by william shakespeare written in 1594 first performed december 28, 1594 during the christmas...

By William ShakespeareWritten in 1594

First performed December 28, 1594During the Christmas festivities at Grey’s Inn

Juvenile? Amateur?

• One of Shakespeare’s very early works• Often dismissed as amateur or “textbook” in style• Draws ideas from two earlier plays• Uses Aristotle’s three unities – time, place, and action

• BUT• Grey’s Inn was a courtly venue, very high profile• Shakespeare was young and his company was new to the theater scene

• Perhaps he just wanted to prove he had mastered the traditional form before he began altering it later in his career.

So what’s the story?

TWINS

So you’ve seen the movies, why read this play?• Shakespeare knows you understand what will happen when twins are

confused.• The Comedy of Errors is set apart because of the DEGREE of the

mishaps

Two sets of

twins creates

another level of

confusion

Two characters get beaten by their masters

One character gets arrested

One character is accused of

madness and demonic

possession

One character

almost has his

marriage

ruinedAnd everything has to get resolved in less

than 24 hours so that another character isn’t put to death!

Antipholus of Syracuse

Dromioof Syracuse

Antipholus of Ephesus

Dromioof Ephesus

EgeonElderly merchant

from Syracuse

EmiliaWife of Egeon

Act One, Scene 1


Dromioof Syracuse

EgeonElderly merchant

from Syracuse

The CharactersEgeon

Elderly merchant from Syracuse

EmiliaWife of Egeon



Dromioof Ephesus

Dromioof Syracuse

Twins separated as young boys

Twin slaves to the Antipholus boys, separated as young boys

Adrianaof Ephesus,

Antipholus’ wife

Lucianaof Ephesus,

Adriana’s sister

Balthasar and AngeloMerchants in Ephesus

Luce and NellMaids to Antipholus of Ephesus and Adraina

Dr Pinch and CourtesanOther locals of Ephesus

Act One, Scene 2

• Antipholus S. and Dromio S. show up in Ephesus at the same time and are warned to pretend they are from somewhere other than Syracuse.• Antipholus S. sends Dromio S. off to get them a room at an inn.

Antipholus S. decides to wander the town on his own

AND THE TROUBLE BEGINSAntipholus of

Syracuse

Dromioof Syracuse

• The other brothers have been living in Ephesus all along.• Dromio E. shows up at the marketplace to bring

Antipholus E. home for lunch, at the request of his wife, Adriana. He sees Antipholus S. and assumes he is Antipholus E. • Antipholus S. gets upset because he thinks this is Dromio

S. but Dromio E. is talking about coming home for lunch to a wife, that Antipholus S knows nothing about.• Antipholus S. asks Dromio E. about the money he gave

Dromio S. for the room and gets very upset when Dromio E. has no idea what he’s talking about.• Antipholus S. ends up beating Dromio E. for talking

nonsense and losing his money. Dromio E. runs home. Antipholus S. heads to the inn.


Dromioof Ephesus

Act Two, Scene 1 • Antipholus E.’s wife Adriana, and her sister, Luciana,

are at Antipholus E.’s house waiting for him to come home for lunch. • Dromio E. enters the scene and explains what

happened with Antipholus S. at the marketplace .• Now Adriana is even more angry. She sends Dromio

E. back to the marketplace to get Antipholus E. again. • Adriana now begins to worry that she must be old

and ugly, so her husband prefers other company to hers. • Now Adriana’s convinced Antipholus E. is out having

a snack in some other woman’s kitchen.

Adrianaof Ephesus,

Antipholus’ wife

Lucianaof Ephesus,

Adriana’s sister

Dromioof Ephesus

Act Two, Scene 2• Back at the marketplace, Antipholus S. is confused. When

Antipholus S. does see Dromio S., he begins to question him about his earlier requests so Dromio S. is rightfully confused too.• Adriana shows up and asserts her husband is being strange.

Poor Antipholus S., as he’s actually not her husband, is very confused. • Adriana insists she sent Dromio E. to bring her husband home

to dinner. Of course, Dromio S. says he’s never seen her in his life (which is true). • Adriana, not to be beaten, demands that the confused

Antipholus S. come with her to dinner. She charges Dromio S. to guard the gate and let nobody in. They go.


Dromioof Syracuse

Adrianaof Ephesus,

Antipholus’ wife

Lucianaof Ephesus,

Adriana’s sister

Act Three, Scene 1• Near Antipholus E.’s house, Antipholus E. meets with a goldsmith

he has asked to make his wife a necklace. He asks Angelo and another merchant Balthasar to come with him to dinner.

• Antipholus E. then complains about Dromio E., who he thinks is lying to his face.

• Anyway, the joke’s on Antipholus E., as dinner would be awesome, if he could get into his house… which we know he can’t.

• What ensues at the gates is a long, confused exchange. Dromio S. is inside guarding the gate.

• Dromio E. and Antipholus E. wonder who on earth is guarding the gate and why he wouldn’t let the owner of the house (and gate) in.

• Adriana herself comes to the gate but she thinks her husband is inside, so she won’t let them in either.

• Antipholus E. goes away angry.



Dromioof Ephesus

Dromioof Syracuse

Adrianaof Ephesus,

Antipholus’ wife

Act Three, Scene 2• Still at Antipholus E.’s house, the confusion inside is just as

bad. Antipholus S. has declared his love for Luciana. • Antipholus S. declares Luciana to be the apple of his eye.

Luciana freaks out and runs off to try to comfort her sister.• Just then, Dromio S. runs in, out of breath. Dromio S. says the

unattractive kitchen wench, claims that he’s her man.• Antipholus S. has clearly had enough, and he sends Dromio S,

to find a ship leaving immediately, although he will be a little sad to leave Luciana, who has enchanted him.• Now, Angelo the goldsmith shows up with Antipholus E.’s

gold chain for his wife. He mistakes Antipholus S. for Antipholus E., and happily gives him the chain. Antipholus S., thinking golden gifts are raining from the sky, decides to accept his gift.


Dromioof Syracuse

Lucianaof Ephesus,

Adriana’s sister


Act Four, Scene 1• At the marketplace, Angelo owes another merchant money and

expects to pay him with money from Antipholus E. for Adriana’s necklace.

• Antipholus E. and Dromio E. enter the scene expecting to collect the necklace from Angelo. Antipholus E. sends Dromio E. off to buy some rope.

• A squabble ensues, where it becomes clear that neither man has the necklace.

• Ultimately, the merchant calls for Antipholus E. to be arrested. Though Angelo regrets it, as he isn’t getting paid, he corroborates with the merchant to get Antipholus E. jailed. Justifiably, Antipholus E. is mad and confused.

• To add to the confusion, Dromio S. arrives, mistakes Antipholus E. for his master, and informs him that he’s secured the ship to get out of Ephesus. Antipholus E. curses Dromio S. for talking nonsense, and then gives him instructions to go to Adriana and get money for his bail.



Dromioof Ephesus

Dromioof Syracuse

Act Four, Scene 2• At Antipholus E.’s house, Luciana tells Adriana about

Antipholus E.’s proclamations of love to Luciana. • This continues on for a while, with Adriana declaring

her hatred for Antipholus E. in turn. Adriana’s moaning over how much she hates her husband for leaving her is cut off by Dromio S., who arrives out of breath.• In twisted and rather delightful exasperation, Dromio S.

explains that Antipholus E. has been jailed. Dromio S. can’t explain the details exactly, but collecting the bail money from Adriana, he rushes off. Adriana is left to wonder at why her husband is locked up, not that it excuses him from his philandering.

Adrianaof Ephesus,

Antipholus’ wife

Lucianaof Ephesus,

Adriana’s sister

Dromioof Syracuse

Act Four, Scene 3• Antipholus S. is still at the marketplace, waiting for Dromio

S. to come tell him about a ship. Dromio S. then arrives with the gold to pay Antipholus E.’s bail, which confuses Antipholus S since he wasn’t arrested.• Antipholus S., however, just wants to know about the ship.

Dromio S. is certain he already told Antipholus S. about the ship a long time ago. • The Courtesan arrives and talks about the dinner she just

had with Antipholus E., where he took a ring from her worth 40 ducats, and promised her a gold chain in exchange. She notes Antipholus S. wears the chain, but when she asks for it, or her ring back, he runs away.• The Courtesan decides she’ll go to his wife and tell

Adriana that Antipholus E. ran into her house and stole her valuable ring.


Dromioof Syracuse

Courtesanof Ephesus

Act Four, Scene 4• Antipholus E. is still at the marketplace. He is very angry and spots Dromio E.,

thinking he’s saved but Dromio E. receives another beating because all he has is rope.

• Adriana, Luciana, the Courtesan, and Dr. Pinch all enter the scene. The women plead with Pinch to exorcise the demons from Antipholus E.

• Antipholus E. insists that he’s not mad and asks why he was locked out of his own house. Adriana insists that Antipholus E. was at dinner.

• Antipholus E. also is a bit unhappy about being arrested. Adriana promises she sent the bail money via Dromio E. Basically, everyone seems crazy, and Pinch concludes the men are possessed.

• Antipholus E. is driven into greater fury and after a bit of a scuffle, Dromio E. is tied up, and he and Antipholus E. are taken away.

• Adriana then tries to deal with her husband’s debt but Antipholus S. and Dromio S. run in with swords drawn.

• Everyone is shocked the men have gotten loose from the guards so they run off to get help, leaving Antipholus S. and Dromio S. alone.

• Antipholus S. hurriedly tells Dromio S. to go grab their things from the inn so they can leave ASAP.


Dromioof Ephesus

Adriana of Ephesus,Antipholus’ wife

Luciana of Ephesus,Adriana’s sister

Dr Pinch and CourtesanOther locals of Ephesus


Dromioof Syracuse

Act Five, Scene 1• Angelo the goldsmith apologizes to the merchant to whom he owes money.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Antipholus S. approaches, wearing Angelo’s necklace.

• Angelo confronts Antipholus S. and Antipholus S. rightly says he never denied he had it. Tempers get hot and the men draw their swords.

• Adriana enters just in time and tells the merchant that her husband is mad. Antipholus S. and Dromio S., sensing their doom, run off into the priory and seek sanctuary.

• Just then an abbess (the superior of a group of nuns) enters, and asks just what exactly everybody thinks they’re doing, disturbing God’s peace. The Abbess says the men will get sanctuary and she leaves Adriana without her husband.

• The Duke shows up with Egeon and some officers. He reminds the crowd that if anyone will provide the sum of 1,000 marks, Egeon’s life will be spared. Adriana doesn’t care so much about Egeon, and instead shouts out that the Abbess is holding her husband in the priory.

• A messenger arrives and claims that Antipholus E. and Dromio E. have broken their bonds and attacked the doctor but Adriana thinks her husband is actually in the priory.




Dromioof Syracuse

EgeonElderly merchant from

Syracuse


Duke of Ephesus

Abbess

• But she’s wrong! Of course, just then, Antipholus E. shows up with Dromio E. Adriana is shocked and convinced he moves about invisibly, as there’s no way to explain how he left the priory without her notice.

• Antipholus E. pleads that the Duke owes him justice, especially in exchange for all the service Antipholus E. did for him in war. Egeon offers that he recognizes these men as his son and his son’s servant, Dromio, but the old man is ignored.

• The Duke then gets the whole story from Antipholus E.’s perspective, and then from Angelo and the merchant’s perspective, and then from the Courtesan, and decides someone should call the Abbess.

• Egeon finally speaks up. He identifies Antipholus E. and Dromio E. correctly, but they have no idea who he is.

• Antipholus E. insists he’s never even been to Syracuse and the Duke also asserts that he’s known Antipholus E. for twenty years, and the young man has never been to Syracuse in all that time. Egeon is about to be dismissed as a doddering old man when the Abbess enters.



Syracuse


Duke of Ephesus

Abbess


Dromioof Ephesus

Actually, not only has the Abbess come, she’s brought with her Antipholus S. and Dromio S.

FINALLY, everyone is face to face with the two sets of identical twins.

• After a bit of fussing, the Abbess explains everything. First, she reveals that, actually, she’s Emilia, Egeon’s long lost wife. After the shipwreck, her boys (one son and one servant) were taken from her by some Corinthian fisherman. She doesn’t know what happened to them from there, but she’s lived as a nun ever since.

• All of the confusion gets resolved and Egeon’s ransom is paid.

• Finally, Emilia ushers everyone into the abbey so they can talk over that bad, fateful day when they were separated, and the fateful day that’s brought them together again.

Abbess


Dromioof Syracuse



Syracuse


Duke of Ephesus


Dromioof Ephesus

EmiliaWife of Egeon

by william shakespeare written in 1594 first performed december 28, 1594 during the christmas...

Documents

antipholus boys

antipholus s

antipholus e

locals of ephesus slide

ephesus luce

young boys adriana of

greys inn slide

s wife adriana