Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's early plays, probably written in the early 1590s. It is a Five-Act play, though it is the shortest play by Shakespeare. It is a farcical comedy. A farcical comedy or a Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable situations.
Shakespeare was criticized for not maintaining the classical ‘Unities’ of Time, Place, and Action in his plays. However, Comedy of Errors is one of his few plays in which he maintained all three Aristotelian unities. The unity of place dictates that the play should happen in a single location (in this case, Ephesus); the unity of time dictates that the play should take place over no more than 24 hours (this play occurs all in one day); and the unity of action dictates that the play should focus on one main plot action (in this case, the confusion of Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse). The importance of family and marriage is one of the play's main themes. Mistaken identity and similar appearances are another major theme. The play shows the folly of making assumptions based on someone’s appearance.
Characters of Comedy of Errors:
Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse are the two protagonists, identical twins who were lost during their childhood. When Antipholus of Syracuse arrives in Ephesus, the townspeople confuse him with his twin brother. He dines with his brother's wife Adriana and later is reunited with Egeon. Antipholus of Ephesus is married to Adriana. He initially has the golden necklace made for his wife and is later locked out of his house when his twin brother arrives.
Aegon is the father of Antipholus of Syracuse and his twin. He is a merchant from Syracuse who reaches Ephesus in search of his lost son but gets arrested because a law forbids merchants from Syracuse from entering Ephesus. He is condemned to die if he cannot provide one thousand marks as bond money. Dromio of Ephesus is a servant of Antipholus of Ephesus and the identical twin of Dromio of Syracuse who in turn is a servant of Antipholus of Syracuse. Adriana is the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, she mistakenly brings Antipholus of Syracuse into her house and locks out her real husband. Luciana is Adriana’s sister with whom Antipholus of Syracuse falls in love. Angelo is a goldsmith of Ephesus who makes a necklace for Adriana at Antipholus of Ephesus' request. He delivers the necklace to Antipholus of Syracuse while expecting payment from Antipholus of Ephesus. Doctor Pinch is a schoolmaster and exorcist, he is asked to drive the demons out of Antipholus of Ephesus whom Adriana thinks is mad. Emilia is the mother of Antipholus of Ephesus and Syracuse who becomes an abbess after losing her husband and a son. Solinus is the Duke of Ephesus who feels sorry for Aegon of Syracuse and offers him time to pay his bond money. Nell is Adriana’s servant and Dromio of Ephesus’s wife.
Summary of Comedy of Errors:
The play is set in Ephesus, an old Greek city.
Act 1
The play begins as Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus enters his court to listen to the case of Aegon, a merchant from Syracuse. Recently both cities have passed laws which put any man from the rival city to death unless he can raise a ransom of one thousand marks, a sum which Egeon cannot afford. Despite the rivalry between the two cities, the Duke of Ephesus is kind-hearted. He asks Aegon why he chose to enter Ephesus. Aegon tells him that he has come to Syracuse in search of his wife and one of his twin sons, who were separated from him 25 years ago in a shipwreck. The other twin, who grew up with Egeon, is also traveling the world in search of the missing half of their family. Years ago he and his wife went to Epidamnum. While there, his wife bore twin sons, so alike that they could only be distinguished by their names. A poor woman in the same inn also had twins. She was crying that she couldn’t afford to raise her sons, so Egeon purchased them to be servants for his two sons.
After they left to return home, they were caught in a storm and forced to tie themselves to their ship. Just before they could be rescued, they hit a rock and the ship broke in two, separating Egeon from his wife Emilia, one of his sons, and one of the servant twins. When he grew old, the remaining twin inquired about his brother, and Egeon spent five years traveling the Greek islands searching for him before ending up in Ephesus. The Duke is so moved by this story that he grants Egeon a day to raise the thousand-mark ransom that would be necessary to save his life.
In the same city, Antipholus of Syracuse arrives with his servant Dromino of Syracuse and they encounter a merchant who warns them that they must pretend to be from a city other than Syracuse since a merchant from there was arrested only that morning. Antipholus and Dromino arrived at Ephesus in search of their lost twin brothers. Antipholus sends Dromio with some money to arrange a hotel for the night. After some time, Dromino of Ephesus arrives at the same place while searching for Antipholus of Ephesus. When Antipholus of Syracuse sees him, he asks if he has arranged for the hotel and demands the remaining money back. Dromio of Ephesus gets confused and tells Antipholus to hurry home to dinner before his wife beats them both. Antipholus of Syracuse gets angry, believing that Dromino has stolen his money, and beats him. Dromio of Ephesus runs away.
Act 2
At home, Adriana is waiting for her husband, Antipholus of Ephesus. She is upset that her husband often remains away from home. She tells her sister Luciana to marry so that Luciana will have more power, rather than being a servant to her. Dromio of Ephesus arrives and informs how strangely Antipholus of Ephesus behaved and says he was beaten by him. Adriana asks him to go again and bring Antipholus. Dromino protests but Adriana begins beating her and he is forced to go back to fetch Antipholus. Adriana tells Luciana that she believes Antipholus is seeing some other woman and he has abandoned her.
Dromio of Syracuse returns to Antipholus of Syracuse. Antipholus asks him why he ran away. Domino of Syracuse gets confused and thinks that his master is playing some trick. He informs that he has arranged Centaur Inn for the night. As they move towards the Centaur Inn, they encounter Andriana and Luciana. Adriana chastises Antipholus, who she thinks is her husband, for claiming not to know her. She expresses her pain at being cheated on and reasons that if she slept with someone else, he would be furious. She says that she is contaminated by his “contagion” of adultery. Antipholus is confused and says that he has just arrived in Ephesus and does not know her.
Luciana scolds Antipholus and says that Adriana had sent Dromio to fetch him for dinner. Antipholus asks Dromio if this is true, and Dromio says he has never seen Luciana or Adriana before. Antipholus calls him a liar, thinking of Dromio of Ephesus, who did bring the message to him earlier. Adriana and Luciana take them to their home. Adriana orders Dromio to guard the door, while she and Antipholus enter the house and eat dinner together.
Act 3
Dromino of Ephesus meets Antipholus of Ephesus and complains of his ill-treatment to his master, who does not know what he is talking about and thinks Dromio is a fool. They meet Angelo, the goldsmith and Antipholus asks him to make a gold necklace for his wife Adriana. They meet another merchant of Balthazar whom Antipholus invites to his home for dinner.
When Antipholus, Dromio, Angelo, and the merchant of Balthazar reach home, they encounter Dromino of Syracuse at the gate. Dromio of Syracuse refuses to let them enter. Antipholus gets confused as he sees another Dromino at the gate of his home. He asks who is he to which Dromio of Syracuse says his name is Dromio. Dromio of Ephesus thinks he has stolen his identity. A servant from within the house named Luce comes to the door and Dromio of Ephesus demands to be let in. She refuses, and Antipholus of Ephesus threatens to knock the door down. Disturbed by the commotion, Adriana comes to the door from inside and asks who is outside. Antipholus of Ephesus calls her his wife, and Adriana is shocked, telling this man whom she thinks is a stranger (because Antipholus of Syracuse is inside the house already) to leave. Antipholus is ready to break down the door and tells Dromio of Ephesus to get “an iron crow” for this purpose. The merchant of Balthazar advises him not to do so. Antipholus of Ephesus orders the goldsmith to deliver the golden necklace soon so that he may present it to some other woman to spite his wife.
Inside the house, Luciana complains to Antipholus about how he treats her sister. She tells him to stop looking at other women and to start comforting his wife.
Antipholus replies that he knows no wife, but that he finds Luciana to be quite beautiful and lovely. She is shocked by his suggestive nature and thinks that he has gone mad. She then tells him to wait while she goes to fetch her sister. Dromio of Syracuse rushes in and complains that a strange fat woman is claiming she is his wife. Antipholus feels it is a strange city where women capture men to claim them as their husbands and asks Dromino to go to the harbor and find out if any ships are sailing away from Ephesus that night. After some time, Angelo arrives and gives the golden necklace to Antipholus of Syracuse who fails to understand why he is giving the necklace to him but takes it. Antipholus then decides to follow Dromino to find a ship and go away from the strange city as soon as possible.
Act 4
A merchant asks Angelo to give the money back that he took as a loan. Angelo says that he is expecting payment from Antipholus soon and then he will pay him back. Antipholus of Ephesus arrives with Dromino of Ephesus and Angelo asks money for the golden chain. Antipholus says that he doesn’t have money at the moment and tells Angelo to deliver the gold chain to Adriana at his house who will give him the money. Angelo gets confused and says that he already delivered the necklace to Antipholus which Antipholus denies. They begin arguing and the other merchant calls a police officer. Angelo complains against Antipholus of Ephesus and he gets arrested.
Drominus of Syracuse finds Antipholus of Ephesus at the hail and tells him that he has found a ship that will leave Ephesus soon. Antipholus fails to understand and asks Dromino to go to Adriana and have her send bail money to get him out of jail. Dromio is hesitant to go back to Adriana’s house, where Nell is, but reluctantly obeys him.
At home, Luciana informs Adriana that Antipholus tried to seduce her. Adriana abuses Antipholus calling him bad names. Dromio of Syracuse arrives and tells them that Antipholus has been arrested and that he requires money to be set free. Adriana gives him the money and sends him off again, but is now more worried than ever before about her husband.
Dromio of Syracuse returns but finds Antipholus of Syracuse with the golden necklace and delivers the money to him. A beautiful courtesan arrives and sees the necklace with Antipholus. Antipholus of Ephesus had promised to give the necklace to her to spite his wife. She asks for the golden necklace but Antipholus of Syracuse refuses to give it. Angered, the courtesan threatens that she will complain to his wife.
Antipholus of Ephesus is still in jail where Dromio of Ephesus arrives. Antipholus asks him the money for his bail but Dromio denies having any money. Antipholus begins beating him but the jailer restricts him from doing so. Adriana and Luciana arrive with Doctor Pinch, an exorcist to bail Antipholus out. They ask Doctor Pinch to treat Antipholus and bring him back to his mind. Adriana says that she gave the money for bail to Dromio but Dromio denies it. Doctor Pinch says that both men are suffering madness and must be treated.
Adriana and Luciana decide to go talk to the goldsmith about the debt that Antipholus owes to him. The Courtesan also shows up and tells Adriana about the ring her husband took in return for a golden necklace that he promised to give. They all go to the house of Angelo the goldsmith where they see Antipholus and Dromino of Syracuse. Adriana and the jailer are surprised and wonder how quickly Antipholus and Dromino broke and escaped the jail.
Act 5
Angelo sees the golden necklace in Antipholus of Syracuse’s neck and asks him a liar. He demands payment for the necklace. Antipholus challenges him for a duel. Adriana intervenes and begs Angelo to forgive Antipholus as he is mad. Dromio urges his master to run before they get caught and bound, at which point they run into the priory, where the Abbess lives.
All others follow them. The Abbess is disturbed by the commotion and comes out. She asks why so many people have gathered at the priory. Adriana tells her that Antipholus has become mad. She then tells the Abbess that she thinks Antipholus is also looking at other women, to which the Abbess replies that Adriana should have rebuked him more often. Adriana then demands that she be allowed to fetch her husband, but the Abbess does not allow her to enter.
Adriana and Luciana are upset by the Abbess’s treatment and decide to go to the Duke to complain about her. The Duke of Ephesus arrives there with Aegon and the executioner. Adriana complains to him about his husband who is inside the priory while the abbess isn’t allowing her to meet him. The Duke calls for abbess but she doesn’t come out.
Antipholus of Ephesus arrives with Dromio of Ephesus complains about how badly Adriana has treated them, and asks the Duke to allow him to take revenge. Aegon recognizes his son but doesn’t say a thing. The Duke calls for the abbess again. Aegon tries to talk to Antipholus of Ephesus who doesn’t recognize him. Aegon gets confused and tries to remind Antipholus that he is his father. The Abbess arrives with Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio, both of whom immediately recognize Egeon and call out to him. The Abbess then reveals that she is Emilia, Egeon's wife who was separated from him when their ship broke apart on the rocks. Soon the entire story is revealed to the Duke, who then pardons Egeon. All exit into the abbey to celebrate the reunion of the family.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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