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 | | The Comedy of Errors (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare ISBN-10: 9780743484886 ISBN-10: 0-7434-8488-6 ISBN-13: 9780743484886 ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-8488-6 Mass Market Paperback 2004-12-21 Washington Square Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description · Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play · Scene-by-scene plot summaries · A key to famous lines and phrases · An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language · An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play · Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books Essay by Arthur F. Kinney In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu. | ||
Reviews | ||
Starts off somberly, then hold on A tale of woe, with twins seperated at birth, children lost to their parents and a man whose life is sacrifice unless he can pay an enormous debt. And that is just the first scenes. Then, you dive head first into broad slapstick and grand comedy. One twin is a married bawd, the other is a mostly honorable bachelor. The wrong master addresses the wrong servant, the wife gets mad at the wrong twin, and everyone thinks everyone else has lost their minds. Grand fun all around, and an inspiration for every comic troupe to follow (including the Marx brothers, Peter Sellers, and Disney in several manifestations). Shakespearean comedy at its best! E.M. Van Court | ||
Shakespeare's 1st Smash! Along with "Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Comedy of Errors" remains my favorite comedy to this day. While this is a hilarious play, the story actually starts quite sad. A merchant from Syracuse named Egeon is illegally in Ephesus, and will be executed unless he can come up with 1,000 marks. He appeals to the duke and explains that he has been separated from his wife, his 2 (identical twins-Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse) sons, and their 2 (identical twins Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse) servants. Yes, it does pass plausibility that the twins would have identical names, but the confusion to come can only occur if their names are identical. So, we have to be willing to forgive this for the sake of the play's comedy to come. The duke is moved into sympathy and gives him the day to come up with 1,000 marks. Some people feel this sad scene does not belong, but I can not agree. One, it sets the mood, and two, a little bit of sadness prevents a comedy from becoming an utter farce. Also, despite the comedy of the future acts, we don't really forget this serious situation at hand, and as we enjoy the comedy, we still are in suspense as to what will happen to Egeon. Well, in comes Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio of Syracuse. And we learn that Egeon was speaking of them. (Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse grew up with Egeon, and thus know him, but Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus never knew their father or brothers for that matter.) What makes this comedy so wonderful is that not only does Shakespeare maintain the comical aspects of it, but he gradually increases the tension. At first, the 'errors' only lead to private and comical misunderstandings. But later, more outside parties get involved as both Antipholuses and Dromios are mistaken for their twins. Later, Antipholus of Ephesus suspects that his wife is having an affair. (And in my opinion, he had stronger grounds for suspecting this than the so called noble Othello. After all, poor Antipholus of Ephesus was locked out of his own house! And through a closed door, his wife told him to go away!) Soon, the errors lead to Antipholus of Ephesus and his friend Angelo getting arrested. And by the end of the 4th act, the confusion and errors have gotten so intense and out of hand that several characters in the play are angry at each other, and not one or two, but SEVERAL of the characters are in danger of being physically hurt. But leave it to Shakespeare to resolve everything just in time and give us a happy ending with all the characters enjoying a merry feast! Perhaps the greatest thing about this story is that there are no villains and there is no intentional deception. (Just a lot of misunderstandings.) And perhaps Shakespeare is telling us that many of our conflicts in life are due to misunderstandings. | ||