The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare (Brief Thoughts)

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare felt a lot like Love’s Labour’s Lost when I read it because there was misdirected love. But The Comedy of Errors takes humor to another level by adding in mistaken identity because of a double set of identical twins!

In The Comedy of Errors, there are two sets of identical twins who were born on the same day, two born to a rich merchant and two born to a poor woman. The rich  merchant bought the two poor babies to be slaves to his sons, and when he returns to his home, his ship is wrecked and the twin pairs are separated. Now, more than two decades later, the two sets of twins happen to be in the same town. Since they are unaware that there are two different servants called Dromio and two different men named Antipholous, there are amusing results!

After I read the play, I watched Big Business, a movie with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin that follows a similar premise: two sets of identical twins separated at birth. Besides the initial premise, however, the modern-day retelling has very little in common with the Shakespeare play. Nevertheless, it was a funny movie to watch. 

Although The Comedy of Errors is ridiculous and highly unlikely, it is still a delightful play. It must be quite amusing watching in person as the Dromio and Antipholous characters appear on stage and confuse the residents of Ephesus. This wasn’t my favorite Shakespeare play, but I’m glad I read it. Shakespeare has a wonderful way with plot development!