Comedy of Errors

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Comedy of Errors

• early Shakespearian comedy

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Comedy of Errors

• probably written 1591 first or second of
  Shakespeares comedies.
• written after some of the histories.
• written for both the public stage in London and
  for private Christmas celebrations for barristers
  at inns of court.
• shortest of Shakespeares plays.
• no surviving quarto editions.

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Whos Who

• 2 sets of identical twins born on same day
• Antipholus sons of merchants
• Dromio purchased servants
• Egeon father of Antipholus twins
• Duke of Ephesus (runs the town)
• 2 sisters
• Adriana (wife of Ephesus brother)
• Luciana (whom Syracuse brother falls for)
• Amelia abbess of Ephesus

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Some minor characters

• Courtesan (mistress of Antipholus of Ephesus)
  in this play, the wife, not the concubine, has a
  name
• Balthazar 2 more merchants
• Dr. Pinch who declares Antipholus to be a
  madman
• Angelo goldsmith
• Luce / Nell round wife of Dromio Ephesus

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Ideas to look for

• Water imagery (separated by the sea alike as two
  drops of water).
• What brings couples together.
• Sense of individual identity missing in Plautuss
  play brothers are different people and want
  different things.
• Witchcraft and sorcery fear of what one does
  not understand.

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Contrasts with Plautus play

• Double twinning
• Setting changed to Ephesus in response to St
  Pauls letter to the Ephesians (which talks about
  Christian marriage, and clearly Antipholus
  Ephesus and Adriana need to work on their
  marriage)
• Addition of parents
• Element of real danger in Egeons threatened death