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The Comedy of Errors | Introduction

The Comedy of Errors is considered one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, possibly his first comedy and certainly his shortest play, written sometime between 1589 and 1594, although it was not printed until 1623. The primary source of the play is the Menaechmi of Plautus, a Roman comic playwright, but Shakespeare also borrowed from Plautus's Amphitruo. From the Menaechmi Shakespeare took his central plot, which revolves around "errors," or mistaken identity, involving identical twin brothers. To this Shakespeare added additional characters and episodes.

Much of the criticism on the play discusses how Shakespeare complicated Plautus's plot. Shakespeare added another set of twins, servants to the twin sons of Aegeon. The story of Aegeon—his separation from his wife and one of the twin sons—is also a change from the Roman play. Shakespeare gave greater voice to the primary female characters in the play (and thus to issues of gender and the relationships between men and women), especially Adriana, who is merely a shrewish "Wife" in Plautus's play, and downgraded the role of an unnamed Courtezan. Shakespeare's selection of Ephesus for the setting of the play (the action of the play takes place in a single day in a single place) has been noted by critics as an important alteration in the play, since Ephesus was associated with sorcery, exorcism, mystery cults, and emerging Christianity. Critics tend to be in agreement that Shakespeare greatly expanded on the generally one-dimensional stereotypical characters in Plautus's play.

There was a scarcity of commentary on the play prior to the nineteenth century. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the first to discuss the play as a unified work of art, asserting that it was a farce and therefore should not be judged by the standards applied to comedy. Some critics viewed it as an apprentice work, since it was written so early in Shakespeare's career, and few critics argued that the play displays the full range of Shakespeare's dramatic talent. More recent criticism has focused on the play's genre (its "identity" as a tragedy, farce, comedy, or a combination of these) and the way in which it explores the issues of identity, gender, and love and marriage.

Although The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare's shortest play, it has generated a good deal of literary criticism. Critics will likely continue to offer commentary about the play's "identity" (genre) and the popular topic of the identity problems, journeys, and resolutions of its characters. Perhaps, too, the thus far limited exploration of the characters of Aegeon and Aemilia (the Abbess) will continue. With the topics of gender and male/female relationships becoming more popular in the criticism, more commentary in these areas is likely forthcoming, now that Adriana has been "rescued" from being considered as only a "shrew." Some critics continue to see the play as an apprentice work of Shakespeare's, preferring his major works instead, but many are also finding in it much more meaning than simply a story of mistaken identities.

The Comedy of Errors Summary

Act I
The play takes place in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor. Ephesus has cut off all trade with the city of Syracuse because the Syracusan duke has treated Ephesian merchants badly, holding them for ransom. The duke of Ephesus has retaliated in kind, proclaiming that all Syracusan merchants apprehended in Ephesus will be killed if they cannot pay a ransom of one thousand marks. In the opening scene, Aegeon, a Syracusan merchant, has been apprehended under Ephesian law and is sentenced to death since he does not have the means to pay his own ransom. When he is asked how he has come to be in Ephesus, Aegeon recounts a sad tale: many years before, he had been married and had fathered twin boys, both named Antipholus. At the same moment as his own sons were born, a poor woman nearby had given birth to twin boys, both named Dromio. Since she did not have the means to raise those boys, Aegeon bought them as servants for his sons. When he and his wife were separated in a shipwreck, one of the infant Antipholuses and one of the infant Dromios were left in the care of his wife; the other infant Antipholus and infant Dromio were left in the care of Aegeon. When Antipholus of Syracuse turned eighteen, Aegeon allowed him to go in search of his lost mother and twin brother, taking his servant Dromio with him. The confusion begins when, shortly after, Antipholus of Syracuse arrives in Ephesus, unaware that both his father and brother are there. He sends the Syracusan Dromio to secure their belongings and a sum of gold at the Centaur Inn. In the absence of the Syracusan Dromio, Dromio of Ephesus enters and mistakes the Syracusan Antipholus for his own master, Antipholus of Ephesus. He tells the mistaken twin that his wife, Adriana, awaits him at the dinner, which is going bad in his long absence. Antipholus of Syracuse is not married and believes that Dromio is fooling with him. When Dromio is ignorant of the gold and the Centaur, Antipholus of Syracuse becomes impatient and strikes him. Dromio of Ephesus runs off.

Act II
Dromio of Ephesus returns home and reports what has transpired to Adriana and her sister, Luciana. They believe that Dromio has spoken to Antipholus of Ephesus, and they suspect the latter of being unfaithful to Adriana. In the meantime, the Syracusan Dromio has returned from the Centaur, and the Syracusan Antipholus berates him for having casually perpetrated a practical joke in environs in which they need to be cautious. The Syracusan Dromio does not know what he is talking about, and in denying his master's charges, he incurs a beating. Adriana and Luciana enter and mistake Antipholus of Syracuse for his twin brother. They call him home to dinner, and although the Syracusan twin does not know them, he goes along with them to dine.

Act III
Angelo, a goldsmith, and Balthazar, an Ephesian... » Complete The Comedy of Errors Summary