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The Comedy of Errors
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Hilarious fun, this early comedy is filled with the merry violence of slapstick and farce. When two sets of twins, separated and apparently lost to each other, all end up in the rowdy, rollicking city of Ephesus, the stage is set for mix-ups, mayhem, and mistaken identity—plus the timeless puns, jokes, gags, and suspense that makes this play a wonderful theatrical frolic and a brilliant tour de force of language and laughter.
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William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.
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Reviews for The Comedy of Errors
Rating: 3.4166666666666665 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
12 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I went into this fairly skeptical of how much I would actually enjoy it. I was told that it was Shakespeare's first play and that the only reason that my instructor was having us read it was because it is actually being performed here on campus and we are required to attend the one-night-only performance. Not a glowing recommendation to have before starting a book!The play is surprisingly easy to follow and understand. The humor is actually funny and I found myself chuckling out loud and enjoying the many puns and instances of word play that take place throughout caused by the many mistakes in identity that occur due to the presence of two sets of long separated twins. The play does require the reader/viewer to suspend reality in order for the premise to work, but all in all, it's quite entertaining and worth checking out if you're interested in this sort of thing.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not one of Shakespeare's best. Two pairs of twins were separated shortly after birth, one pair gentlemen and one pair servants. They are reunited after a series of confusing events and mistaken identity. It wasn't a bad play, and would probably be funnier on stage, but it didn't seem enough of a plot for 5 whole acts.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Obviously an earlier work. More slapstick than his more sophisticated humor in his later works. The unfortunate servants serve as the receiving end of a Punch and Judy show. I don't recall that type of humor in his other works. But the "punderful" use of the English language is there from the start. Not a very compelling play, but fun nonetheless.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5another of the 1890 wee books from the same series, wonder what else is out there
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Really excellent insults and figures of speech throughout a ridiculous play. This play should not be performed "straight," or read silently--you need a framing device, or great physical comedy, or *something* to bring it up to the level of Shakespeare's other plays. Because there really isn't much to this farce, and what little substance there is, is a bit sketchy (ah, beating one's slave--hilarity!). Also, I hate mistaken identity stories, so I was prejudiced against this from the start.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely loved it!! I loved the doubles!!!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Have you ever seen the 1988 movie Big Business? If you have then you know the general idea of this play’s premise. Two sets of twins are born in the same place on the same night. One set of twins is wealthy, the other is not. The twins are separated at birth and one brother from each set end up growing up together as servant and master. Just to add to the confusion, the twins from each pair have the same name. The play is one big case of mistaken identity. Friends, lovers, foes, everyone is completely confused as they run into the brothers and mistake them for their twin. I think this would be an incredibly entertaining play for kids to see, especially if they’re new to Shakespeare’s work. It’s easy to follow and contains lots of big laughs. In later plays the Bard uses cases of mistaken identity and sets of twins to aid a larger story. This play feels like an early draft of the greater work to come, but it lacks the depth of his other plays. BOTTOM LINE: This is the shortest and shallowest of Shakespeare’s comedies. I have a feeling it would be really fun to see performed live, but it doesn’t work as well in the written form.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is one of Will's earlier comedies. There's a lot of slapstick, insults, and raunchy humor. This has the classic line, "She is spherical, like a globe. I could find out countries in her."
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great fun! Bit hard to get into at first, but it's hilarious once you do. I feel very sorry for everyone in this play, but that doesn't make it any less funny.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" because it seems to contain a dash of all his comedic abilities and elements, all thrown together into one play.This is the story of two sets of identical twins separated at birth. When the four of them end up in the same city at the same time, all sorts of, well, comedy and error ensues.Shakespeare makes sharp use of his usual witty twist of wordplay, farce and puns. Throw in theft, madness, more cases of mistaken identity than you could ever wish for, public beatings, arrest, false accusations, and fake possession, and you have this wild story.I wouldn't call this one perfect or without "errors" of its own, however. There is not much variation or development in the plot, and the joke gets old after awhile.All the same, it's Shakespeare, and a great introduction to his comedies.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I wasn't surprised to learn that "Comedy of Errors" is one of Shakespeare's early plays. It really seemed unpolished compared to some of his best-known work.I guess my major objection was with the whole switcharoo premise, which seemed so implausible that I couldn't suspend that much disbelief.I perhaps might have enjoyed a performance of the play more than a read of it. Definitely one of my least favorites of the Shakespeare plays I've read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This play probably ties with Twelfth Night for my favorite Shakespeare play of those that I've read. The concept of people constantly mixing up two twins and this wreaking lots of havoc may not be the most advanced ever, but Shakespeare plays it out really well here.This play lives up to its status in the comedy of category. I found the humor very situational, and at times couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the characters' circumstances.I also thought that the characterization was quite well done here. The reader actually does get a fair amount of insight into Adriana's marriage with Antipholus of Ephesus and her feelings. I felt that I also got good insight into why things were happening because Shakespeare partially develops these charactesr by talking about the problems (and their anxieties regarding them) which they need to eliminate to avoid being arrested.I also thought this play was a quick read over all. I thought that the characters kept the reader engaged, as did the plot. It left me wanting to know what happened. Even if this play is a comedy, I think there's lots of other good reasons to enjoy it!