The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays; written circa 1591. It was first performed in 1598, during the Christmas festivities at Gray’s Inn; a law college in London. Shakespeare took the opportunity to revise the play with this audience in mind. He added two trial scenes, which he knew would amuse the crowd of legal students.
Background to The Play
It is Shakespeare’s shortest and most ridiculous play. Unlike many of his comedies, The Comedy of Errors is almost exclusively comic, with farce and slapstick galore. In its lifetime, the play has been adapted into an opera, by Stephen Storace, as well as a musical. In addition, it has been transformed for the small and big screens.
There are signs within the play which indicate that Shakespeare’s style altered much throughout his career. Many have criticised The Comedy of Errors for its lack of characterisation. This is a far cry from Shakespeare’s later work, which is renowned for character investment. However, there are those who consider The Comedy of Errors to be a refreshing change from the darker, psychological drama for which Shakespeare became known.
Although, on the other hand, there may be some deeper themes within the play. It could be argued that much of the play is involved with identity and the way in which individuals are defined. In addition, due to the events of the play, both sets of twins begin to doubt their sanity. Madness becomes a pre-occupation in Shakespeare’s later works, including Hamlet and King Lear.
The Role of Egeon
The Comedy of Errors opens with an extremely long piece of exposition. Egeon, the father of the Antipholus brothers, tells the audience and the governor, Solinus, about the two sets of twins and how they became separated.
This is the longest speech of the whole play. It is also the most serious scene, as Egeon is about to be executed for trespass. Interestingly, Solinus and Egeon are not in the play again until the very last scene. It could be said that the pair function as a prologue and epilogue; bookending the comic action of the play.
Synopsis of The Comedy of Errors
The play is based upon the confusion over two sets of identical twins. Both sets of twins are separated and live in separate cities: Ephesus and Syracuse. Antipholus and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse venture into Ephesus. Unsurprisingly, when the pair encounter the friends and family of their twins confusion chaos and comedy ensues.
Sources For The Play
The plot of the play was inspired by two comedies by the Roman writer, Plautus. The mistaken identity of twins is taken from Menaechmi and Amphitruo contains the twin servants with the same names.
The Comedy of Errors takes the classical form of drama in that the action takes place in the course of one day. The Ancient Greek theatre tradition was to abide by the ‘unties’ of place, time and action. This practice was largely abandoned, and is only used by Shakespeare twice. Oddly, the second time was in his final play, The Tempest.
Samantha Markham - Samantha Markham is a professional freelance writer with a particular passion for literary and theatrical subjects.
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