Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare | Characters, Summary, Analysis

‘The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's early plays, probably written in the early 1590s. It is a Five-Act play, though it is the shortest play by Shakespeare. It is a farcical comedy. A farcical comedy or a Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable situations. Shakespeare was criticized for not maintaining the classical ‘Unities’ of Time, Place, and Action in his plays. However, Comedy of Errors is one of his few plays in which he maintained all three Aristotelian unities. The unity of place dictates that the play should happen in a single location (in this case, Ephesus); the unity of time dictates that the play should take place over no more than 24 hours (this play occurs all in one day); and the unity of action dictates that the play should focus on one main plot action (in this case, the confusion of Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse). The importance of family and marriage is one of the play's main themes. Mistaken identity and similar appearances are another major theme. The play shows the folly of making assumptions based on someone’s appearance. . . . So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature as we strive to offer a complete course for the preparation of UGC NET English literature, NTA NET English literature, PGTRB English,, SET English literature, TGT PGT English, GATE English Literature, and other exams, please stay connected with the Discourse, Thanks, and Regards!