The Comedy of Errors
Shakespeare's shortest play and his most purely farcical comedy, The Comedy of Errors piles confusion upon confusion as two pairs of identical twins — both pairs separated at birth — are reunited in the same city without knowing it, causing escalating misunderstandings.
At a Glance
- Genre: Comedy (Farce)
- Approximate date: c. 1592–1594
- Setting: Ephesus (one day)
- Source: Plautus's Menaechmi and Amphitryon
- Acts: 5
- Shortest of Shakespeare's plays
Dramatis Personæ
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| SOLINUS | Duke of Ephesus |
| EGEON | Merchant of Syracuse; father of the Antipholus twins; condemned to death |
| ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS | Twin; has lived in Ephesus his whole adult life; married to Adriana |
| ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE | Twin; arrives in Ephesus searching for his lost family |
| DROMIO OF EPHESUS | Twin servant to Antipholus of Ephesus |
| DROMIO OF SYRACUSE | Twin servant to Antipholus of Syracuse |
| ADRIANA | Wife to Antipholus of Ephesus; jealous and possessive |
| LUCIANA | Adriana's sister; loved by Antipholus of Syracuse |
| EMILIA | Abbess of Ephesus; Egeon's long-lost wife; mother of the twins |
| BALTHASAR | A Merchant |
| ANGELO | A Goldsmith |
| A MERCHANT | Friend to Antipholus of Syracuse |
| PINCH | A schoolmaster and exorcist; attempts to treat Antipholus of Ephesus for madness |
| LUCE | Servant to Adriana |
| A COURTESAN | Friend to Antipholus of Ephesus |
Plot Summary
Act I (Framing): Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is condemned to death in Ephesus (the two cities are at war and executing each other's citizens). He tells the Duke that he has been searching for his son Antipholus and servant Dromio, separated from him in a shipwreck years ago. He is given a day's grace to raise his ransom. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse (the searched-for son, though neither knows the other is here) arrives in Ephesus, also searching.
Acts II–IV: Adriana mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and locks her actual husband out. Each Antipholus is astonished to find the city seems to know him when it doesn't, or doesn't know him when it should. Each Dromio gets beaten by the wrong master. Angelo gives the gold chain to the wrong Antipholus; when the right one refuses to pay, Angelo has him arrested. Antipholus of Ephesus, denied entry to his own house, goes to the Courtesan. Pinch is called to exorcise the apparently mad Antipholus of Ephesus.
Act V: Both Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse seek sanctuary in a priory. The Abbess (Emilia) refuses to give them up. Adriana appeals to the Duke just as Egeon is being led to execution. Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus appear — and suddenly both sets of twins are onstage. Emilia reveals that she is Egeon's long-lost wife. All identities are resolved; the Duke pardons Egeon; the two families are reunited.
Key Themes
- Identity and selfhood — when everyone mistakes you for someone else, who are you?
- Marriage under pressure — Adriana's possessiveness and her husband's wandering reflect real tensions
- Comedy of confusion — the pleasure of watching escalating, interlocking errors
- Reunion — underlying the farce is a romance of a family broken and restored
Notable Quotations
"I to the world am like a drop of water / That in the ocean seeks another drop." *(Antipholus of Syracuse, I.ii)*
LibriVox Recording
LibriVox has multilingual recordings of The Comedy of Errors available in translation.
Cross-references
- Comedies — genre context
- Twelfth Night — also uses twins for comic confusion
- The Winter's Tale — the long-separated family reunited motif appears in the romances