, which they believe to be enchanted, as soon as possible--only to be menaced by Adriana and the debt officer. They seek refuge in a nearby abbey.
Adriana now begs the Duke to intervene and remove her "husband" from the abbey into her custody. Her real husband, meanwhile, has broken loose and now comes to the Duke and levels charges against his wife. The situation is finally resolved by the Abbess, Emilia, who brings out the set of twins and reveals herself to be Egeon's long-lost wife. Antipholus of Ephesus reconciles with Adriana; Egeon is pardoned by the Duke and reunited with his spouse; Antipholus of Syracuse resumes his romantic pursuit of Luciana, and all ends happily with the two Dromios embracing.