Comedy of Errors, The, is a comedy by the English dramatist William Shakespeare. It is among his earliest plays, and despite being in five acts, it is his shortest. It was staged at Gray’s Inn, London, in 1594 but may have been written as early as 1590, when Shakespeare was 25 or 26 years old. It was first published in 1623.
The Comedy of Errors is based on the ancient Latin play Menaechmi by the Roman comic playwright Titus Maccius Plautus (see Plautus). Shakespeare may have read Plautus’s play in the original language, because no English translation of Menaechmi is believed to have existed before the first performance of The Comedy of Errors. Menaechmi is a pure farce in which the humor arises from the comic confusion of identical twin brothers. In The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare enlarges on the comic possibilities by adding another set of identical twin brothers acting as servants to the first set. In employing this theatrical device, he is taking his cue from Amphitruo, another play by Plautus. Shakespeare also adds a touch of pathos to the story.
The play is set in the ancient city of Ephesus, which is in conflict with Syracuse. One set of twins are both named Antipholus and their servants are both named Dromio. The twins of each set were separated through shipwreck as children, and neither twin knows where his brother is living. The parents of the Antipholus twins were also separated from each other in the shipwreck. One twin and his servant now live in Ephesus. Their brothers and the merchant Egeon, the father of the Antipholus boys, live in Syracuse.
Before the start of the play, the Syracusan Antipholus and Dromio have set off in search of their respective brothers. Egeon arrives in Ephesus looking for them. Arrested by the Duke of Ephesus as the play opens, he is given a day to find the Syracusan boys and leave or face execution. When Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse arrive in Ephesus, a series of mistaken identities and comical mix-ups develops between them and their Ephesian counterparts before all the twin brothers are reunited. Egeon is saved from death and even is reunited with his long-lost wife.
The Comedy of Errors has little character portrayal or fine poetry. However, the plot is filled with intrigue and broad humor, which make the play highly effective theater.
