The document provides an agenda and background information for an English literature class focusing on Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors. The agenda outlines that the class will include a lecture on Shakespeare's England, a discussion of the play, and breaking into groups to discuss homework questions. It also provides context on Elizabethan England, including social classes, education, marriage, jobs, religion, and life in London. Additionally, it summarizes the plot of The Comedy of Errors and discusses some of its themes of mistaken identity and wordplay that contribute to the comedy.

1. ELIT 17
Class 2

2. • Teams
• Lecture:
• Shakespeare’s England
• Discussion
• The Comedy of Errors
• Discussion Questions
• QHQs
AGENDA

3. 2. The teams will change on or near essay due
dates.
3. You must change at least 50% of your team
after each project is completed.
4. You may never be on a team with the same
person more than twice.
5. You may never have a new team composed of
more than 50% of any prior team.
1. We will often use teams to
earn participation points.
Your teams should be made
up of 4 people.

4. • Points will be earned
for correct answers to
questions, meaningful
contributions to the
discussion, and the
willingness to share
your work. Each team
will track their own
points, but cheating
leads to death (or loss
of 25 participation
points).
• Answers, comments,
and questions must be
posed in a manner
that promotes
learning. Those who
speak out of turn or
with maliciousness
will not receive points
for their teams.

5. At the end of each class, you will turn in a
point sheet with the names of everyone in
your group (first name, last initial) and your
accumulated points for the day.
It is your responsibility to make the sheet,
track the points, and turn it in.
Sit near your team
members in class to
facilitate ease of group
discussions
Billy R III
Lan N IIII
Jose S III
Christine L II
13 points

6. Your First
Group!• Get into groups of
four. (1-2 minutes)
• If you can’t find a
group, please raise
your hand.
• Introduce
yourselves, and
write your names
down on a sheet of
paper. This will be
your point sheet.

8. Queen Elizabeth I –
( 1558-1603 )
Ruled England for 45 years.
Nicknamed “the Virgin Queen”
and produced no heir to the throne
Restored Protestantism and formalized the
Church of England
During her reign, the economy was weakened by inflation,
food shortages, and high rent.
During the Elizabethan Period, hundreds of people were
convicted as witches and executed.

9. King James I – ( 1603-1628 )
Religious, and believed in the supernatural and
interested in witchcraft
Commissioned a translation of The Bible from Latin
to English
Published a book about witchcraft called
Demonologie in 1597
Renamed Shakespeare’s acting
troupe“The King’s Men”

10. • About one in three children
died before reaching their
teenage years.
• The average total lifespan
was only about 35-40 years.
• In Shakespeare’s family, only
he and his younger sister
Joan lived past 50 – his other
six brothers and sisters died
much younger.
Life Expectancy in Shakespeare’s England

11. • In Elizabethan times, shifting
economic class was not
possible.
• The wealthy were the nobility
and land-owners. (This was
only three percent of the
English population).
• Middle classes included
farmers, tradesmen, and clergy.
• The poor were the servants,
orphans, hired laborers, and
soldiers returning from the
wars.
The Social Classes

12. • Catastrophic diseases like malaria, syphilis,
typhus, and smallpox killed tens of thousands
each year. Bubonic plague wiped out nearly
half of London during two outbreaks in the
late 1590s.
• Medicine was very primitive, with most
doctors treating illnesses with bleeding, and
applying various homemade herbs and
poultices.
• Broken bones were not set, since it was
believed that such accidents were the result of
immoral behavior and were a punishment
from God. If you broke your leg, there was a
good chance you would never walk again.

13. • Only the wealthy and middle classes were
educated. The wealthy were taught in their
homes by private tutors, while the middle
classes attended “public schools” which were
in reality, private schools which you had to
pay to attend.
• Students learned to read and write Latin and
French. Other subjects might include dancing,
drawing, theology, fencing, and an archaic
study of the sciences.
• Generally, only boys attended school. Girls
stayed home and learned cooking, sewing, and
other household duties. Wealthy young girls
might be taught reading, drawing, and
dancing.

14. • The poorer people were, the more
chance they had of choosing their own
spouse. Wealthy families arranged
marriages for sons and daughters to
secure the family fortune.
• The legal age to marry in Elizabethan
times was fourteen for boys, and twelve
for girls. But it was common for most
men to wait until they were 25-26, and
girls until they were 23. This was when
most boys had finished their
apprenticeships and could afford
marriage.

15. • Apprenticeships began in the late teens and
continued until age 25.
• Apprenticeships lasted for at least seven years,
and apprentices were not allowed to marry until
their apprenticeship was done.
• Job included clothiers, woolen cloth weavers,
cloth workers, dyers, hosiers, tailors, shoemakers,
tanners, pewterers, bakers, brewers, glovers,
cutlers, smiths, farriers, curriers, sadlers, sappers,
hatmakers, feltmakers, fletchers, arrowhead
makers, butchers, cooks, or millers.

16. • In England, there was only ONE
Protestant church, (The Church of
England) and everyone was required to
be a member of it.
• By law, you had to attend church at
least once a month, or you would be
reported and fined.
• Catholicism, which was seen as being
complicit with England’s enemies Italy
and Spain, was strictly forbidden,
although it is rumored that
Shakespeare’s father, and William
himself, were secret Catholics.

17. • London during Shakespeare’s life was
the center of politics, art, literature, and
theater.
• It was also a brutal place to live, with
raw sewage running down the streets,
and infested with plague-carrying rats.
• Because everyone drank alcohol, and
everyone carried a blade; swordfights
were common, and often deadly.
• Queen Elizabeth would display the
severed heads of criminals above the
gates of the city.

18. • The London when Shakespeare
lived was a dangerous, primitive
place by modern standards, and yet
a vast expansion in ideas,
exploration, language and art
occurred during this era.
• It’s a paradox to think that despite
living in such a deadly, dark, brutal
time, some of the world’s most
beautiful poetry and immortal plays
were written, and survived to our
day.
Shakespeare’s London

20. • The Comedy of Errors is one
of William Shakespeare's earliest
plays circa 1593.
• It is his shortest and one of his
most farcical comedies. In
addition to puns and word play, a
major part of the humor comes
from from slapstick and mistaken
identity.
• The play was not published until
it appeared in the First Folio in
1623.
History

21. • Key plot elements are taken from
two ancient Roman comedies of Plautus.
• From Menaechmi comes the main
premise of mistaken identity
between identical twins with the same
name, plus some of the stock characters
such as the comic courtesan.
• From Amphitryon he borrows the twin
servants with the same name, plus the
scene in Act 3 where a husband is shut out
of his house while his wife mistakenly
dines with his look-alike.
• The frame story of Egeon and Emilia
derives from Apollonius of Tyre, also a
source for Twelfth Night and Pericles,
Prince of Tyre.

22. • The story takes place in
Ephesus, on the west coast
of Asia Minor (where
modern-day Turkey is).
• There has been a long-
standing battle between
Syracuse on the east coast
of Sicily and Ephesus.
• This sets up part of the
tension in the plot, with
three characters from
Syracuse sneaking into
Ephesus to set the story in
motion.
Syracuse
Ephesus

23. • Solinus – Duke of Ephesus
• Egeon – a merchant of Syracuse
• Emilia – his lost wife, now
Lady Abbess at Ephesus
• Antipholus of Ephesus and
Antipholus of Syracuse – twin
brothers, sons of Egeon and Emilia
• Dromio of Ephesus and
Dromio of Syracuse – twin
brothers, bondmen, each serving
his respective Antipholus
• Adriana – wife of Antipholus of
Ephesus
• Luciana – her sister

24. Egeon Solinus
• Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is condemned to death in Ephesus for
violating the ban against travel between the two rival cities.
• As he is led to his execution, he tells the Ephesian Duke, Solinus, that
he has come to Syracuse in search of his wife and one of his twin sons,
who were separated from him 25 years ago in a shipwreck.
• The other twin, who grew up with Egeon, is also traveling the world in
search of the missing half of their family. (The twins, we learn, are
identical, and each has an identical twin slave named Dromio.)
• The Duke is so moved by this story that he grants Egeon a day to raise
the thousand-mark ransom that would be necessary to save his life.

25. • Meanwhile, unknown to Egeon, his son Antipholus of Syracuse (and Antipholus’s
slave Dromio) is also visiting Ephesus--where Antipholus’s missing twin, known as
Antipholus of Ephesus, is a prosperous citizen of the city.
• Antipholus of Ephesus’s wife, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and
drags him home for dinner, leaving Dromio of Syracuse to stand guard at the door and
admit no one.
• Shortly thereafter, Antipholus of Ephesus (with his slave Dromio of Ephesus) returns
home and is refused entry to his own house.
• Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse has fallen in love with Luciana, Adriana's sister,
who is appalled at the behavior of the man she thinks is her brother-in-law.
Antipholus of
Ephesus
Adriana
Antipholus of
Syracuse
Luciana
Dromio of
Ephesus
Dromio of
Syracuse

26. • Add to this chaos, a gold chain given to the wrong
Dromio, which leads to an angry merchant and a
mistaken arrest, a true comedy of errors!

27. • Despite it’s high comedy –
The Comedy of Errors has
never been turned into a
motion picture – although
several made-for-TV
versions have been made.
• The first, in 1978, stars
Dame Judi Dench as was
presented as a madcap
musical comedy.
• The second, from 1983, was
part of the BBC’s Complete
Works of Shakespeare.
• The most recent, from 2007
is a filmed performance from
the Stratford Festival.

28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtvriM_iUx8
The next clip is from The Comedy of Errors as adapted in 1976
into a modern musical form for the RSC, by Trevor Nunn.
This scene: In Ephesus on “holiday,” Antipholus (Roger Rees)
and Dromio(Michael Williams) of Syracuse are unknowingly
mistaken for their long lost twin brothers Antipholus and Dromio
of Ephesus by Adriana (Judi Dench), the denied and restless wife
of Antipholus of Ephesus
Act 2 Scene 2 lines 115 to the end of Act 2

29. • There have been several
adaptions of the play into various
formats, including opera,
musicals, film, and television!
• There was a popular 1938
Broadway musical called The
Boys From Syracuse written by
Rodgers & Hart.
• There was also a 1988 movie
called Big Business based on the
play.
• The popular TV show The X-
Files features an episode called
"Fight Club,” the story of which
heavily parallels many elements
from this play.

30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e73Jt0W8vjA
• The 1988 adaptation of The Comedy of Errors, Big
Business, staring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, begins
with two sets of identical twins who are mismatched at
birth. Forty years later, their paths cross amid the hustle
and bustle of Manhattan, and the result is unrestrained
pandemonium.
• The next scene is the initial mismatch.

31. In
Groups
• Discuss your
answers to
the
homework
questions and
your QHQs.

32. Questions
• Find examples of
the different
kinds of comedy
we discussed in
class today.
Explain why the
scenes or
elements are or
aren’t funny.

33. This Shakespearean wordplay is an excellent example of a pun:
Back, slave, or I will break thy pate across.
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
And he will bless that cross with other beating.
Between you, I shall have a holy head.”
(Act 2, Scene 1, 83-85)
Shakespeare is having fun with the multiple meanings of the word “holy” and
“across”. He will literally make a cut “across” his head, and Dromio of
Ephesus takes “across” to mean a cross, and he will now have a “holy” head,
in both the religious sense of the word, and he will also have a head full of
holes. This type of comedy is still regularly employed in films today, and if it
weren’t for the language barrier, I would find this scene very funny.

34. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHPHgNhWH9o
The Comedy of Errors performed by the University
Classic Players. Bob Jones University
Act 3, Scene 2 lines 79-172 4:40

35. Question
What elements of this scene make it funny?
• What are the required elements to make
something funny?
• Are there different kinds of humor?
• How many kinds of humor does Shakespeare
use in this scene?
Consider Puns, stereotypes, and sexual innuendo

36. Wordplay: Repetition
Here, just after the previous example from Act 2, scene 1, we see the word “quoth”
repeated over and over, as an example:
““’Tis dinnertime,” quoth I. “My gold,” quoth he. “Your meat doth burn,” quoth I.
“My gold,” quoth he. “Will you come?” quoth I. “My gold,” quoth he. “Where is the
thousand marks I gave thee, villain?” “The pig,” quoth I, “is burned.” “My gold,”
quoth he…” (Act 2, scene 2, lines 330-336)
Shakespeare goes on for quite a few more lines keeping up his repetition while
slipping in words with double meaning like “pig” and “meat” to yet again add layers
of complexity to his comedy. Even these small, deceptively simple sections of
Shakespeare’s comedic works contain these deep layers, which adds to their enduring
value, and is part of the reason they are copied in modern works so often.

37. Mistaken Identity
Another comedic element I found was mistaken identity. This element is one of the main
comedic element of The Comedy of Errors. I find this element funny, it reminds me of the
movie Parent Trap that I watched as a kid. In the movie separated twins are reunited and decide
to switch places. The element of mistaken identity in the movie is the fact that the parents can
not tell that it is not the right twin. In The Commedy of Errors, an example of this is in act 3,
scene 1.
“Adriana:
Who is that at the door that keeps all this noise?
Dromio of Syracuse:
By my troth, your town is troubled with unruly boys.
Antipholus of Ephesus:
Are you there, wife? You might have come before.
Adriana:
Your wife, sir knave? Go, get you from the door.”
This scene is funny because not even Adriana can recognize her own husband’s voice at the
door. Rather she thinks it is “unruly boys” just like what Dromio said.

38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn74SDSLGL4
An example of slapstick is the two Dromios constantly
getting beaten due to the chaotic confusion surrounding
their situation. This is funny to the reader as humans tend to
take pleasure in other people’s misfortunes.
Slapstick
Start to 25 seconds.

39. QHQ
Does farce comedy still play a role in modern
entertainment?
Why do people during this time period (today
as well) think that slapstick comedy or
physical humor is funny?

40. Questions
• Wooing scenes are
prominent in
Shakespearian plays.
Find the wooing scene
between Antipholus of
Syracuse and Luciana.
Explicate the meaning
and explain how
successful it is.

41. Sweet mistress—what your name is else I
know not,
Nor by what wonder you do hit of mine—
Less in your knowledge and your grace you
show not
Than our Earth’s wonder, more than Earth
divine.
Teach me, dear creature, how to think and
speak.
Lay open to my earthy gross conceit,
Smothered in errors, feeble, shallow, weak,
The folded meaning of your words’ deceit.
Against my soul’s pure truth why labor you
To make it wander in an unknown field?
Are you a god? Would you create me new?
Transform me, then, and to your power I’ll
yield.
But if that I am I, then well I know
Your weeping sister is no wife of mine,
Nor to her bed no homage do I owe.
Far more, far more, to you do I decline.
O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy
note
To drown me in thy sister’s flood of
tears.
Sing, Siren, for thyself, and I will dote.
Spread o’er the silver waves thy golden
hairs,
And as a bed I’ll take them and there lie,
And in that glorious supposition think
He gains by death that hath such means
to die.
Let love, being light, be drownèd if she
sink.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
3:2:31 to 3:2:54

42. The Wooing
Antipholus in an earlier scene has
expressed that he feels he has lost himself
while in search of his family. […] In this
scene, Antipholus is in awe of all that
Luciana says and profess his love for her
[…] He has found someone that can help
him be a different man and in a sense, gain
some identity. He wants to be shown how
to change his ways and treat people
differently; Luciana’s kindness towards her
sister’s needs has shown him compassion.
Antipholus wants what he did not have
before and believes Luciana can be the one
to guide him. This scene is successful in
showing what it is that troubles the
characters of the story and giving glimpses
of who they are. It is not successful in
terms of the characters reciprocating their
feelings for one another.
Is his wooing successful? As far as this
scene is concerned, not really. He
continues to flirt with Luciana, but she
rebuffs his advances at every turn, almost
always by mentioning her sister. When he
persists, she excuses herself talk to her
sister about this. From her actions alone,
it is obvious that she is troubled by his
feelings, and does little to encourage
them. And who would? Antipholus’s
persistence is rather creepy, in my honest
opinion. For Luciana, it must be doubly
so, as she believes him to be her brother-
in-law. It’s difficult to gauge the true
effectiveness of his advances, however,
because it is impossible to determine
whether her lack of interest stems from
true indifference, concern for her sister,
or apprehension due to the moral
implications of such a liaison.

43. QHQ
1. Q: What is exactly Luciana’s view to
marriage?
2. Q: What undertones are found following an
analysis of Antipholus of Syracuse’s
monologue to Luciana?

44. Compare and Contrast
one set of the twins.
Are they more alike or
different?

45. Antipholus of Syracuse: This twin is certainly more playful than the other. He is more
kind and considerate when you compare him to Antipholus of Ephesus. Though the
way he interacts with his servant is harsh at times, more often than not, he is sportive.
Antipholus of Syracuse is also a man of many words when it comes to wooing women.
A prime example of this would be his interaction with Luciana in Act III, scene ii. This
wooing scene displays the amorous nature of Antipholus and his ability with words:
“Teach me, dear creature, how to think and speak (3.2.35).” Though we witness his
confidence with words, there exists within him a sense of lost self. In searching for his
mother and brother, he realizes that there is a part of him missing. This is clearly shown
in Act I, scene ii:
“I to the world am like a drop of water
That in the ocean seeks another drop, Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself.
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself (1.2.35-40).
Melancholy exists within. In searching for his mother and brother, he is finding himself
and attempting to reclaim a part of who he is.

46. Antipholus of Ephesus: I must admit this twin is certainly not my
preferred one. In various ways he seems like a fool! He is unbelievably
oblivious to everything that surrounds him. He does not seem to be much
of a character or have much substance to him. He is what one would call a
plot device. He has built quite a reputation for himself as he seems to
know everyone in town. From Antipholus of Syracuse’s interactions with
the townspeople, one may surmise that they treat Antipholus of Ephesus
formidably well via their confusion of Antipholus of Syracuse for
Antipholus of Ephesus. In a way, Antipholus of Ephesus seems a bit
preoccupied with himself. Unlike his twin brother, Antipholus of Ephesus
has no time to muse or reflect on the whereabouts of his lost brother and
father. He is a man of the town and much prefers to occupy himself with
reason and practicality. His nature seems to be one of pragmatism, while
Antipholus of Syracuse is a bit more on the magically enchanted side.

47. I do have to say, though, that it may be slightly unfair to compare
the two brother’s personalities based on the events we’re privy to.
When you think about the situations they are in, A of S has come to
a city that mainly just seems enchanted to him. It’s confusing, but
the things that happen don’t seem that bad. He’s brought into the
nice home of a woman who calls him her husband, he meets her
sister who he falls for, he’s given a nice gold chain. A of E,
however, gets accused of theft, arrested, locked out of his house, all
in all he is having a pretty bad day. Ultimately, though, I think the
brothers are intended to be very different, as they are really
illustrating the two halves of a whole. Like the drops of water that
are repeatedly referred to, these twins have been split and need to
reconnect in order to be whole again. When A of S is wooing
Luciana, he calls her “mine own self’s better part”. He’s searching,
he knows he needs another part, he just can’t find what it is.
AN UNFAIR COMPARISON?

48. The Dromios?

49. Read: The Comedy of Errors Acts 4 and 5
Post #2
• Shakespeare’ s choice to make
misidentification unintentional complicates the
issue of both identity and trickery.
Misidentification causes a rapid switching
between social positions. For instance, Adriana
is both an alluring temptress who tries to trick a
traveler and a loyal wife who mistakenly
invites an impostor into her house. Find a scene
of intentional or unintentional deception. Who
is the trickster? What are the results of the
miscommunication or misidentification?
• Discuss the theme of Identity as it is presented
in the play. Is there a difference between
public/social identities and private identities?
• Are the Dromios servants or slaves? Are their
beatings meant to be farcical? Are farce and
social custom connected? Can you think of a
contemporary example?
• Discuss Pinch and his role in the story
Homework