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The Comedy of Errors

by William Shakespeare

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 10,004 ratings · 366 reviews

This play has been popular on the stage during the last three centuries and has proved itself admirable suited to adaptation as pure farce and musical spectacle.

Paperback, 112 pages

Published December 1st 1999 by NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company (first published 1594)

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Mar 16, 2013 midnightfaerie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

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The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare was a horrendous and bastardized version of a typical Shakespearean comedy. So many errors of mistaken identity that made the circumstances confused and dispositions ill toward characters that didn't get resolved until the end of the play made it most excruciating to read. It's almost as if Shakespeare had to churn out a play in a short period of time and he took A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About...more

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Nov 06, 2010 Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: you-call-that-art

So I was having dinner with Garry Kasparov and there was a check tablecloth. It took him two hours to pass me the salt.

So I said "Do you want a game of Darts?", he said "OK then", I said "Nearest to bull starts". He said "Baa", I said "Moo", he said "You're closest".

So I went down the local supermarket, I said "I want to make a complaint, this vinegar's got lumps in it", he said "Those are pickled onions".

I saw this bloke chatting up a cheetah, I thought "he's trying to pull a fast one".

But...more

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Aug 04, 2009 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: shakespeare, theatre, wits-and-fools, owned, 1500-1700

The story of a father, a mother, and two long lost twins and their various relations and servants all unexpectedly running into each other all over a city for no reason at all doesn't care all that much about anyone's emotions, and is willing both to torture all the characters and do anything to get them all to a happy ending in spite of it all. Its got no more of a moral than Much Ado About Nothing's, "Man is a giddy thing," does, and it couldn't care less. It might not even be the worst first...more

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Dec 30, 2009 Bram rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, the-bard

This play relies on a good deal of violence for its humor, which upon reflection kind of makes me uncomfortable. Particularly because Shakespeare's timing coupled with the absurdity of the scenario--twin brothers separated at birth with the same name each have a twin slave separated at birth with the same name--is actually pretty funny. At least I think it is, but I also grew up laughing every time Bud Abbot slapped Lou Costello, so I'm probably conditioned to enjoy this stuff. That is, provided...more This play relies on a good deal of violence for its humor, which upon reflection kind of makes me uncomfortable. Particularly because Shakespeare's timing coupled with the absurdity of the scenario--twin brothers separated at birth with the same name each have a twin slave separated at birth with the same name--is actually pretty funny. At least I think it is, but I also grew up laughing every time Bud Abbot slapped Lou Costello, so I'm probably conditioned to enjoy this stuff. That is, provided I don't think too much about it. I guess that's maybe the point with these comedies--not to think too much and just enjoy the silly spectacle. Or is it?

Maybe Shakespeare really was trying to get the audience to laugh and then go home, think it over, and feel guilty later. Maybe. He definitely brings up serious husband-wife issues in The Comedy of Errors. And he gives voice to some rather modern thoughts regarding gender relations, although these are easy to miss or minimize amidst the countering sexism--especially because the characters sometimes flip-flop. For example, see the Adriana of Act 2, Scene 1:

Adriana: Why should their liberty than ours be more?

Luciana: Because their business still lies out o' door.

Adriana: Look, when I serve him so, he takes it ill.

Luciana: O, know he is the bridle of your will.

Adriana: There's none but asses will be bridled so.

But later on, Adriana willingly takes the blame for her husband's madness for supposedly being too jealous and strict with him...which, of course, she had every reason to be considering he was off with a courtesan--something she forgives and forgets rather willingly in the end. Moral of the story? Wives: don't be too demanding and jealous, even if you have good cause. Yikes. Or are we to dismiss this conclusion along with everything else that's misunderstood once the play's absurd premise is resolved (i.e. when everyone finds out that these two men are not, in fact, the same man)? Maybe. If you're feeling generous.

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Jun 14, 2008 Daniel rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading this in high school, I had the opportunity to see the National Shakespeare Company perform it at The Globe theater in Odessa, TX. which was quite an experience, one that I hope to repeat some day. There's just something special about seeing a play in proper context that really makes it great. I laughed out loud.

And it made me come to a realization about a lot of Shakespeare's work that I think too many literary scholars forget or choose to ignore and that is the fact that these wor...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I went into this fairly skeptical of how much I would actually enjoy it. I was told that it was Shakespeare's first play and that the only reason that my instructor was having us read it was because it is actually being performed here on campus and we are required to attend the one-night-only performance. Not a glowing recommendation to have before starting a book!

The play is surprisingly easy to follow and understand. The humor is actually funny and I found myself chuckling out loud and enjoyin...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Tyler Marchant added it

The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare

This summary is over the first two acts. Which consists of 53 pages. This book is about a pair of twins who were separated at birth and a pair of twins who are each one of these men's slaves. All of these men have no idea that the other exists. These men end up in the same city where the wife of one of the Antipholus' mistakes him for her husband. This leads to a series of events that conclude with Antipholus' of Syracuse pretending to be the other one...more The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare

This summary is over the first two acts. Which consists of 53 pages. This book is about a pair of twins who were separated at birth and a pair of twins who are each one of these men's slaves. All of these men have no idea that the other exists. These men end up in the same city where the wife of one of the Antipholus' mistakes him for her husband. This leads to a series of events that conclude with Antipholus' of Syracuse pretending to be the other one eating dinner with his brothers wife.

Both of the Antipholus' and both of the Dromio's are very much alike. They are the story. The strange story could not be if it were not for these four characters. The entire idea of something like this happening is very amusing. I think that the characters themselves are believable while the story line seems very unbelievable.

This play has several different themes. One of them being that there is some crazy stuff that happens so just go with it. Another one being that you never know who your going to run into on the street.

Shakespeare uses a style that is similar to many other plays that he has written. He uses some made up words and some just odd words to make things flow. He also uses iambic pentameter which is extremely difficult to use but very effective in his style. He has a very unique style that can be easily recoginsed. The style of a piece of writing is extremely important. It's what makes each piece of writing unique to the author.

So far I am enjoying reading this play. Just the entire plot and the characters are very amusing to me. One of my favorite parts is when Antipholus of Syracuse meets Dromio of Ephesus and they get into a fight about money and his "wife". One part that i did not enjoy was when Adriana is talking with her sister about her man problems. I just thought that not only was it unnecessary but it was almost annoying.

Some of my favorite lines in the play were " Reft if his brother, but retained his name- Might bear him company in the quest of him, whom whilst I labored of a love to see, I hazarded the loss of whom I loved." This just makes me laugh because Shakespeare uses so many words to say that he looked for his brother. Another one was "I to the world am like a drop of water that in the ocean seeks another drop, who, falling there to find his fellow forth, unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself." I like this because it is very deep and has a profound meaning. One more that I liked was when Adriana found her husbands twin and thought him to be her husband and said " Ay, ay, Antipholous, look strange and frown. Some other mistress hath thy sweet aspects." I just find this very ironic how she mistakes him for her own husband and accuses him of cheating on her.(less)

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Jan 11, 2009 Katrina Morales rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I was firt introduced to this play I was waiting for the play to start during the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. I was excited to finally be able to see a play of Shakespeare's that wasn't all tragedy-- not to say that those plays aren't bad, but a person can only have so much tragedy on their mind. When the lights came up and a hispanic guitarest started blabbering on in spanish, I couldn't help but smile. Obviously Shakespeare hadn't written this play in spanish, so I couldn't he...more

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May 21, 2013 Matthew Coleman rated it 4 of 5 stars

In its simplest sense, "The Comedy of Errors" is a duplicitous farce based off of two Roman comedies by Plautus (whose comedies are the earliest surviving unbroken works in Latin literature). The fast-paced comedy tells the story of Egeon, a Syracusian trader who faces execution in Ephesus because of some long-standing feud that prohibits members of the opposing city from visiting. Egeon, though, moves the duke by telling him that he is in Ephesus because he is searching for his son Antipholus o...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Alannah Clarke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: online, reviewed

The Comedy of Errors is usually believed to be one of Shakespeare's very early plays, maybe even his first. As with many of his plays, Shakespeare drew on classical sources for the plot of The Comedy of Errors. The bare bones of the story are drawn from the Roman comedy Menaechmi, written by the ancient dramatist Plautus (c.254- 184 B.C.); Shakespeare might have read the play either in the original Latin or in an English translation that was published in 1594 but may have circulated in manuscrip...more The Comedy of Errors is usually believed to be one of Shakespeare's very early plays, maybe even his first. As with many of his plays, Shakespeare drew on classical sources for the plot of The Comedy of Errors. The bare bones of the story are drawn from the Roman comedy Menaechmi, written by the ancient dramatist Plautus (c.254- 184 B.C.); Shakespeare might have read the play either in the original Latin or in an English translation that was published in 1594 but may have circulated in manuscript form before that year.

Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is condemned to death in Ephesus for violating the ban against travel between the two rival cities. As he is led to his execution, he tells the Ephesian Duke, Solinus, 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. (The twins, we learn, are identical, and each has an identical twin slave named Dromio.) 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.

Meanwhile, unknown to Egeon, his son Antipholus of Syracuse (and Antipholus' slave Dromio) is also visiting Ephesus--where Antipholus' missing twin, known as Antipholus of Ephesus, is a prosperous citizen of the city. Adriana, Antipholus of Ephesus' wife, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and drags him home for dinner, leaving Dromio of Syracuse to stand guard at the door and admit no one. Shortly thereafter, Antipholus of Ephesus (with his slave Dromio of Ephesus) returns home and is refused entry to his own house. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse has fallen in love with Luciana, Adriana's sister, who is appalled at the behavior of the man she thinks is her brother-in-law.

The confusion increases when a gold chain ordered by the Ephesian Antipholus is given to Antipholus of Syracuse. Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay for the chain (unsurprisingly, since he never received it) and is arrested for debt. His wife, seeing his strange behavior, decides he has gone mad and orders him bound and held in a cellar room. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse and his slave decide to flee the city, which they believe to be enchanted, as soon as possible--only to be menaced by Adriana and the debt officer. They seek refuge in a nearby abbey.

Adriana now begs the Duke to intervene and remove her "husband" from the abbey into her custody. Her real husband, meanwhile, has broken loose and now comes to the Duke and levels charges against his wife. The situation is finally resolved by the Abbess, Emilia, who brings out the set of twins and reveals herself to be Egeon's long-lost wife. Antipholus of Ephesus reconciles with Adriana; Egeon is pardoned by the Duke and reunited with his spouse; Antipholus of Syracuse resumes his romantic pursuit of Luciana, and all ends happily with the two Dromios embracing.

Overall, I thought it would be refreshing to see a comedy of Shakespeare's for once, but it relies on a lot of violence. I loved the use of the twins and the duality in the play and how he mixed in mistaken identities (reminding me of Twelfth Night and for once I found it easy to read.(less)

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Apr 02, 2013 Kirsty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013, omnibus-editions, tpobab-reads, best-of-2013, plays, shakespeare

- I love the way in which Shakespeare uses twins and the concept of duality in his plays. I also really liked the way in which he mixed this with mistaken identities. The play reminded me a little of 'Twelfth Night' in this respect.
- 'Comedy's fond conclusions is that by finding the right partner, we find ourselves', says the introduction to my volume. For me, this puts the play into a nice little framework.
- I really like the recurring theme of shipwrecks in the Bard's plays too. He uses it as...more

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Mar 20, 2013 jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Aegeon is a merchant who has broken the law by entering Ephesus. As a citizen of Syracuse, he faces death for doing this, but he is allowed to relay to the Duke how his wife gave birth to twin boys, and how the parents bought low-caste twin boys, born on the same day, to be attendants. A shipwreck separates the family with each parent having one twin from each set and thinking them the only survivors. In adulthood, business places them all in the same city, still unaware of the others' existence...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Jesse Lopes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Everyone complains about the premise to this one, but I would have everyone know that if you should complain about that aspect of this play, you are simply admitting your personal ignorance of a very traditional type of plot for a comedy, which, unfortunately, for your critical reputation, goes back to Menander. Now, snobbery aside, or perhaps to rub it in, this is really a perfect play, quite on the level of Terence; the banter seems exceptionally well laced with double meanings, which appear b...more

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May 31, 2011 Edward rated it 3 of 5 stars

Deceptive appearances are at the heart of all of of Shakespeare's plays, and in the tragedies, they lead to simultaneous disasters and the realization by characters like Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and Lear that they have made terrible blunders in their lives that are too late to change. What the tragedies have in common with an early play like COMEDY OF ERRORS are these same deceptions. But in an comedy like this one the deceptions are literal and played for laughs. COMEDY OF ERRORS has two iden...more

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Dec 26, 2010 Mark Schnell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sexist? I don't think so. Characters in a play may be MCP's (male chauvinist pigs -- of any epoch!), but one must critically examine authorial intent by how the victims are portrayed. Adriana says, "What ruins in me that can be found, / By him not ruined?" This is a cogent argument, one to which the audience, male or female, must grant a measure of justice and sympathy. I think Shakespeare is on the side of the angels.

Violent? Antipholus seems to abuse his slave Dromio, with blows and buffets. I...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Rowland Bismark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Comedy of Errors is generally assumed to be one of Shakespeare's early plays, (perhaps even his very first) and its emphasis on slapstick over verbal humor (in contrast with later comedies) has led many critics to term it an "apprentice comedy." The exact date of composition is unknown: It was first performed on December 28, 1594, at the Gray's Inn Christmas Revels, to an audience that would have been largely composed of lawyers and law students. Attempts have been made to date it by referen...more The Comedy of Errors is generally assumed to be one of Shakespeare's early plays, (perhaps even his very first) and its emphasis on slapstick over verbal humor (in contrast with later comedies) has led many critics to term it an "apprentice comedy." The exact date of composition is unknown: It was first performed on December 28, 1594, at the Gray's Inn Christmas Revels, to an audience that would have been largely composed of lawyers and law students. Attempts have been made to date it by references to historical events mentioned in the text (notably in Act III Scene ii, when Dromio describes the fearsome Nell/Luce with references to European politics and geography), but the references are so vague that any exact dating amounts to guesswork.

As with many of his plays, Shakespeare drew on classical sources for the plot of The Comedy of Errors. The bare bones of the story are drawn from the Roman comedy Menaechmi, written by the ancient dramatist Plautus (c.254- 184 B.C.); Shakespeare might have read the play either in the original Latin or in an English translation that was published in 1594 but may have circulated in manuscript form before that year. In any case, the English playwright made a number of changes to the original story, including the addition of a second set of identical twins (the Dromios), the expansion of Adriana's character and the creation of her sister, Luciana, and, finally, the creation of the back-story involving Egeon and Emilia. The play also draws on a number of other sources-- the lock-out scene, where Antipholus of Ephesus is locked out of his home for dinner, resembles a scene in another Plautine work, Amphitruo, in which a master is kept out of his own house while the God Jupiter impersonates him. The general tone of Comedy is drawn from Italian comedy of the period, the shrewish wife is a characteristic figure in English comedy, and a number of the ideas about marriage are drawn from early humanists like Erasmus of Rotterdam. The play has always been very popular with audiences, if somewhat less so with critics, and in this century, the plot was borrowed by Rodgers and Hart for their musical, The Boys from Syracuse.

The Comedy of Errors is light, frothy entertainment, driven by coincidence and slapstick humor, its events confined within a single day. There are hints of Shakespeare's later forays into deeper character development, especially in the early laments of Antipholus of Syracuse for his missing twin, but the story remains largely on the surface. Characters are mistaken for one another, but they do not pretend to be other than what they are--there are no disguises here, only resemblances. The plot, so concerned with outward appearances, appropriately turns on the exchange of material objects--a Courtesan's ring, a gold chain, and the thousand marks that Egeon needs to save his life. Virtually all interior life is absent, and the action is entirely physical.

There are intimations of disturbing, even tragic issues in the story, of course--the plot depends on an initial threat of execution, and the play is filled with unsettling subjects. There are broken families, a troubled marriage, slavery, grief and anger, frequent violence, and a beheading lying in wait at the end of the day. But the play is not about these issues--it touches them briefly before skating on to happier, funnier subjects. The audience's moments of unease are brief and quickly give way to laughter.

And indeed, because this play is a comedy, everything that threatens the laughter is eliminated at the end. It is not only the characters' confusion that is relieved by the final scene, in which the "errors" are explained and resolved; all the darker, unpleasant issues are resolved, as well. Duke Solinus begins the play as a figure of unbending, almost tyrannical legalism; he ends it as a forgiving father figure. The broken halves of Egeon's family have been separated for more than 20 years; now they are put back together, and wife and husband fall into one another's arms as if time and distance had not intervened between them. The marriage of Antipholus of Ephesus and Adriana is threatened by mutual jealousy; their reconciliation, once their misapprehensions have been cleared away, is the work of a few moments. And even the poor, abused slaves, the Dromios, quickly forget their beatings and bruises and embrace. The ease with which these problems are overcome points to the central theme of the play: Love and felicity will triumph over all.(less)

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Oct 02, 2009 Mikhail rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays

Every marriage has a private and public dynamic, both of which dilute the individual spouses’ identities. In William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, the private dynamic of Antipholus of Ephesus and Adriana’s marriage relies heavily upon the constant struggle to determine with whom the power lies; whereas the public dynamic relies upon the placement of shame. Both of these elements—power struggles and shame—contribute to the constrictions emplaced upon both E. Antipholus and Adrianna’s indivi...more Every marriage has a private and public dynamic, both of which dilute the individual spouses’ identities. In William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, the private dynamic of Antipholus of Ephesus and Adriana’s marriage relies heavily upon the constant struggle to determine with whom the power lies; whereas the public dynamic relies upon the placement of shame. Both of these elements—power struggles and shame—contribute to the constrictions emplaced upon both E. Antipholus and Adrianna’s individual identities. So preoccupied are they with the matters of validation and perception, that they find themselves stunted in their personal evolution.
Ironically enough, it is only through the dialogues between Adrianna and her sister, Luciana, that the audience is allowed a glimpse into the private mechanics of Adrianna’s marriage; it is during these conversations that both sisters’ share their opinions on male dominance. “[Antipholus’s:] master of my state./ What ruins are in me that can be found,/ By him not ruined?... A sunny look of his would soon repair,” (Shakespeare; 2. 1. 95-97, 99). Adriana admits that whatever state she may ever find herself in, be it a ‘ruined’ one, or any other, it is due to Antipholus that she feels that way. “Sister, you know he promised me a chain,” Adriana says, speaking of a chain that is not only literal, but also symbolic of the captivity, the restraint, that Antipholus holds over her. A person can only move so far with a chain locked to them; they could grow only so much before finally succumbing to a state of arrested development. Furthermore, it is the person that has entrapped you in that chain—of course—that holds sway over your actions, over your personality. Adrianna’s identity is at the whim of her captor—Antipholus.
Or so it seems.
Be it advertently or inadvertently, Adrianna is capable—from time to time—at dropping her subservient-wife shtick and taking on the matriarchal role in her marriage. “Come, come, no longer will I be a fool./ To put the finger in the eye and weep... Husband, I’ll dine above with you today,/ And shrive you of a thousand idle pranks,” (Shakespeare; 2. 2. 204-205, 208-209). Adriana is admitting to committing herself to theatrics, putting her ‘finger’ in her ‘eye and weep[ing:];’ she forced the tears, the hysteria. She was a ‘fool’ to do so, to reduce herself into a role that is, by all means, servile compared to the strong-willed person she has the potential to be. Immediately after shedding herself of her dependent performance, Adrianna flips the tables on her faux husband—Antipholus of Syracuse, who might as well be her spouse—and places herself in the seat of authority; for it is she who will ‘shrive’—listen and cleanse—Antipholus of his ‘thousand idle pranks.’ Adrianna is perpetually vacillating from helplessness to self-determination, blurring the lines that would help define the identity that she wishes to draw for herself; it is the endless back-and-forth battle for autonomy between her husband and her that creates this particular difficulty, that keeps her from moving forward, and constraining her to a life of little agency.
Power disputes, of course, may also lead to bouts of shame as well as public humiliation, especially in Shakespeare’s time when it was common knowledge, of the Biblical sense, that men were supposedly superior to women—hence the inability for women to share a stage with men. Balthasar, a friend of E. Antipholus, had initially responded to E. Antipholus’s banishment from his own home as follows: “Plead of [Adrianna’s:] part some cause to you [E. Antipholus:] unknown” or else “a vulgar comment will be made on of it…for slander lives upon succession,/ For ever housed where it gets possession,” (Shakespeare; 3. 1. 91, 100, 105-106). Balthasar’s first utterance is on the staining topic of shame, which, according to him becomes a man’s ‘succession’ and lives past the day that man dies. It is with these words that E. Antipholus finally subdues his rage, packs away his true emotions, and turns a wandering eye towards his mistress. He would rather suppress his natural reaction, his anger—“And, in despite of mirth, mean to be merry”—and turn to merriment, that emotion he is so disinclined towards. All for the sake of saving face.
Luciana, who sincerely believes in the wife’s inherent purpose to deign herself into virtual servitude upon wedlock, argues that the role of a husband seeking extramarital pleasure is to make women “believe,/ Being compact of credit, that [husbands:] love [their wives:];” husbands are not to be “thy own shame’s orator,” (Shakespeare; 3. 2. 10, 21-22). In other words, if you are cheating on your wife, “do it by stealth,” Luciana argues, “Muffle your false love with some show of blindness” in order to keep from bringing a crimson flush to yours and you wife’s cheeks (Shakespeare; 3. 2. 7-8). A husband must discard himself of all honesty, not only towards his wife but himself as well, and remember not to forget “a husband’s office;” for that is what marriage is, according to Luciana, a job of sorts (Shakespeare; 3. 2. 2). People are never the same person that they pose to be at their jobs; they are more guarded, fencing their truths, their pasts, their friends and loved ones away from their office life. Luciana believes, in a way, that Antipholus should do the same with his own wife; he should clothe himself in an insulated husk and never bare his true self to Adrianna, just to make sure that she remains happy and avoids embarrassment. Antipholus must break his convictions, shatter them and sweep them under the rug, bear whatever potential mortification he may have secretly caused, and keep himself molded to the occupation of ‘good husbandry.’ And like with any job that is out there, there is very little wiggle room; a job is constricting for it lays out a set of parameters for you to follow, for you to contain yourself within. You may make a budge here, or a twist there, but you will never be able to lunge or sprint about; you are stuck to the rules that cage you. And so is Antipholus, caged by the bars that shame and marriage bequeaths its victims.
Certain duties and obligations are expected from those that are married; they owe it to their spouse to always have the other in their mind, to consider their feelings as they would their own, and tiptoe about the institution in a state of never-ending cautiousness. For marriage certainly is like an ‘elm’ dressed in a ‘vine,’ both feeding off the other, sustaining one another off the sustenance of the other’s life force (Shakespeare; 2. 2. 175). Ultimately, this entangled dependency causes for limitations upon the individual now that two people, a man and his wife—or, as today goes, a man and his husband—live as one, expelling much of that which made the individuals what they formerly were. Concessions must be made, performances must be had, identities must shrivel and change, or so this is how marriage is presented in The Comedy of Errors.

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Jun 14, 2012 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: brit-lit, classics, comedy, elizabethan-lit, humor, plays, shakespeare

I can’t imagine I would be alone in suggesting this is one of Shakespeare’s weaker plays. It’s not that it’s horrible, it’s just not great. The premise is a fairly weak one—the type of thing you’d expect to find in a direct-to-video Disney movie: a mother and father have a set of identical twin boys, who are given a set of identical twin boy servants; through a fortuitous shipwreck, the group is separated, the father surviving with one son and servant and going to live in Syracuse while the moth...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Abigail Hartman rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Not at all my favorite Shakespeare; in fact, I think it managed to sink to the very bottom. The plot itself, centered around two sets of identical twins (each set having the same name - go figure!) and an escalating case of mistaken identities, is naturally far-fetched. You come to expect that with a Shakespearean comedy, but in this case the coincidences, however necessary for the sake of the story, never struck me as particularly amusing. The characters, too, grated on me: Antipholus of Ephesu...more

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Apr 11, 2010 rabbitprincess rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: HS English classes, newbies to Shakespeare

Recommended to rabbitprincess by: RBC Festival of Classics

Shelves: university-before-2008, cadeau, 2010

I may be biased because of previous experience with this play (I volunteered backstage at an outdoor Shakespeare festival for four years, and this was one of the productions I worked on), but this is a really fun romp. Mistaken identities are always a good source of comedy, and Shakespeare gives us a fast and furious story with all sorts of comings and goings and general mayhem, with the comings and goings in particular evoking thoughts of Frasier.

For those of you not familiar with the storyline...more I may be biased because of previous experience with this play (I volunteered backstage at an outdoor Shakespeare festival for four years, and this was one of the productions I worked on), but this is a really fun romp. Mistaken identities are always a good source of comedy, and Shakespeare gives us a fast and furious story with all sorts of comings and goings and general mayhem, with the comings and goings in particular evoking thoughts of Frasier.

For those of you not familiar with the storyline, I would suggest reading the first act, because Egeon's speech pretty much sums up the backstory. From that you will deduce that the two sets of twins will inadvertently meet in Ephesus and hijinks will ensue. It's much easier to point you to that than to try to explain it. Also a lot of the humour from the rest of the play comes from watching it unfold for yourself.

Act 3, Scene 2 is probably my favourite part (although Act 3 Scene 1 is pretty funny as well), because it features the hilarity that is Dromio of Syracuse telling Antipholus of Syracuse of the horror that is Dromio of Ephesus' wife, and how he could find out countries in her various features ("Where stood Belgia? The Netherlands?" "Oh SIR! I did not look so low."). It could just have been the great delivery of the guy playing D. of S. in our production, but this part always got huge laughs and I think it's still pretty accessible to modern audiences. (That line about Scotland being in "the barrenness, hard in the palm of her hand", though? No matter how hard he tried, couldn't get a laugh out of it. The explanatory notes in my edition didn't have any hints either.)

Actually, the whole play is fairly easy to follow, especially with the explanatory notes for the more obscure puns and references. It's short, too -- you can probably breeze through it in a couple of hours. I'd recommend this if you're thinking of reading a Shakespeare play but are somewhat intimidated by the heavier tragedies and histories. Read it aloud for even more fun.(less)

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Jan 23, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not shockingly, my Shakespearean Lit class is going to require a lot of Shakespeare reading this semester. This relatively short play was as good a start to the semester as any. Yes, the dialogue can get a bit confusing. Yes, some things about the plot make you wonder how characters can be so dull. Yes, it can be frustrating to read about each of the characters going round and round continuously for 5 Acts. But you're as dull as both Antipholuses if you think that isn't exactly what Shakespeare...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This may be Shakespeare's most slapstick comedy. Two sets of identical twins get separated at a very young age. One set, both with the same name, settle in different towns and become rich merchants. The other set, also both with the same name, settle in different towns and each becomes a servant to the rich merchant twin who lives in the same town they grew up in. One day, both sets find themselves in the same town. Hijinks ensue. It's not terrible or anything, but knowing Shakespeare wrote this...more

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Sep 17, 2009 Dark Prince rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Comedy of Errors starts off with a man named Egeon, a merchant, being sentenced to death because he’s from Syracuse. Syracuse and Ephesus were having problems with one another so anything caught within either city from the opposite side would be killed. The merchant came looking for his lost wife and children, but when the Duke of Ephesus learns of that he takes sympathy on him and persuades him to tell what happened. Egeon explains how his wife had two children on their voyage to Epidamnum,...more The Comedy of Errors starts off with a man named Egeon, a merchant, being sentenced to death because he’s from Syracuse. Syracuse and Ephesus were having problems with one another so anything caught within either city from the opposite side would be killed. The merchant came looking for his lost wife and children, but when the Duke of Ephesus learns of that he takes sympathy on him and persuades him to tell what happened. Egeon explains how his wife had two children on their voyage to Epidamnum, both twins. On the same ship, another poor women gave birth to twins as well so Egeon bought her children to be raised as slaves for his own. Along the journey a storm occurs and the ship gets wrecked. Egeon takes one of his children and a slave, while his wife takes the other two, but they both get separated; Egeon was in the city to look for his lost son and wife. The Duke takes sympathy and lets Egeon go so he can beg for someone to pay his bail, but Egeon goes thinking that it’s useless looking anyway. His son and slave were already somewhere in the world looking for his wife and son – without them he was lost, but little does he know that his whole family is somewhere within the confines of the city. Since both of his children are twins quite a bit of mix ups seem to happen, such as when Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse to be her husband and screams at him for not coming home. In the mean time both Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse, the twin slaves, get accused by their masters for things the other did. If they didn’t happen to be twins the whole story would have gone smoothly, but Shakespeare was trying to create a comedy. Adriana seems to have doubts of her husband, but despite her suspicions Antipholus of Ephesus is actually a faithful husband who just gets caught at the wrong places at the wrong time. Antipholus of Syracuse is actually a bit worried about the money he’s carrying around, so he tends not to trust anyone because he’s afraid of being robbed; and when Dromio of Ephesus comes to bring him back home he slaps him and starts assuming that the city had him bewitched. Both Dromio’s seem to be faithful servants who just get caught up between the two brother’s affairs without knowing. They seem to get blamed for most of the problems, which seem to cause a bigger confusion. All of these mix ups made me laugh quite a bit because Shakespeare leaves quite a bit of imagery vague so you have to use your own imagination to go along with the story line.

“What, wilt thou flout me thus unto my face, Being forbid? There, take you that sir knave. [Beats him:]” – Anitpholus of Syracuse
I’m sorry, but when I first read this I thought something completely different was going on. Seeing as to how Shakespeare had a very dirty mind I couldn’t help but assume something else was happening in the scene, I read it over and laughed hysterically (although the actual line in the story wasn’t that funny, I was just caught up in the moment).

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Jun 06, 2010 Abe Goolsby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-literature

I think Arkangel's rather slapstick audio production (complete with Looney Tunes-like sound effects) quite apropos to this, one of the earliest, shortest and silliest of The Bard's plays. I've never seen a live production, but it seems that the plot, which revolves around not merely one (t'would be an exercise for mere mortals) but two simultaneous cases of mistaken identity between two sets of separated-at-birth twins, would present unique challenges as well as opportunities. For instance, ther...more

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Feb 23, 2010 Max rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, plays, shakespeare

What do I like about The Comedy of Errors It's mercifully short, economical, and works very well on the stage. Lots of farcical laughs, though the shipwreck-sundered twins plot requires far more suspension of disbelief than in Twelfth Night. Basically, you have to allow for the fact that all the characters are idiots. That said, Shakespeare does a nice job of using the two sets of twins as foils for each other. The Antipholus and Dromio from Syracuse are way more amusingly lackadaisical about th...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Susanna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: theatre, shakespeare

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 08, 2009 Olivia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare-summer

Not an enormous amount to say about this one. It's slight, it's entertaining, I've seen it in performance and was rolling in the aisles. Reading the play means losing most of the sight gags, which makes the experience awfully incomplete. Arden tries to treat this text like a work of literature, pointing out the use of transformation, witchcraft, and the intervention of divine order in the form of the Abbess. These are all valid points but they don't really add much in the way of nuance to the st...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Jon Stout rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mischief makers and marriage counselors

Recommended to Jon by: Paul Sugarman

A group from my church did another impromptu reading of a Shakespeare play, this time The Comedy of Errors. I always get a kick out of our readings, even though I have nothing like the acting ability of some of my friends. But it’s fun to react spontaneously to a line, especially when you’re reading it aloud, and it’s amazing to see Shakespeare come up with an endless array of witticisms, clever figures of speech and acute observations of human nature. Upon researching it, I find that this is on...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Keith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s first plays (if not his first). It is also, alas, one of his “twin plays” in which he’s doubled down – yes, there are two sets of twins for twice the fun! (Sarcasm warning.)

The play is entertaining, though a bit pun-heavy for my taste. The word play – especially Dromio’s -- just goes on and on like a Robin Williams stream-of-conscious tirade. However, it’s too clever for its own good and really doesn’t add much to the play.

I’ve never seen the play per...more

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Mar 09, 2009 Lora rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

So funny! So many stories today seem to be based off this good original set up of twins being mixed up, not to mention funny representatives of family interactions. I listened to a BBC recording of this - and despite initial misgivings, it was totally understandable.

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About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been tr...more William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Scholars believe that he died on his fifty-second birthday, coinciding with St George’s Day. It is an interesting idea that English writer is so closely identified with the Patron Saint of England!

At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are consistently performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

According to historians, Shakespeare write 37 plays and 154 sonnets throughout the span of his life. Shakespeare's writing average was 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589. There have been plays and sonnets attributed to Shakespeare that were not authentically written by the great master of language and literature.
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Quotes from The Comedy of Errors

“O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note,
to drown me in thy sister’s flood of tears.” — 10 people liked it

“We came into the world like brother and brother,
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.” — 9 people liked it

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