Comedy of Errors Essay Questions

Why might the play begin on such a serious note (the impending execution of Egeon)?

Despite the fact that The Comedy of Errors is, in fact, a comedy, it begins with a rather bleak scene: the trial of Egeon, which ends with the Duke threatening Egeon's execution if he cannot raise 1,000 marks by sunset. This might seem a bizarre way to begin a comedy, but this opening actually helps frame the rest of the play: Egeon's fate is allegedly determined by his ability to raise money, so the stakes are high. However, the Duke ultimately pardons Egeon once it is revealed that his entire family is already in in Ephesus, establishing the play's major theme of familial bonds outweighing financial obligation.

What about the play's setting is significant for its plot?

Ephesus, a city in Ancient Greece, is portrayed in the play as a bustling city of commerce. Merchants, traders, and artisans line the streets, and the energy of commerce contributes to the somewhat chaotic plot of mistaken identities and misunderstandings. Furthermore, that people in the city are so concerned with buying and selling helps move the plot along by raising the stakes of different characters' decisions: the necklace, for example, must be paid for, and when it is not, Antipholus ends up in jail. Similarly, Egeon faces potential execution if he cannot raise the appropriate ransom funds (until he is pardoned by the Duke at the end of the play).

Why does Antipholus travel to Ephesus?

Antipholus of Syracuse had left his home seven years prior when the play begins. According to Egeon, Antipholus left in search of his long lost twin brother, now Antipholus of Ephesus. However, the play suggests that Antipholus of Syracuse leaves home not just to find his brother, but to find missing pieces of his own identity as well. Antipholus of Syracuse is portrayed as someone who lacks self-knowledge and certainty, and the play is critical of his desire to understand himself through his relationships with others. However, the play also celebrates sameness and twinning as potential answers to the question of self-identity, as the two sets of twins are, the end of the play suggests, fated to always be together.

What kind of relationship do Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus have?

The marriage between Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus is in jeopardy at the beginning of the play: Adriana suspects that Antipholus of Ephesus has been unfaithful to her, and the plot does little to convince the audience otherwise (though it ultimately remains ambiguous about his exploits). Adriana is both riddled with self-doubt over these circumstances and vocally critical of her husband and his choices. Their relationship, though flawed, is presented as one of mutuality and compromise – they argue and insult one another frequently, but the end of the play suggests that their marriage, like the bonds between the twins, is fated to last.

What elements of the play make it a comedy?

The Comedy of Errors has always been considered a comedy (largely thanks to its title) and it subscribes to a number of comic conventions from the early modern period. First, the play features a significant amount of dramatic irony, as characters are unaware of the true circumstances of the play until the very end. Second, exchanges between characters are rife with banter and wordplay, something seen more often in comedies while tragedies and other dramatic genres tend to feature lengthy soliloquies. Finally, comedies nearly always end with at least one marriage, and The Comedy of Errors features the restoration of the marriage between Egeon and Emilia, the continued marriage between Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus, and the implied marriage between Luciana and Antipholus of Syracuse.