THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

Todday GaitherEnglish IV9/104/4/11

Two Brothers

The Two brothers of Comedy of Errors

There names are Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse .

They are twins.

Figure 1: Shakespeare

The mother of Comedy of error

She is the mother of brothers Robson and Crane

Figure 2: Rowser Donald

Ephesus

This is were they were born: Ephesus Greek.

Its an Ancient Greek city in Asia.

Birth Parents

Antipholus birth mother and father was Aemelia and Aegion.

Figure 5: Greek Pottery

Touble of Father

Antipholus of Syracuse father was sentece to death.

apprehended under Ephesian law and is sentenced to death since he does not have the means to pay his own ransom.

Figure 6: Guillotine/forquignon.com

Dromio

Dromio brothers was a servant to Antipholus of Syracuse.

Birth by a poor lady given to the father.

Figure 7: Twin Dromio/forquignon.com

Kings Orders

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.

Figure: 8 everythingandnothing.typepad.com

Abandon Child in Care

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;

Figure:9 monitormag.org.uk

The Search began

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.

Figure 10: courttheatre.org

The Confusion

The confusion begins when, shortly after, Antipholus of Syracuse arrives in Ephesus, unaware that both his father and brother are there.

Figure 11:

The Married Antipholus

Antipholus of Ephesus is married to a beatiful wife name Adriana.

Figure 12: paulbatou.com

Dromio Mistake

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. Figure 13: James A.

Haught

Finding Sisters

Dromio of Ephesus returns home and reports what has transpired to Adriana and her sister, Lucian. They believe that Dromio has spoken to Antipholus of Ephesus, and they suspect the latter of being unfaithful to Adriana.

Figure 15: Ruski healga

Practical Joke

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.

Figure 15: Fresco of a Greek Drama

The Confusion of Dromios (Continue)

The Syracusan Dromio does not know what he is talking about, and in denying his master's charges, he incurs a beating.

Figure 16: Bob Levin

Solinus

Duke of Ephesus.

Figure 17:Greek historian Solinus, c. AD 200

The Theme

The concept of identity is one of the most discussed topics in the criticism on The Comedy of Errors, going well beyond the obvious theme of mistaken identity. Some critics focus solely on personal identity (usually with regard to the twin brothers Antipholi or Adriana, though other characters' identities are also addressed), while others look at how public/social and private identities intersect

Figure 19:Alexandria Dumas

The Comedy of Errors: Modern Connections

The Comedy of Errors is believed by many scholars to be Shakespeare's first play. (Some argue it may have been written as early as 1589). Many elements of the play seem unbelievable and are deliberately contrived for their comic effect. The confusions of identity in the play turn on the highly unlikely possibility that each pair of twins, the Antipholuses and the Dromios, would have the same name. It is also highly unlikely that the abbess could have lived so many years in Ephesus unaware of the presence, in that city, of her...

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.

Engraving from Galerie des Personnage de Shakespeare (1844)

Gender Issue

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.

Lee Ericson-1930

Adriana, and Luciana

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

The Comedy of Errors Poem"They brought one Pinch, a hungry lean-faced villain,

A mere anatomy, a mountebank,

A threadbare juggler and a fortune-teller,

A needy, hollow-eyed, sharp-looking wretch,

A dead-looking man: this pernicious slave,

Forsooth, took on him as a conjurer,

And, gazing in mine eyes, feeling my pulse,

And with no face, as 'twere, outfacing me,

Cries out, I was possess'd. Then all together

They fell upon me, bound me, bore me thence

And in a dark and dankish vault at home

There left me and my man, both bound together;" Figure: Sara Lewis

Holmes

Work Cited

Achtemeier, Paul J., ed.  Harper's Bible Dictionary.  San Francisco: Harper, 1985.

Alter, Robert.  "Psalms."  The Literary Guide to the Bible.  Ed. Robert Alter and Frank Kermode.  Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1987.  244-262. Baldwin, T.W. 

On the Compositional Genetics of The Comedy of Errors.  Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1965

Barker, Robert. Surviving Jealous Relationships: The Green Eyed Marriage. New York: Free, 1987.

Bishop, T.G.  "Compounding Errors."  Shakespeare and the Theater of Wonder.  Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996.  63-92.

Bonazza, Blaze Odell.  "The Comedy of Errors."  Shakespeare's Early Comedies.  London: Mouton, 1966.  16-43.

Brooks, Harold.  "Themes and Structure in The Comedy of Errors."  Early Shakespeare. London: Edward Arnold, 1961.  55-72.

Fergusson, Francis. "Two Comedies." The Human Image in Dramatic Literature. 1957. Rpt. in Discussions of Shakespeare's Romantic Comedy. Ed. Herbert Weil.  Boston: Heath, 1966. 15-24.

Chute, Marchette. "The Comedy of Errors." Stories from Shakespeare.  New York: Penguin, 1976.