How Does the Comedy of Errors Compare to Today - Term Paper Example

?Find out what the origins of the story are. Was it part of history or legend? Did Shakespeare make it up? Did he rip off another playwright? Consider the environment and circumstances it was written in. Give a critical review of it. Did he lift / recycle parts from his other plays? Did he use ideas from this play in later plays? Do you think the play has relevance to today’s society? 1. Origin William Shakespeare penned The Comedy of Errors in five acts and has been mentioned in Palladis Tamia by Francis Meres in 1598. Meres cites Shakespeare’s Errors along with other works and remarks that Shakespeare is already: “… among the most excellent in both tragedy and comedy for the stage” It can therefore be implied that this play was at least written even if it was not acted at this time. The written play is often seen as having been derived from William Warner’s translation of Plautus’ Menaechmi into English language. This was published in 1595 but it is suspected that it had been in circulation as a manuscript at least a year before this time. Similarly Malone has assigned the Comedy of Errors the year 1592 and other have assigned even older dates for this play. Some commentators have suspected that Shakespeare may also have derived inspiration from a play known as The Historie of Error that was performed at the Hampton court by children of Paul on New Year’s Day in 1566-1567. In large part Shakespeare follows the story told by Plautus however as Genest notes that Shakespeare (Genest) “…makes considerable alterations. He adds the serious part of the plot; he makes two twin servants as well as two twin masters. The character of Goldsmith is new; the Courtezan is thrown into the background; and the Parasite is omitted.” The first probable performance of The Comedy of Errors is presumed to have taken place on 28th December 1594 at the Gray’s Inn Hall. This fact is stated in the Gesta Grayorum (dated to 1668) as noted below: “After such a sport, a Comedy of Errors (like to Plautus his Menechmus) was played by the players.” The reference presented above is highly attributed to Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors though there is no absolute confirmation of this as some literary scholars dispute this citation. In a similar manner, a play was performed in October 1734 at the Covent Garden composed of two acts which was labeled as See if you Like It; or, It’s All a Mistake. It was noted in regards to this play that it was: “… taken from Plautus and Shakespeare.” It has also been assumed that the play mentioned before is actually an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Genest has also talked of the performance of the Comedy in November and December 1741 at Drury Lane however there is not mention of any cast. On the other hand, Kirkman talks of the same play and the same venue at the same time and declares that the role of Dromio of Syracuse was played by Macklin. The first instance of printing The Comedy of Errors is attributed to the folio of 1623. (Adams) In regards to this edition, S. T. Coleridge remarks that Shakespeare: “… has in this piece presented us with the philosophical principles and character of farce, as distinguished from comedy and from entertainments … A comedy would scarcely allow even two Antipholuses; because, although there have been instances of almost indistinguishable likeness in two persons, yet these are mere individual accidents, casus ludentis naturae, and the verum will not excuse the inverisimile. But farce dares add the two Dromios, and is justified is so doing by the laws of its end and constitution.” On the other hand, Hallam remarks in connection to the Comedy of Errors that (Hallam): “In the Comedy of Errors, there are only a few passages of a poetical vein, yet such perhaps as no other living dramatist could have written; but the story is well invented and managed--the confusion of persons does not cease to amuse--the dialogue is easy and gay beyond what had been hitherto heard on the stage--there is little buffoonery in the wit, and no absurdity in the circumstances." 2. Historical Evidence for Age of The Comedy of Errors Within the play, Dormio of Syracuse talks of France as: “... armed and reverted, making war against heir.” Historically, Henry of Navarre became the heir of France on the death of the Duke of Anjou in 1584. On the other hand, Henry III was assassinated during the siege of Paris in 1589 just after he had named Henry of Navarre as his immediate successor. Henry of Navarre was highly favoured by the English Court as he had not converted over to Roman Catholicism as yet. Historical evidence proves that Henry of Navarre was supported by Queen Elizabeth with both troops and fiscal support. Based on the text of Dormio of Syracuse’s speech it has been suggested that The Comedy of Errors dates to somewhere between 1584 and 1589. At this point in time, Henry of Navarre was the de jure if not the de facto king of France and the speech reaffirms this belief. Another writer of the contemporary era who uses the initials W. W. has described The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare as: “... a pleasant and fine conceited comedy taken out of the most excellent witty poet Pluatus, chosen purposely from out of the rest as least harmful and yet most delightful.” It is also notable that an early translation of Plautus’ Mencehmi has been done by the same author who goes with the initials W. W. and this version is a rather simple translation for the time. W. W. has translated the work by ensuring its relevance to contemporary times. For example, W. W. writes that Menechmus order some “oysters, a Mary-bone pie or two, some artichokes, and potatoes, roots etc.” for dinner although the original text differs in this aspect. However the translation by W. W. has made sure that such alterations are well labelled with an asterisk and in the author’s own words: “... the poet’s conceit, by occasion either of the time, the country, or the phrase.” The particular translation by W. W. has been published in 1595 but the printer of the translation has remarked to the readers of the book that the writer: “... having divers of this poet’s comedies Englished for the use and delight of his private friends who, in Plautus’ own words are not able to understand them” had been prevailed upon (possibly by friends) to “let this one go further abroad” that is differ from the original text: “... for a public recreation and delight, though very loth and unwilling to hazard it to the curious view of envious detraction.” From these statements, it can be surmised that Shakespeare might have been a friend of W. W. or someone was commonly known to both W. W. and Shakespeare through whom Shakespeare was able to use this work. However, such a contention is merely an assumption and it must be noted that Shakespeare’s final piece differs from Plautus by a significant degree especially in terms of the dialogue. Moreover the play penned by Shakespeare contains additional incidents of pathos that are connected to the story of Aegeon and his wife Aemilia as well as the love of Antipholus of Syracuse for Luciana. Also new situations have been created by Shakespeare when it comes to the introduction of twin servants that are attending the twin masters. Based on these differences and other prevalent evidence, it has been suggested that Shakespeare’s play did not derive from Plautus’ work directly but it is based upon an earlier play that was presented at the Hampton Court by the children of Paul as mentioned before. This play was titled The History of Error and was presented on New Year’s Night in 1577. (The New York Times) Similarly, there is evidence that on Twelfth Night of 1583, Lord Chamberlain’s servants presented a play before the English court that was known as The History of Ferrar. Accounts from the court at the time indicate that the play was equipped for performance with: “... divers new things, as one city, one battlement of canvas, three ells of sarcenet, and ten pairs of gloves etc.” 3. Critical Review of Play For hundreds of years, most scholars have commented that The Comedy of Errors possesses little thematic depth. Moreover the origins of Shakespeare’s play in The Menaechmi has led most scholars to view this play as a light and rather farcical work from Shakespeare’s early years as a playwright. Most scholars have assumed that Shakespeare has purposely avoided the more serious themes that occupy his later work such as his histories, tragedies and later comedies. However in the eighteenth century, The Comedy of Errors was judged by a number of scholars for its adherence to classical unities as delineated by Aristotle in the fourth century BC. It must be noted that only two of Shakespeare’s works which are The Comedy of Errors and The Tempest comply with the artificial standard of unities (Bloom) which belies his other works. On the other hand, scholars in recent years have taken a completely new approach and hence a different view to Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. The play is notable for the portrayal of social relationships and holds added significance if Shakespeare’s other works are compared to it along with the age of Shakespeare. If the social relationships portrayed in The Comedy of Errors are viewed as rooted in the Roman past, they acquire a new found significance in terms of their transition to the early stages of modernity. This kind of guidance is characteristic of most of Shakespeare’s works from that age. These relationships have been classified by Eric Heinze who has remarked that these relationships comprise of dichotomies of the relationships between master and servant, husband and wife, parents and children, natives against aliens, buyers and sellers as well as monarch and parliaments. (Heinze) If this play is scrutinised closely, it can be inferred that these relationships are in a state of crisis as the society around is shedding its feudal structures and forms. Moreover the play portrays the transition and confrontation of early market forces to society in early modern Europe. 4. Composition of Play As far as the composition of the play is concerned, the elements are derived from two not one Roman comedy written by Plautus. The major elements of mistaken identity between identical twins using the same names as well as the standard characters such as the comic courtesan are derived from The Menaechmi. However Shakespeare has modified the name of one twin from Epidamnus to Ephesus and the play carries multiple allusions to Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians. On the other hand, the twin servants with the same names as well as the scene for Act 3 where the husband is locked out of the house by his wife while she dines with a look alike are all borrowed from Amphitryon. Similarly the frame story between Egeon and Emilia has been conceived from Apollonius of Tyre which was also used by Shakespeare in other plays such as Pericles, Twelfth Night and Prince of Tyre. 5. Relevance to Today’s Society Most of Shakespeare’s works are still viewed widely today because most of his works contains elements from human nature that are unshakable. For example in The Comedy of Errors, the Dormio twins are punished for not carrying out orders from their masters although they have done so. Similarly, Adriana’s situation is based on little else than her jealousies and this in turn drives her insecurities. Moreover she can be blamed to be responsible for the situation she is in because of her actions. In a similar manner, the use of mistaken twin identities has been a subject of modern movies and storytelling for example in themes where people are transposed into each other’s bodies. These themes were popular in the nineties and this indicates that themes from The Comedy of Errors are still relevant in the contemporary era. 6. Conclusion Based on the evidence presented above, the exact age of The Comedy of Errors cannot be determined, however, the approximate era in which it was penned down can be ascertained as between 1584 and 1589. The inclusion of literary evidence from various contemporary as well as modern sources only adds to the confusion over the exact time the play was penned down. As far as the origins of the play are concerned, there is little denying that the play was conceived from The Menaechmi because of the resemblance of the setting and the storyline. However evidence suggests that either Shakespeare acquired a copy of an early and modified translation of this work or Shakespeare drew inspiration from another play based on the original work. The former contention carried little weight in terms of literary and historical evidence but the latter contention is well grounded so it carried greater credibility. Shakespeare has used many parts for this play from Plautus’ other works as well as other plays and he has recycled common themes elsewhere too. Even then, this work and Shakespeare’s other works still hold relevance in the modern day because of the unchanging fashion of human nature. 7. Bibliography Adams, W. Davenport. A Dictionary of Drama. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1904. Bloom, Harold. The Comedy of Errors. New York: Infobase, 2010. Genest, John. Some Account of the English Stage, From the Restoration in 1600 to 1830. London: BiblioBazaar, 1832. Hallam, Henry. Literature of Europe. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1881. Heinze, Eric. “"Were it not against our laws": Oppression and Resistance in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.” Legal Studies 29 (2009). The New York Times. “The "Comedy of Errors".” 29 January 1882. The New York Times. 20 October 2011 . Read More