The Comedy of Errors | Criticism

  • Overview

    In the following excerpt, Dorsch covers the main action and characters in the play. He notes especially that the twin Dromios are vastly different in character, that the women in the play "stand out more vividly than the men" (the Courtezan is "just the kind of girl a sensible man would look for if he had a nagging wife"); and that the Abbess (Aemilia) is a powerful presence in the play.

  • Identity

    In the first essay, Barbara Freedman explores the concept of identity (primarily as it is evidenced in the characters of Aegon and the Antipholi) in the play, integrating such discussions as what she sees as the plot's three-part structure, the centrality of monetary and marital debts (and their intersection), and the importance of redemption. In the second brief excerpt, Barry Weller explores how Antipholus of Syracuse ultimately fails in his search for the "confirmation and completion of his identity" in his twin brother. Gail Paster, in the final excerpt, argues that "only by attending to the nature of the urban environment. . . can the play's deep concern wth the ambiguities of personal and civic identity become fully revealed."

  • Genre

    In the following excerpt, Russ McDonald first surveys previous criticism on the play regarding its classification as a farce and its position in Shakespeare's canon. McDonald then examines "how meaning comes about in farce" through the play's "theatrical complexity," concluding that the play should be examined for what it is—a farce and a "source of wonder."

  • Love and Marriage

    In the first excerpt, Peter G. Phialas argues that Shakespeare's use of the concept of romantic love in The Comedy of Errors sets the stage for its function as the "chief structural principle" of his later romantic comedies. Dorothea Kehler, in the second selection, notes that Adriana and, her husband, Antipholus of Ephesus, "could pass for a well-to-do modern couple headed for divorce."

  • Gender Issues

    In the following excerpt, Ann Christensen explores the intersection of the "home" and the "marketplace"—the private and public spheres—particularly through the characterization of Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus. She also show how the two realms are united at the conclusion of the play, when all misunderstandings have been resolved.

  • Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus

    In the following excerpt, W. Thomas MacCary examines Antipholus of Syracuse from a Freudian perspective, in terms of his relationships with Adriana, Luciana, Aemilia, and Antipholus of Ephesus. William Carroll, in the second selection, discusses how Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus undergo "transformation by doubling."

  • Adriana and Luciana

    In this excerpt, Robert Ornstein briefly discusses the characters of Adriana and her sister, Luciana, both of whom he terms "sympathetically drawn intelligent women."

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