The comedy of errors

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Broadway production poster from 1879.

The Comedy of Errors ( Early Modern English The Comedie of Errors ) is a play by William Shakespeare . It is a mix-up comedy set in Ephesus and in which two reversed pairs of twins take center stage. Shakespeare probably wrote the work between 1592 and 1594. The plot is based on the comedy Menaechmi by the ancient Roman author Plautus . Shakespeare doubles the twin theme compared to the original. The work was first reprinted in the 1623 folio edition . The first verifiable performance dates from December 28, 1594.

action

The Duke of Ephesus leads Aegeon, a merchant from Syracuse , to the execution. Because of a dispute between the two cities, each Syracuse arrested in Ephesus has to pay 1,000 marks, which Aegeon is unable to do, or he will be executed. The Duke asks Aegeon to tell how he came to Ephesus, and Aegeon tells:

His wife, who accompanied him, gave birth to identical twins on one of his business trips. He called both of them Antipholus . He then bought a pair of identical newborns named Dromio and gave one each to his sons as slaves. When her ship got caught in a storm on the way back, the woman tied herself with a son and a slave to a mast, Aegeon with the other son and the other slave to a mast at the other end of the ship. The ship broke apart and those who were tied to a mast were picked up by different ships and thus separated from each other.

The son Antipholus, who remained with his mother, came to Ephesus with his servant, where he is a respected citizen and is married to his wife Adriana. As an adult, Antipholus of Syracuse, who remained with his father, goes with his servant in search of his brother and mother. They come to Ephesus, the mix-ups take their course. Antipholus of Syracuse (hereinafter "vS") instructs his servant to hand over his money and luggage to an inn. Antipholus vS soon meets Dromio of Ephesus, who asks him to come home to eat, while Antipholus wants to know what has become of the money and luggage. Dromio of Ephesus returns to the house and tells Adriana and her sister Luciana about the strange behavior of his (supposed) master. Adriana threatens Dromio with beatings if he doesn't bring his master back, which Dromio takes a second time. In the city Antipholus vS meets his servant and he cannot remember having asked his master to come home to eat. The two meet Adriana and Luciana, who they take for Antipholus of Ephesus and his dromio. Adriana insists that her "husband" should come to dinner and he eventually goes into the house while Dromio stays downstairs as a guard at the door. Then Antipholus of Ephesus appears with his dromio and the goldsmith Angelo in front of his house and demands entry, but since even his wife Adriana believes that her husband is already in the house, he is denied entry. The angry Antipholus von E. then decides to dine with a courtesan, Angelo should get him a gold chain for it. In the house, Antipholus confesses his love from S. Luciana, who falls in shock and later tells Adriana about the behavior of her "husband". After a while, Angelo returns to the house and gives Antipholus vS the golden chain that is to be paid for later. When Angelo subsequently meets Antipholus von E. and demands payment, the latter refuses because he has not received a chain, whereupon Angelo arranges for his arrest.

Antipholus vS meets his dromio in the city with money that Adriana has received so that Antipholus (vE) can be released from prison. Dromio vE finds the arrested Antipholus, who asks him about the money for his release, which Dromio doesn't understand. Adriana appears with Luciana and claims that Antipholus had dined with her, while Antipholus, supported by Dromio, insists that he has been expelled from his own house. Both are brought to Adriana's house, handcuffed. Angelo meets Dromio and Antipholus vS with the gold chain, after an exchange of words, Angelo and Antipholus draw their swords. When Adriana and Luciana appear, Antipholus and Dromio flee to a nearby abbey. The abbess denies Adriana and the others entry. Adriana then turns to the Duke of Ephesus, who is leading Aegeon to his execution, and asks the Duke for help. He is ready to convey when a messenger appears and reports that Antipholus and Dromio (vE) have freed themselves from their bonds. Antipholus vE himself shows up with his dromio and demands that the duke grant him justice to his wife, who has excluded him from his house and allowed him to be arrested and tied up. In order to be able to unravel the jumble of allegations and counter-allegations, the duke calls in the abbess. Meanwhile, Aegeon greets his son Antipholus vE, who replies that he has never seen his father in his life. Now the abbess arrives with Antipholus and Dromio von S., which initially causes confusion among those present, but then leads to the dissolution of tensions: the abbess tells Aegeon that she is his wife and the two Antipholi their twin sons. Angelo receives his money for the golden chain and the Duke gives Aegeon his life. At the end, the whole company goes to the abbey to have a celebration.

Text output

English
  • Reg Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors. Arden Shakespeare Second Series. London 1962/2008, ISBN 978-1903436011
  • Kent Cartwright (Ed.): William Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors. Arden Third Series. London 2017, ISBN 978-1904271246
  • DS Dorsch (Ed.): William Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors. New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988/2004, ISBN 978-0521535168
  • Charles Whitworth (Ed.): William Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors. Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002, ISBN 978-0199536146
German

Web links