Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s first plays. The minor characters, in the play, Egeon and the Duke, set up the framework of the play. Egeon, at the request of the Duke, describes his adventures and relates his life story. This provides the history of The Comedy of Errors, and helps keep track of the confusion, which unfolds during the play. There are several themes that Shakespeare uses which are only loosely related to the actual comedy. The conflicts between burden and freedom, rule and compassion, loss and rebirth all form a critical undertone within the play.
There is also the serious effect time. Shakespeare requires that all the action end at five o’clock, the time of Egeon’s execution, Antipholus of Syracuse’s meeting with the merchant, and the moment when Angelo must pay the Second Merchant his money. There are also several coercions within the play. The comedy opens with Egeon unintentionally breaking the law, for which he is sentenced to death.
In addition to this very real danger of death, there is also the risk that the play will end too soon. At various times the reader could assume the characters are close to revealing the entire plot and ending the play. These occur when Antipholus has the chance to demand payment from his father at the beginning, and also when both Dromios are on opposite sides of the door at Adriana’s house. The characters are meant to gain knowledge of something. For instance, the Duke claims that he is compassionate, but that his obligation is to advocate the law at all costs, which is why he sentences Egeon to die. The Duke also stands to increase possible return by sentencing Egeon to death.
The Term Paper on The role of the witches in the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare has included the witches in the play for several reasons. First, these supernatural beings have an important part in the storyline of the play; without them the play would not be as exciting. Then, they are there to thrill and entertain the audience. Furthermore, Shakespeare included them to please King James. The witches also play a significant part in the moral of the play: witches ...
His pardon of Egeon at the end of the play is supposed to indicate that he has not only learned to pardon, but has overcome his selfishness by having him turn down the ransom which Antipholus offers. The play also centers on chance or coincidence. This actually relates to the title, since Error comes from the Latin word translating to wander. The play is really about wandering, and characters trying to find their true identities.
Another theme prominent throughout the play is in the phrase, “drop of water.’ Antipholus first uses the phrase to describe himself, since he views himself as a drop of water, which is trying to find another drop in the vast ocean of mankind. In this case he is referring to his search for his lost brother and father. Later, Adriana uses the same language when referring to her husband, and compares their division similar to separating water. The phrase stands for a joining of two people, and implies an intimate bond. The use of twins in The Comedy of Errors is not necessarily essentially entertaining. A further theme that is constantly appearing in the play is that of repression versus freedom.
Beginning with the first scene, Egeon is bound and sentenced; the theory of binding people is made obvious. It continues with Adriana, who asks her sister why men have more freedom than their wives. This finishes in the end scenes where Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio are bound, and where Adriana demands that the Officer attach Antipholus of Syracuse. However, the ending of the play shows a change to freedom when the Duke orders Egeon set free, and all the characters end up at free. This is further played up in a humorous situation by the two Dromios, who themselves are called bondsmen. When Dromio of Ephesus is bound, he turns and comments on that he is now literally bound to his master.
There are two subtle concepts relating to the various beliefs about twins and sons, which exist in the play. Twins historically were viewed as two separate paths, which could be taken, have as a set of alternate paths. Sons were often considered to be extensions of their fathers. In the play this surfaces through an examination of the events in which Egeon relates. After the shipwreck where Egeon is separated from his children, he himself becomes a split man. Where he was previously married, he is made a bachelor by the wreck.
The Essay on All My Sons – Arthur Miller
“I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing – his sense of personal dignity…..the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his ‘rightful' position in his society….” This statement, by Arthur Miller, means that when a person is willing to sacrifice his very own life ...
Since his sons are meant to take after him, we see that one son is married while another is still a bachelor. At the end of the play, when Egeon is reunited with his wife Emilia, both his sons also end up married or almost, in the case of Luciana and Antipholus of Syracuse. The gold chain represents the only object, which has any significance within the play. The chain is a representation of a negative sign of possession. It is first promised to Adriana, and then to the Courtesan, but neither receives it. Antipholus and Angelo are both detained because they no longer have the chain, since it was mistakenly given to Antipholus of Syracuse.
The chain also functions as a sign of currency, because it holds the ability to produce pardon. Its value is enough to pardon Egeon, and Antipholus of Ephesus could also have been pardoned immediately if he had had the chain. In closing, because this play is a comedy, everything that threatens the laughter is eliminated at the end. It is not only the characters’ confusion that is relieved by the final scene, in which the ‘errors’ are explained and resolved; all the darker, disagreeable issues are resolved, as well.
