The Shakespeare Book

72

Servant to

T

he confusion at the heart

of The Comedy of Errors

is caused by a natural

phenomenon, twinship, a subject

that interested Shakespeare

because he was the father of

twins. Individuals like to think

of themselves as unique, so

identical twins are intriguing

because they appear to duplicate

identity. They suggest the

possibility of one person being in

two places at one time. And that

can be both funny and frightening.

Shakespeare exploits both the

comedy and the fear. He doubles

the identical twins that he found

in Plautus’s Menaechmi by adding

servant Dromios to the original

twins. This nicely doubles the

opportunity for farce as the play’s

mistimings gather pace. We’re told

that the servant twins have shared

the lives of their masters since

birth, which means that when the

errors begin it’s not just the master-

servant relationship that comes

under comic strain; clearly there

are bonds of lifelong friendship

and trust that are also tested.

Exploration of identity

Shakespeare’s changes to his source

material let him explore how far

identity is influenced by others. We

see the fear and isolation felt by

each twin when even his servant-

partner disputes his version of

events. Each man appears to see

and hear a slightly different world.

Confusion over mistaken identity

makes Antipholus of Syracuse

want to leave town because the

inconsistency he finds seems to

confirm the place’s reputation for

witchcraft. It makes his twin brother

so frustrated that he turns to

violence, especially when his sanity

is doubted. But this only convinces

everyone that he is indeed mad.

When identities and the bonds

of trust between individuals are

IN CONTEXT

THEMES

Twinship, identity, marital

and filial relationships, loss

SETTING

Port of Ephesus

SOURCES

1390 John Gower’s English

version of the Greek romance

Apollonius of Tyre forms the

basis of Egeon’s and Emilia’s

frame narrative.

1595 Roman playwright

Plautus’s Menaechmi (“The

Brothers Menaechmus”)

translated into English. A

second play, Amphitruo, may

have inspired Act 3, Scene 1.

LEGACY

1594 Performed at Gray’s

Inn, London.

1786 Gli Equivoci, an opera of

the play, is staged in Vienna.

1938 Richard Rodgers and

Lorenz Hart stage The Boys

from Syracuse, a musical of the

play, on Broadway, New York.

1938 Theodore Komisarjevski’s

production at Stratford-upon-

Avon makes a fluid use of

space that has a key influence

on staging Shakespeare.

1963–97 Indian film-makers

make five films based on the

play’s plot, most recently Ulta

Palta starring Ramesh Aravind.

1976 Trevor Nunn’s production

for the RSC combines elements

of farce, circus, and music hall.

2001 The Kyogen of Errors, a

Japanese production of the

play, tours the UK and USA.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

Tw i n

brothers

Antipholus of

Syracuse

The twins’ relationships

Antipholus of

Ephesus

Married

to

Sisters

Adriana Luciana

In love

with

Rebukes him,

believing him to

be her husband.

Tw i n

brothers

Dromio of

Syracuse

Dromio of

Ephesus

Servant to

Angelo

Goldsmith

Has him arrested

for non-payment

for gold chain.

Gives him gold

chain, mistaking

him for his brother.