gce as / a level by william shakespeare comedy of …

COMEDY OF ERRORS B y W I L L I A M S H A K E S P E A R E

G C E A S \ A L E V E L \ \ © W J E C C B A C L t d 2 0 1 6

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

G C E A S / A L E V E L



You will be expected to explore the play from the perspective of a:

● Performer ● Designer ● Director

This resource is designed to help you focus on these three areas.

The Comedy of Errors (TCOE) is one of Shakespeare’s early plays. It is also his shortest. The play’s first recorded performance took place on December 28, 1594, as part of the raucous and disorderly Christmas festivities at Grey’s Inn.

The play tells the story of two sets of identical twins, separated as infants, and the absurdity surrounding their accidental reunion. Since this play appears early along Shakespeare’s writing timeline, critics tend to dismiss it as his more juvenile work. It seems quite straightforward in a way that we’re not really used to with Shakespeare – it draws from two earlier classical plays, and has a unity of time, place, and action that only appears once more in Shakespeare’s entire portfolio. The play is definitely full of foolishness and frippery, and that lack of deep content, combined with its “by-the-book” writing, often leads critics to conclude there’s nothing more to this play than Shakespeare cutting his teeth as an amateur playwright.

INTRODUCTION



So… nothing new?

We’ve seen this story many times - mum has twins, they get misplaced, grow up separately, meet again, and then come the hilarity.

Consider: you’ve got your Hayley Mills (or your very young Lindsay Lohan, if you prefer the ’98 version) in the film Parent Trap, your Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins, your Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler in Big Business. Blood Brothers by Willy Russell is another terrific example of the drama that can unfold when twins are separated at birth.

What sets The Comedy of Errors apart isn’t a matter of WHAT the story is but of HOW it is told. Shakespeare knew that his audiences already knew the story – it was as conventional in his day as it is now – so he made sure that he gave good value for money by intensifying the play’s action and characterisation.

How does Shakespeare make the play better than just a stolen idea?

Even though TCOE is a comedy there are some more serious consequences. The mistaken identity results in:

● Both Dromios getting a beating. ● Antipholus E being arrested. ● Antiphouls E & S both being accused of madness and possession. ● Antipholus E’s marriage is almost being destroyed.



Of course as this is a comedy, the twins’ mother appears just in time to make everything work out. But, by using two sets of twins, and by lending depth to the supporting characters, Shakespeare pushes the suspense of the play right to the edge of tragedy before fixing everything with a happy ending.

Shakespeare was trying to draw on his audience’s knowledge of theatre by combining two classics in the plot of The Comedy of Errors. The story of separated twins comes from Plautus’s Menaechmi, while the separated servants motif comes from another Plautus play called Amphitruo. Shakespeare didn’t only borrow from these classical plays; he built them up, too. He takes out some of the more absurd and one-dimensional characters and replaces them with deeper, more rounded characters. In Plautus, the equivalent of E. Antipholus’s wife has no name. Additionally, Egeon, instead of being portrayed as the stereotypical meddling parent, received a sympathetic “makeover” as a tragic and abandoned father. Egeus becomes far more important and his potential death adds more suspense as well as a bigger problem to solve.

TCOE is a ‘good’ play:

TCOE follows Aristotle’s three ‘Unities’. Almost two thousand years before Shakespeare was born the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who outlined the components of an ideal play. He said every good play should have:

• Unity of Place: the action of the play should all take place in the same location. • Unity of Time: the action of the play should take place within twenty-four hours. • Unity of Action: everything that happens in the play should contribute to the main plot. There should be nothing irrelevant.

Shakespeare follows the three unities well. The only other of his plays to do this is The Tempest. With his other work, he did not feel the need to stick so closely to the rules and was far more creative with place, time and action.



In Ephesus, ruled by Duke Solinus, Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, stands trial for landing in a country where Syracusians are banned. Egeon explains how 23 years before he had lost his wife and one of their identical twin sons, with the boy’s companion, also an identical twin boy, in a storm at sea. Egeon had brought up the surviving boys but at eighteen they had gone in search of their lost brothers. Not hearing from them, Egeon had also left home to seek news and has now arrived at Ephesus. Solinus is softened by the story and allows Egeon until sunset to try to raise 1000 marks ransom, or he must die.

Meanwhile, in a nearby marketplace a merchant has befriended two tourists, Antipholus of Syracuse (Egeon’s son) and his servant companion, Dromio. Learning of the ban on Syracusians, they take on local dress before going to explore the town, where, unknown to them, their twin brothers have been living after being saved from the storm by fishermen who brought them up in Corinth.

Antipholus of Syracuse is much surprised to be accosted by Dromio of Ephesus who is angry that his master has not returned home to his wife, Adriana, for dinner. The likeness of the Dromio twins to each other, and also between the sons of Egeon leads to a series of confusions whereby Antipholus of Syracuse dines with his sister-in-law and at the same time falls in love with her sister, Luciana. His servant prevents entry to their own home by Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus and their merchant friends. This exclusion leads Antipholus to resort to his friend the courtesan.

A chain previously ordered from Angelo, the goldsmith, is delivered to the wrong Antipholus and Angelo’s claim for payment leads to the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, while Adriana, fearing for her husband’s sanity gets Dr. Pinch, the schoolmaster, to exorcise them. While they are under restraint, their Syracusian brothers cause panic in the town but, themselves being frightened, they take refuge in a priory.

The sunset hour of Egeon’s sentence arrives, and the Duke returns but is stopped by Adriana who appeals for aid as he has befriended her husband in the past. The Ephesian twins, having escaped their bonds, arrive to claim justice and Egeon recognises them as the boys he thinks

BRIEF PLOT OUTLINE



he brought up in Syracuse. Solinus sends for the Abbess who appears, to everyone’s surprise, with the second pair of twins. She further amazes everyone by recognising Egeon. She is Aemilia, his long-lost wife, who, surviving the storm and fearing all her family to be dead, had entered a religious order.

When all have told their stories, Antipholus of Syracuse renews his suit to Luciana, the Duke pardons Egeon, and everyone goes to celebrate the reunions at the home of Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus. Dromio of Syracuse happily passes the attentions of Adriana’s servant girl, who has pursued him since the dinner at Adriana’s house, back to his brother and the two joyfully leave the stage hand in hand.



The theatre in Shakespeare’s time was much different than it is today. Authors wrote plays for the masses, especially those who couldn’t read or write.

The theatre changed a lot during Shakespeare’s lifetime. The authorities didn’t like it and didn’t allow acting in the city itself. They thought it had a bad influence on people and kept them from going to church. Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, loved acting and helped the theatre become popular.

As time went on, increasingly popular theatres emerged outside city walls. This was considered an unsafe area with crime and prostitution.

Shakespeare’s theatre was full of life. People did not sit all the time and it was not quiet during the performance. The audience could walk around, eat and drink during the play. They cheered, booed and sometimes even threw objects at the actors.

Theatres were open arenas or playhouses that had room for up to three thousand people. They were structures made mainly of wood. There was no heating and actors got wet when it rained. The stage was higher and there was an open pit in front of it where most of the people could stand in. Richer people and noblemen sat in the gallery. There was almost no scenery because the dialogue was the most important part of the play. Colourful and well-designed costumes were very important and told the people about the status of a character. Women never performed in plays, so young boys played female characters. The performances took place in the afternoon because it was too dark at night.

There was no stage crew as there is today. Actors had to do everything themselves - from making costumes to setting the stage.

Plays were organised by acting companies. They performed about 6 different plays each week because they needed money to survive. They had almost no time for rehearsals.

SHAKESPEARE’S WORLD



The companies in Shakespeare’s time had a hierarchical system.

● The company belonged to shareholders and mangers. They were responsible for everything and got most of the money when the company was successful. Sometimes they even owned their own buildings. ● Actors worked for the managers and after some time became a permanent member of

the company. ● Apprentices were young boys who were allowed to act in menial roles. They also played

females characters in plays.

Lord Chamberlain’s Men and the Admiral’s Men were the two most important companies in London at that time. Among the most famous theatres during the period were the Globe, the Swan and the Fortune.



Follow the link below to navigate to Shakespeare’s Globe: Educational pages.

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discovery-space/fact-sheets

With a classic text we cannot get online and search for reviews of the original production. So how do we build a picture of the play during its first performance?

Given what we know about the audiences of Shakespeare’s day:

• What do you think the audiences would have thought of TCOE?• What conventions would they have been familiar with?• Do you think they would have enjoyed it?• What criticisms might they have had?• How do you imagine the atmosphere inside the theatre space?



Consider the original performance conditions.

What implications are there if you were to produce TCOE in the way it was originally performed?

Actor Director Designer

• Style of playing• Men playing women• Voice• Movement• Interaction on stage• Combinations of skills e.g. comedy, slapstick• Dance and movement• What characters would you play?

• Style e.g. broad comedy• Atmosphere• Relationships• Themes• The outdoor space• How would you stage the play?

• How would you use the space?• Designs utilising the character of a theatre like The Globe• What themes would you highlight?• What costume designs would you decide?• What would the soundscape be?• With the play performed in daylight – how could the LX designer contribute to the production?



THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE COMEDY…

Rome

Adriatic sea

Carthage

ITALY

SICILY

PERGAMIUM(Asia)

ASIA MINOR

Syracuse

Ephesus

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

THE EASTERN MEDITERRAN

IN PLAUTUS’ TIME

Map of the area where The Comedy of Errors takes place



Syracuse

Syracuse, the home of Egeon and Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, is located on the modern day island of Sicily. The city was founded in 734 BCE by Greek settlers from Corinth. Cicero, a famous orator and statesman in ancient Rome, described Syracuse as the greatest and most beautiful Greek city.

Ephesus

Ephesus, located on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), is where the play takes place. It was also home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. The temple was constructed of marble and contained 127 sixty foot high columns and four bronze statues ofAmazons.

There is no historical evidence of a feud between Syracuse and Ephesus. In fact, in the original play by Plautus, the two rival cities are Syracuse and Epidamnum.

Shakespeare may have chosen to use Ephesus instead because it was more familiar to Elizabethan audiences as major centre of Christianity. When St. Paul arrived in the city to preach Christianity in the first century CE, he was met with great resistance from the Ephesians who worshipped Diana. In Roman mythology, Diana was the chaste goddess of the hunt and the moon. Shakespeare may have used his audiences’ familiarity with the story—and the association of the city with a virgin goddess—to make Emilia’s miraculous appearance as a nun from the abbey all the more amazing and resonant.



IDENTITY

This is one of the main themes of TCOE. It develops way beyond the obvious theme of mistaken identity. Some critics focus solely on personal identity. This is usually with regard to the twin brothers Antipholi or Adriana, though other characters’ identities are also addressed. The play also explores how public, social and private identities intersect.

It is generally acknowledged that Antipholus of Syracuse enters the city of Ephesus to make himself “whole” and find his identity, which he believes will happen when he finds his twin brother. However, the strange encounters he has (his social identity) make him question his sanity and that of others who speak to him as if they know him.

Antipholus of Ephesus, on the other hand, clings to his personal identity when assailed with threats to it for reasons unknown to him. His wife, Adriana, finds her identity as Antipholus’s wife threatened by the negative course their marriage is taking. Most critics agree that the characters’ “original” identities are returned to them or renewed at the end of the play, but not before the social order is seriously threatened.

ISOLATION

Isolation is central to The Comedy of Errors. It’s not something the characters talk about explicitly, but it’s the subtext that threads through most of the play and motivates the action. The most important forms of isolation presented are isolation from family and from knowledge of one’s self. Ending isolation is a motivating force for S. Antipholus S and his father, Egeon. The main character, Antipholus S, has been separated from his family, and seemingly, this isolation may be at the root his feelings of isolation from himself. He lacks self-knowledge and is constantly seeking something outside of himself to fill his inner void. On the other hand, Egeon is isolated from his family, which leads him to feelings of hopelessness. There’s also emotional isolation occurring between a married couple when the man seems to be cheating

THEMES



on his wife. The cause and consequence of the isolation differ in each case, but together these variations on the same theme ground the play. All characters who feel isolation expect that ending their solitude (physical or emotional) will lead to happiness. Indeed, overcoming isolation becomes the means to a happy (and comical) resolution of the play.

Although regarded as a comedy, there are elements of tragedy and romance in the play to. The tragedy can be seen right at the start of the play. Aegeon’s story and his impending death keeps the play from being pure farce. The romantic themes are found in many places: Antipholus of Syracuse’s wooing of Luciana, Adriana and Luciana’s debate about love and marriage, and the family reunion at the end of the play. Many critics argue that the play cannot simply be comedic or a farce because the characters have more depth and dimension than would characters in a farce—they are real, not mechanized characters.

LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Marriage serves a variety of functions in The Comedy of Errors. It’s the stuff of heartache through separation as we see with the separation of Egeon and Aemilia. Staying together in marriage, however, can be as much of a heartache as being kept apart. Adriana and Antipholus E struggle in a marriage that they value, but have to work hard to keep afloat. Adriana is suspicious of Antipholus E (given her husband’s fondness for a courtesan), who is quick to fly into a rage against her. Marriage is definitely difficult, and how either gender should operate in marriage is the subject of much conversation. The dominant and only present marriage of the play, between Adriana and E. Antipholus, seems to be managed by compromise. A more idealised version of marriage is suggested in the potential match between Luciana and Antipholus S. Luciana’s main concern is learning to submit, properly and entirely, to her husband, and Antipholus S is looking for someone to guide him and complete him.

Love, or rather lust, is also echoed in the storyline with the Courtesan. She represents an alternative for Antipholus E in addition to providing a situation or the confusion over the chain.

The relationship between of the Dromios and Luce offers more comedic relief from the intensity of the Antipholus’ and Adriana. The sense of fun in these characters can be used for great comic effect.



FAMILY

Family in The Comedy of Errors is mostly notable for its absence. Family is important to the characters, and particularly so for Egeon, Antipholus S, and Aemilia. The theme of family can be seen as the catalyst for other themes e.g. lack of family causes isolation, which leads to suffering.

Similarly, the characters seem to expect that a unified family will eliminate isolation and end their suffering. The action of the play is defined by everyone fighting to either regain their family or to maintain it. Though it isn’t always clear as everyone’s aim, the play’s comic resolution relies on the physical reuniting of the families in order to come to a conclusion.

APPEARANCES

Appearances are the main source of the comedy in TCOE. Appearances can almost always be regarded false in this play – the twins (the Antipholi and the Dromios) are constantly being mistaken for each other, and though their actions and their temperaments differ, they are mostly identified by their appearance, which is a method prone to folly. It’s not only the twins’ physical appearance that matters in the play. Adriana worries that her beauty is waning, leading her husband to no longer care for her, and Egeon is convinced that his son won’t recognize him because he’s physically altered by his miserable state. The theme of appearances, however, extends to the appearance of a situation as well.

The situation in Ephesus is so strange that it appears to be of supernatural origin. But what appears to be supernatural intervention is actually just confusion based on appearance (of the twins). Appearance is filtered through different means in the play, but it’s constantly a basis by which characters judge the people around them, and their own situations. The play reaches a resolution only when the characters realize that how things appear does not necessarily reflect on reality.



The confusion of the mistaken identity is clearly a theatrical convention of the time and we see it in other later Shakespeare plays e.g. Twelfth Night

THE SUPERNATURAL

During the Elizabethan Era, people would blame unexplainable events on the work of witches.

• Women were mostly accused of being witches• When the deadly outbreak of the Black Death occurred they also blamed it on witches• If people or animals died from a terrible disease, houses burned down in fire or even if food went bad, they blamed it on witches• Queen Elizabeth passed a harsh law in 1562 leading to witch hunts• Types of witches include ‘White witch’ and ‘Black witch’• White witches were seen as help to communities and known for healing• Black witches were seen as people who practice secret arts in order to harm others

Also a fear of supernatural and forces of nature or God resulted in superstitions. Elizabethan superstitions came due to fear of witches and the devil.

The use of the supernatural theme in The Comedy of Errors is purely an excuse to ignore the complexity of reality. There is no single occurrence that cannot be explained by some perfectly natural, if bizarre, reasoning. Characters are quick to point to the fates, dreaming, madness, and general supernatural stuff such as devils, sorcery and witchcraft in order to explain the strangeness of their situations. The supernatural provides a convenient explanation for what seems inexplicable, given the implausible truth that under-girds the entire play.

Adriana’s arrival with Dr. Pinch would have amused the audience as they would have realised that she thinks her husband is possessed.

WOMEN AND FEMININITY

Women are very present in TCOE as vocal forces. Though they have a lot of opinions and many speaking lines, it seems their main reason for existing in the play is to talk about and



react to men. Adriana, the play’s most vocal female character, is a strong woman, but she’s undermined by her husband’s faithlessness, which causes her self-doubt. The other women of the play, most notably Luciana, the Courtesan, the Abbess, and even the kitchen maid, Nell, are significant only as much as they lack the companionship of men. Luciana must learn how to deal with men; the Courtesan and Nell are undervalued by men; and even the Abbess was forced to confine herself to a nunnery when she lost her man.

These women don’t seem to know what to do without men, but they don’t know what to do with them, either. While the women are independent characters, they seem relatively incomplete without men to occupy them.

In the original production, the female roles would have been played by men.

• What character traits do each of the female characters portray that would have been interesting to see played by men?

• What famous male actors today would you cast as Adriana, Luciana, Luce, the Courtesan and the Abbess?

DUTY

Duty in TCOE is a key theme. We see the duty of everyone: wives, husbands, servants, citizens, parents, and children. Basically, everyone owes some duty to someone else, and each person struggles to anticipate others’ needs and do what’s expected. In the most explicit sense, the women and servants are subjected to the men, and it is their duty to serve the men’s needs.

Beyond the duty of subordinates, marriage charges men with the duty to be faithful husbands. Egeon, the lost and despairing father, illustrates the duty men have toward their families. Egeon’s inability to protect and keep together his family is enough to make him feel like a worthless man. When characters feel they are not fulfilling their duty, self-doubt and shame come as a result.



RULES AND ORDER

Law and order frame the action of the play. Rather than be the foundation for what happens in the play, law and order are significant because of their impotence. The play is about forces greater than law – family, identity, isolation and more are outside the bounds of what’s traditionally dealt with by the law. Law is present, but it is relatively powerless in the face of all the confusion of the play. The law can’t keep marriages together, or reunite families, and as those are the areas where justice needs to be served, the law is inapplicable, though it is present as a powerless force.

The Duke frames the play with his presence as the voice of order in the first and last scenes. What does it mean that in both scenes the Duke doesn’t carry out the law to the full extent when he refuses to kill Egeon?



ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE

is the younger half of a set of long-separated twins.

He was raised with his father, Egeon, in Syracuse, and separated from his mother, Aemilia, and brother, Antipholus. His only traveling companion is his “bondsman,” Dromio S, a servant boy his father purchased to be his companion and attendant when both were new-born babies.

The crux of the play rests on S. Antipholus’s decision to leave home. We learn from Egeon that as soon as S. Antipholus turned eighteen, he became “inquisitive” about his missing twin brother, and along with Dromio S, left his father to go find their respective other halves. Antipholus S seems to have a wandering and inquisitive spirit. In addition to his wanderlust, he’s characterized by a grave loneliness. In the first scene we meet Antipholus S, he proclaims that he’ll go lose himself in the strange Ephesian city – which seems to be the habit of people that are used to being alone or anonymous. Then, he explains his loneliness to us almost immediately. He describes his lack of fulfilment when he says he feels like a drop of water that’s fallen into the ocean to look for one other drop of water. He feels alone without knowing his mother and brother, but he seems to seek them to form some part of his identity. He admits that in his search for them, he’s lost his own identity, but we also get the feeling the boy never really felt complete - or he might not have set out looking for his twin in the first place.

These traits are particularly interesting given Antipholus S’s interaction with Luciana. He’s convinced that she’s unearthly, but rather than being wary or afraid of her, he pleads with her to teach him about himself. Just as he wanders geographically, he also wanders emotionally; it seems that in his love for Luciana he sees a chance to be grounded in a way that truly matters to him. It’s also important that he concedes that Luciana might herself be an enchantment. His explanation for much of the strangeness that occurs in Ephesus is magic. He’s willing to assume that explanation always lies outside of himself, either in dreams or in witches, because he has no true knowledge of himself.

MAIN CHARACTERS



ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS

is twin brother to Antipholus of Syracuse, son to Egeon and Aemilia, and generally a man about the town in Ephesus. Antipholus E is more of a set-piece and plot device than a character in this play – we hear of him early on through Egeon and Antipholus S, but we don’t actually meet him until the third act of the play.

What we do know about him is that he has an entirely established life in Ephesus – he lives with his wife Adriana, his sister-in-law Luciana, and he seems to know everybody there is to know in the city. Indeed, all of the comforts offered to Antipholus S that he finds so enchanting (literally) stem from the reputation his brother has worked to build.

Antipholus E is mainly important as a contrast to Antipholus S. Unlike his brother, he pays no attention to his lost family because he is entirely absorbed by the new life he’s built. Where Antipholus S is discontent, Antipholus E would be content. Where Antipholus S is lonely, Antipholus E is surrounded by people.

Antipholus S is quick to have faith that he’s in an enchanted place, while the more reasonable Antipholus E is quick to grow angry and condemn all of the madness happening in this usually familiar place.

Most importantly, where Antipholus S is thoughtfully melancholy, Antipholus E has no time for such reflection. Antipholus S has no fewer than six asides and soliloquies, while Antipholus E has none. Arguably, this isn’t because Antipholus E is such a bad guy. After all, his entire world has just been turned upside down. We only see him in the play when his life is at the height of confusion – his wife is denying him, his friends are calling him a liar, and he’s been arrested to boot. No man would be in top form under these circumstances. Ephesus used to be a paradise for Antipholus E, and the arrival of Antipholus S and the subsequent confusion has transformed Ephesus into Antipholus E’s own personal hell.

Antipholus S experiences all of the glamorous confusion of a traveller greeted by strangers clamouring to be friends. Antipholus E, however, is the one who pays for that confusion, experiencing denial, betrayal, and wrongful punishment.



We don’t get to see much in the way of personal development from him in the play, as we’re too focused on Antipholus S and the trouble Antipholus S is inadvertently causing his brother. In the final scene though, we get a hint that now that the confusion has cleared, both Antipholus S and Antipholus E can return to some sort of normality.

EGEON

plays the doting father of the lost twins.

The character only appears in the first and final acts, but Egeon is incredibly important as a device to frame the action of the play. Though the play is a comedy, Egeon grounds the action in tragedy. He opens the play in a very grave position: He’d welcome death if it would free him from his woes, which are many. Egeon’s death sentence, which isn’t revisited until his final would-be death scene, casts a shadow over the rest of the action of the play, which is otherwise very merry. In the bulk of the play, silly things happen, and all the misunderstandings seem inconsequential enough, but the central action is bookended by the fairly dire situation of Egeon.It seems Egeon can only function briefly in the play because he is such a tragic figure. He has lost both of his children, the servant boys he was intending to raise, and his wife, and we get the sense from the stories of his travels that he has wandered the world unsuccessfully seeking out his family as a reason to live. If we had to pity him throughout the whole play, it would detract from the mirth we should feel as we follow the comical errors of the main players. Still, when it comes time to have a resolution, Egeon’s character reminds us of how serious the issues in the play are – isolation, loss, suffering, nihilism, and aging are all central to appreciating Egeon.

Egeon’s presence elevates the play to a kind of tragicomedy, adding dimensions that otherwise would be entirely missing.



ADRIANA

Is Antipholus E’s wife and Luciana’s sister.

She spends much of the play worrying that her husband loves another woman. Adriana is most notable for her observations about a woman’s role in marriage, her lamentations over her lost love, and her obdurate loyalty in the face of what she believes to be adultery.

As a wife, Adriana is not the stereotypical shrewish and nagging woman. In the Plautus play that Shakespeare drew on to write The Comedy of Errors, Adriana’s equivalent character is so known for her shrewishness that she doesn’t even get a name – that alone is enough to characterize her. This stereotypical wife – jealous, possessive, and naggy – was one that Shakespeare’s audience would’ve been used to, so Shakespeare’s decision to turn Adriana into a more fully fleshed out woman (with a name) is significant.

Adriana speaks often in the play, and serves as a balance to her idealistic sister about the very real travails of love and marriage. She worries that her husband has gone wandering in love from her, but she accedes that this might be her own fault. Here, she embodies all the very real concerns of a faithful wife – perhaps she is no longer attractive to her husband, and while he might be at fault for his roving, she still loves him, and would do anything in her power to keep him. She isn’t totally rolled over, though; she says awful things about her husband, but she admits they’re only inspired by her distress over losing him. Adriana definitely knows more about love’s darker side than her sister, Luciana, but it doesn’t detract at all from the depth of love for her husband. Even when she thinks Antipholus E is both unfaithful and insane, she says she’d like to have him come home because it’s a wife’s duty to take care of her man.

Though Adriana seems to know a lot about love and marriage, she doesn’t actually know enough to not nag her husband. In general, though, she’s a faithful and loving, even if concerned, wife and she is one of Shakespeare’s few characters who embodies the real trials of love in marriage. Most of Shakespeare’s comedies end with marriages, but Adriana is a more realistic portrayal of what actually happens after the marriage takes place. Adriana, even in this farcical play, can be seen as Shakespeare’s nod to a difficult reality.



LUCIANA

Next to the outspoken Adriana, there’s meek Luciana. She tries to soothe her sister with the line, “[men] are masters to their females, and their lords” but this will not work on Adriana’s righteous rage.

If Adriana’s an early campaigner for women’s rights, Luciana is out there lobbying for the men, assuring her sister that when “[Luciana] learns love, [she]’ll practice to obey” her husband. We find it kind of hard to identify with her when she claims that, if she had a cheating husband, she would wait patiently “until he comes home again.” It basically sounds like she’s advocating for a doormat model of womanhood that some modern audiences could find pretty difficult to swallow.

So, Act I has this argument between the two sisters, with Adrianna standing for equality of the sexes, at least in marriage, and Luciana arguing for a definite order – men the higher status, women subservient. In Act III, when Luciana finally reappears, and we get to see a second dimension of her character. The man whom she and Adriana have mistaken for Adriana’s husband, (but who is in fact Antipholus S) proposes marriage to Luciana. So this poor woman, who has confessed to fears of “the marriage bed” but who really wants to get hitched, gets a proposal – from the man she thinks is her brother-in-law.

To Luciana’s credit, she doesn’t hesitate for a second to refuse him: “And may it be,” she reproaches him, “that you have quite forgot/ A husband’s office?” She scolds him for being so obvious about cheating on Adriana. When Antipholus of Syracuse keeps insisting that he loves her, and that he doesn’t owe Adriana a thing, Luciana immediately goes to tell her sister what he’s been saying.

Of course, it’s Antipholus S who proposes to Luciana, not Antipholus E, so they can finally get engaged when all has been revealed.

Luciana feels she has a duty to men, and preaches so in the first act as well as the fifth act. Despite this, it’s totally secondary to the responsibility she feels to her sister. This leads her to confess Antipholus’ advances even though she’s really attracted to him. So Luciana may believe wholeheartedly in obedience to her husband, but she’s willing to give up a man’s



proposal for the sake of her sister’s happiness.

Man may be above women but her loyalty to family is strong. This makes her popular with audiences.

DROMIO OF EPHESUS

is the twin brother of Dromio of Syracuse.

He has shared the same fate in the shipwreck as Antipholus of Ephesus, to whom he is a faithful servant. Dromio of Ephesus and his twin brother were born of a poor woman at the same time that Aemilia gave birth to her twin sons. Since the poor woman was in the same inn, this other birth came to Aegeon’s attention, and he bought the Dromios twins as servants for his own sons. Throughout the play, Dromio of Ephesus confuses his own master with Antipholus of Syracuse. He is sent on a series of errands, always returning to the wrong master with the wrong item or wrong information and is beaten as a consequence. There is little in the play to differentiate between Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse; however, we do know that they have different tastes in women. Dromio of Ephesus is romantically involved with Luce, a woman that his twin finds extremely disgusting.

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE

is the twin brother of Dromio of Ephesus.

He has shared the same fate as Antipholus of Syracuse, to whom he is a faithful servant. Like his twin brother, he serves, throughout the play, to compound the comic effect of mistaken identities and is beaten by the twin Antipholuses when the objects of his errands do not correspond to the desires of the masters. Although Dromio of Syracuse has been a constant presence in the life of Antipholus of Syracuse—possibly a childhood playmate—the difference in their social standing is maintained. Antipholus of Syracuse reminds him of that social difference when he thinks that Dromio of Syracuse has been deliberately fooling with him about the gold he was directed to deposit at the Centaur, presuming that the evasive answers



given by Dromio of Ephesus on that point were the fooleries of his own servant. He says to the Syracusan Dromio, “If you will jest with me, know my aspect, / And fashion your demeanour to my looks” (II.ii.32-33). The circumstances of their birth have destined the twin Dromios to a life of servitude. Even the name “Dromio” is suggestive of the twins’ occupation as the name derives from the Greek “dromos”— to run.

LUCE

is a servant to Adriana.

She helps the Syracusan Dromio bar the door against Antipholus of Ephesus when Adriana and Luciana are entertaining Antipholus of Syracuse within, unaware that it is really the husband of her mistress outside. We discover later that she has presumed a familiarity with the Syracusan Dromio, thinking he was his twin brother with whom she is presumably involved. The Syracusan Dromio finds her extremely unattractive and describes her to Antipholus of Syracuse as “the kitchen wench, and all grease” (III.ii.95). He describes her complexion as “Swart, like [his] shoe; but her face nothing like so clean kept” (III.ii.102). He describes her girth as “No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip: she is spherical, like a globe” (III.ii.113-14). When Dromio of Syracuse is later sent to Adriana’s house to procure bail for Antipholus of Ephesus, he shudders at the thought of encountering Luce again.

SOLINUS (SOLINUS, DUKE OF EPHESUS)

The duke appears in the first and last scenes of the play. In the opening scene, he sentences Aegeon to death, in accordance with the Ephesian policy of retaliation against the duke of Syracuse, who has held Ephesian merchants in Syracuse for ransom. The duke of Ephesus represents law, but that law is tempered with mercy. When he hears Aegeon’s sad tale of shipwreck and separated family, the duke wishes that he could suspend Aegeon’s sentence of death but cannot since that leniency would establish a dangerous precedent in Ephesus. He does, however, allow Aegeon until the end of the day to accumulate the thousand marks necessary to pay his ransom. In the last scene, the duke appears to enact the sentence



against Aegeon but is prevented from immediately doing so by several suits which he must settle. When the abbess appears to say that Antipholus of Syracuse has been wronged in being treated as if he were possessed and recognizes Aegeon as her husband, it is the duke who is first to put the pieces of the puzzle together and figure out what has happened.

PINCH (DOCTOR PINCH)

Doctor Pinch is a schoolmaster by profession and a conjurer by virtue of his advanced learning. He attempts to exorcise the demons from Antipholus of Ephesus after he has escorted him home. But the Ephesian Antipholus and Dromio break their bonds and turn the tables on the doctor, beating him and humiliating him by cutting off his hair. Doctor Pinch represents the Catholic practice of exorcism rejected by the Protestant doctrine of the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. We know that the brief exorcism Pinch conducts, after the Ephesian Antipholus strikes him, has Catholic associations because he attempts to drive Satan out by saying, “I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven!” (IV.iv.57). The belief in saints was peculiar to Catholicism, and no good Protestant in England would have suggested that the spiritual aid of saints could be enlisted.

COURTESAN

The courtesan is the hostess of the Porpentine Inn and a prostitute. Antipholus of Ephesus, still angry at being locked out of his house, proclaims his intention to give the gold necklace intended for his wife to the courtesan. He will do this to spite his wife, who has often accused him, without cause, of fraternizing with the courtesan. The courtesan later encounters Antipholus of Syracuse and requests the gold necklace Antipholus of Ephesus has promised her in exchange for a ring during dinner earlier at the Porpentine. Antipholus of Syracuse views



her as a lewd and despicable creature driven by the devil himself; he flees the supernatural nightmare he sees her to be.

AEMILIA

is the abbess in charge of a priory, a convent for nuns, in the city of Ephesus. As we learn, somewhat surprisingly, at the end of the play, she is also the wife of Aegeon and the mother of Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse. In the shipwreck that separated her from Aegeon, she had tied herself, one of her twin sons, and one of the twin servants to a spare mast from the sunken ship. Aegeon had done likewise, tying himself, the other twin son, and remaining twin servant to another mast. According to Aegeon’s account at the beginning of the play, she and her burdens were lighter and were born more quickly by the wind than his own group, and Aegeon believed they had been rescued by fishermen from Corinth.

In the last scene of the play, Aemilia reveals that she and her charges had really been rescued by men of Epidamium, and the fishermen from Corinth had stolen Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus. She had not seen her son or his servant since, and she has been living in Ephesus for some time, unaware of her son’s residence there. Her appearance in the last scene of the play and her recognition of Aegeon are the final pieces of the puzzle in explaining the multiple confusions of the preceding action.

ANGELO

is a goldsmith in Ephesus. He has been commissioned by Antipholus of Ephesus to make a gold necklace for the latter’s wife. He mistakenly gives that necklace to Antipholus of Syracuse. Angelo owes money to another Ephesian merchant, intending to pay that debt with the sum owed him by Antipholus of Ephesus. He knows Antipholus of Ephesus to be a reputable man, so he cannot believe it when the Ephesian twin passes by and denies having ever received the necklace. Angelo has



him arrested since he has no other recourse. In the last scene of the play, he can only give the duke conflicting testimony about the character of Antipholus of Ephesus. Having earlier accompanied the Ephesian Antipholus to his home and having witnessed the doors barred against the owner, he confirms that the Ephesian Antipholus is telling the truth in that instance. But he must also inform the duke that Antipholus of Ephesus has initially denied receiving the necklace and then later has brazenly displayed the same while freely admitting the source and time of its delivery.

BALTHAZAR

is a merchant in Ephesus. He accompanies Angelo and Antipholus of Ephesus to the latter’s house. When Antipholus grows angry at being locked out of his own home and decides to break in with a crowbar, Balthazar convinces him not to do so. He argues that breaking in would surely be noticed and commented upon, and it would bring suspicion on the wife of the Ephesian Antipholus and, in turn, on her husband.

FIRST MERCHANT OF EPHESUS

The first merchant of Ephesus befriends Antipholus of Syracuse when the latter arrives in Ephesus. He warns the Syracusan Antipholus that Syracusan merchants are being held for ransom in Ephesus and advises him to pass himself off as being from Epidamium while he remains in the city. He tells Antipholus of Syracuse that just that morning the duke has sentenced a Syracusan merchant to death for his inability to pay that ransom; however, the first merchant of Ephesus is unaware that the poor Syracusan merchant is Aegeon, father to the Syracusan Antipholus.

SECOND MERCHANT OF EPHESUS

The second merchant of Ephesus is owed money by Angelo the goldsmith. When he requests payment, Angelo assures him that he can secure a similar amount from Antipholus of Ephesus in exchange for the gold necklace he has given him. When the Ephesian Antipholus denies



owing the money, Angelo cannot pay the second merchant of Ephesus. The latter has no other alternative but to have Angelo arrested for non-payment of debt. Angelo, in turn, has Antipholus of Ephesus arrested on the same grounds. In a later scene, Angelo apologizes to the second merchant of Ephesus, who has been delayed in a business voyage by Angelo’s inability to pay his debt. The second Merchant of Ephesus asks Angelo about the Ephesian Antipholus’s reputation, and Angelo assures him that in all but this particular instance Antipholus of Ephesus has always conducted himself as a reputable man of business.



HUMOUR:

TCOE is recognised as a comedy and, therefore, humour plays an important role in the play.Sources of the humour in the play can be found in:

● The Situation ● Plot ● Character ● Mistaken Identity ● Misunderstanding ● Timing ● Coincidence ● Physical Humour ● Language: Puns, Images, Bawdy, Insults, Jokes, Wit ● Surprise

FARCE:

Farce is a play where the plot is more important than the characters. It usually uses buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterisation and ludicrously improbable situations.

There are clear elements of farce in TCOE. The Dromios are the characters that illustrate this the most. Their situations are highly amusing and lots of slapstick humour comes through their interaction with their masters.

As the action develops there are other elements of farce that appear. The arrival of Dr. Pinch is an example of how the action becomes farcical with the exorcising of Antipholus of Ephesus.

THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS USED IN TCOE



SLAPSTICK:

Slapstick is a type of physical comedy that goes much further than real life events. Clowns throwing pies in each other’s faces is a classic example of slapstick.

The term comes from a device developed during the broad, physical comedy style of Commedia dell’arte in 16th Century Italy. The Slap Stick is merely two thin slats of wood made from splitting a single long stick, which makes a ‘slap’ when striking another actor. Little force is needed to make a loud and comical sound. Actors can hit one another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing very little actual physical damage. Along with the inflatable bladder (of which the whoopee cushion is a modern version), it was among the earliest special effects.

The slapstick potential in TCOE appears with the beating of the Dromios by their ‘masters’.

TWINS:

As a theatrical convention, twins separated in infancy is an effective plot device. Whether twins are identical or fraternal they have an especially close relationship with each other. Sometimes separated twins are found years later to have the same habits, likes and behaviour.

People are fascinated by twins. They would have fascinated the audiences that watched the original production and the identical costume design would have been pleasing to see.

The Comedy of Errors has two sets of twins. Their separation and longing to find each other initiates and ends the plot.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY:

This provides the main focus for the action in TCOE.

The constant mistaking Antipholus S and Dromio S for their twin brothers happens continually and leads to much confusion and frustration.



Added to this is the fact that both Antipholus brothers mistake the wrong Dromio for their own servants. The delight for the audience is when the master beats the wrong servant. Shakespeare uses this to the full to create the comedy of mistakes or The Comedy of Errors!

NARRATIVE AND LITERARY DEVICES

There are many devices used within the play. These would have been familiar to the audiences and are common in Shakespeare’s plays. Here are some that appear in TCOE:

Suspense: A device used to make us wonder what will happen.Foreshadowing: A hint of what is to come.Dramatic irony: The audience is aware of truths of which the characters are ignorant.

Language and Poetic Devices:

● Soliloquy: Speech revealing a character’s thoughts, spoken when the character is ● alone on stage. ● Asides: Lines spoken to the audience. The other characters on stage do not hear. ● Prose: Ordinary sentences, usually spoken by servants or lower class characters. ● Poetry: Blank verse, iambic pentameter, spoken by the higher-class

characters. Allusions: References to well-known historical or literary figures, events, or objects. Examples of Greek mythology in TCOE in this play are “The Phoenix”, and “Circes’ cup”; and from the Bible, in Act 2 Scene 1, there are echoes of Paul’s “Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands,” and of lines in Genesis that make man lord over the animals. The “prodigal son” is also a reference to the Bible.

Metaphor: Indirect comparisons.



Imagery: Pictures in words, to enrich the meaning.

Examples of imagery:

One image used is of a football, to show how Dromio feels at being “kicked around” by his master and mistress. A second is of vines climbing up a tree, a biblical image used to show what Adriana thinks of her entwined relationship with her husband. Luce’s round damp body is compared to the earth.

Water imagery is dominant in the play, and a symbol of separation. First we hear of it in Egeon’s speech describing the storm. Twice characters describe their loneliness as though they were drops of water. Antipholus of Syracuse seeks his brother as though he were a drop of water in the ocean, to show he is lost when he fails to find his him: “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 “ (1.2.35-38). Adriana says separating her from her husband would be like trying to capture a single drop of water again after it had been dropped it into a gulf (2.2.126). Adriana says she will throw her tears at the feet of the Duke, to persuade him to bridge the gap between her and her husband. Throughout the play, Antipholus of Syracuse tries to get back on the water to escape from Ephesus, but at the end of the play, he, his brother, and the Dromios, all now united and complete, leave the water for solid ground.



The design opportunities for The Comedy of Errors are endless.

Take a look at the different theatre posters below to see how the print designer has tried to capture the feel of each individual show.

STAGING AND DESIGN



QUESTIONS

● Analyse each of the posters in turn. Think about:• Who is in them? What characters?• Use of colour• Font• What audiences are they targeting?

● Which ones attract you? Why? ● What is each image saying about the production it is advertising? ● Do any of the images surprise you? ● Which show would you go to see? ● What would your poster image for the show be? What elements of the play would you

focus on?• Look at each poster again. Think about:• What do you think the set would look?• What would the costumes look like? Think about a selection of characters?• What could the lighting be like?• What soundscapes / music could be used for each production?



SET DESIGN:

Some considerations:

● The play is a comedy with elements of high farce ● Antipholus S is visiting Ephesus so he and Dromio are outsiders ● There are several locations suggested in the play ● There seems to be a lively community in Ephesus ● Many productions focus on the seaside or coastal location of the play ● What stage configuration would you choose? Why? ● Would you use levels in your design? How? Why? ● In which period would you set your production? ● How would this change your design ideas? ● What textures, colours would you want to use in your design? ● What atmosphere do you want to create? ● Are there any special areas you would like to create? ● Will you use different entrances and exits e.g. fireman poles, ladders, trapdoors?

Take a look at the following designers and their very different approaches to TCOE:

http://www.michaelpavelka.com/designing-the-comedy-of-errors/

http://garycbenson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/comedy-of-errors-costume-design.html

http://davidrgammons.com/work/comedy-of-errors.html



FURTHER SET DESIGNS



The six sets of COSTUME designs for the both sets of twins below focus on different elements of character.

Notice how dressing the sets of twins identically or almost identically is a common theme.



GENERAL QUESTIONS:

● What are the differences between the images? ● What are the similarities? ● What aspects of the characters have the designers chosen to focus on? ● What do you notice about:

o Period o Form and shape of the costumes? o Colour? o Hair and make-up?

QUESTIONS FOR DESIGNING:

● What do each of the images say about each the production they came from? ● What might the set for each of these productions look like? ● What lighting plot would complement the costumes? ● What sound plots would complement the costumes?

o Choose a piece of music for each of the images. Why did you select that particular track?

QUESTIONS FOR DIRECTING:

● What mood the director is trying to create with these designs? ● Why do you think the director wanted the characters to look like this? ● What theme(s) is the director trying to illustrate with these portrayals of the twins? ● What well-known actors would you choose if you were casting these characters for a

production today?



QUESTIONS FOR ACTING:

● What physicality does each of these interpretations suggest to you? ● What vocal characteristics might you use to bring these interpretations to life? ● How do these actors need to interact with each other?



FURTHER COSTUME DESIGN



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Cover; ©Photostage

Cover of The Comedy of Errors: The Oxford Shakespeare by William Shakespeare & Charles Whitworth (editor) (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Twins in green clothing; Frontispiece from Tales from Shakespeare (1890), http://bit.ly/2aTuUpy

Twins; ©Photostage

Shakespeare's Globe; Photo by GarryReggae, Wikimedia Commons, http://bit.ly/2aTw4kT

People in Elizabethan era clothing; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder

Twins; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder

Rules and order; Roger Mastroianni; http://bit.ly/2ijVQmu

Adriana; Carol Pratt Photography

Twins; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder

Luce; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder

Tom Hodgkins as Dr. Pinch , Zuleika Henry Photography; http://bit.ly/2bnFDHX

Courtesan; Zuleika Henry Photography, http://bit.ly/2bnFDHX

Aemilia; Manuel Harlan, http://bit.ly/2ifuIoC

Cast; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder

Poster 1; © 2010 Janina Lamb, http://bit.ly/2hyiv1e

Poster 2; Raleigh Little Theatre, http://bit.ly/1N70JFO

Poster 3; © The Royal National Theatre

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of materials however if there are omissions or inaccuracies please inform us so that any necessary corrections can be made.

http://bit.ly/2aTuUpy

http://bit.ly/2aTuUpy

http://bit.ly/2aTw4kT

http://bit.ly/2ijVQmu

http://bit.ly/2bnFDHX

http://bit.ly/2bnFDHX

http://bit.ly/2ifuIoC

http://bit.ly/2hyiv1e



Poster 4; Edgewood College Department of Theatre Arts, http://bit.ly/2bxdLVaPoster 5; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder Poster 6; Jeffrey Krugh. New Albany - Plain Local Schools Production, Elliott Lemberg (director)Poster 7; Yale Repertory Theatre (2005), designed by Scott McKowen, Punch & JudySet design 1; Michael Pavelka, http://bit.ly/2yCLm85Set design 2; Alexander AndriulliSet design 3; Saint John Theatre Company, http://bit.ly/1VBTHReSet design 4; John O'ConnellCostumes 1; University of Utah College of Fine Arts, http://finearts.utah.edu/Costumes 2; Chicago Shakespeare Theater, http://bit.ly/1JEiaicCostumes 3; Abbey Theatre, http://bit.ly/1sk9czdCostumes 4; Bell Shakespeare, http://bit.ly/1Iylx8tCostumes 5; Propeller, http://propeller.org.uk/Costumes 6; Benjamin Fortin, Bernard Bygott, Ryan Zarecki, and Geoff Knox. Ohio Shakespeare FestivalFurther costume designs 1; Malcolm BrownFurther costume designs 2; Michelle NeyFurther costume designs 3; Malcolm BrownFurther costume designs 4; Jacqueline FirkinsFurther costume designs 5; Michael Pavelka, http://bit.ly/2yCLm85Further costume designs 6; Unable to trace copyright, please contact us if you are the copyright holder

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of materials however if there are omissions or inaccuracies please inform us so that any necessary corrections can be made.

http://bit.ly/2bxdLVa

http://bit.ly/2yCLm85

http://bit.ly/1VBTHRe

http://finearts.utah.edu/

http://bit.ly/1JEiaic

http://bit.ly/1sk9czd

http://bit.ly/1Iylx8t

http://propeller.org.uk/

http://bit.ly/2yCLm85

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