comedy of errors by shakespeare, commentary by maria rioux

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    Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare

    Commentary by Maria Rioux

    Aegeons pain at the outset of the play is so great and his story so poignantly told, that we cannotcompletely forget his plight throughout the comic scenes that follow. The references to time inalmost every scene that follows are a reminder that the clock is tickingtime, for Aegeon, isrunning out. This unlikely mix of both comic and tragic elements serves to render the playneither a true comedy nor a real tradgedy. The play ends happily, complete with the prospect ofmarriage between Lucianna and Antipholus S. and Dromio E. and the kitchen maid, weighingthe scales in favor of comedy.

    Changes in Characters:

    It is interesting to note the changes in the Duke. At the outset he is the servant of the state, thehand of justice,

    Merchant of Syracuse, plead no more.

    who will uphold the law despite the fact that doing so conflicts with his own judgement.

    Hapless Aegeon, whom the fates have marked to bear the extremity of dire mishap! Now, trustme, were it not against our laws, against my crown, against my dignity, which princes, wouldthey, may not disannul, my souls should sue as advocate for thee.This laying aside of personal perspective to uphold the laws of the state is noble and good; withoutlaw there is anarchy. Unjust laws must be changed through legitimate means. On the other hand,even just laws must be tempered with mercy (and there is definitely some question whether thiscould be termed a just law!).

    At the close of the play the Duke has softened:

    Yet once again proclaim it publicly; If any friend will pay the sum for him, he will not die; Somuch we tender him.

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    Here we find the Duke, working within the constraints of the law that binds him,affording Aegeon every opportunity to escape his fate. If mercy can be had, the Duke will gladly

    give it. Lastly, the sum is to be paid by the twin sons, but the Duke makes one more leap: the sumis rejected, and mercy is complete.

    It shall not need; Thy father hath his life.

    Again, Adrianna at the outset is independent and forceful:

    Why should their liberty than ours be more?

    Theres none but asses will be ridden so.Note: reference to servitude; Dromio makes numerous

    references to being an ass.

    At the close of the play, after the Abbess did betray me to my own reproof, she is docile,solicitous, and reconciliatory.

    Whom I made lord of me and all I had.To fetch my poor distracted husband hence. Let us come in that we may bind him fast, and bearhim home for his recovery.

    Themes of the play:

    Love: familial, romantic, and Divine.

    Familial:We begin the play with all the main characters apart from those they love. Aegeon has lost hiswife and two sons, and later his two remaining sons. One interesting physical image is the use of

    perfectly identical twins to stress the strength of familial bonds. These bands, in the end, prove sostrong that they are able to reunite a family after many years and difficult journeys.Antipholus S. left his father, and when he lands on Ephesus finds that he mustlose himselfaswell. He is more than alone. (Initially, he does have Dromio, butloses him directly, to be replaced by Dromio E. who only serves to add to his feelings of confusionand loss of identity.)

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    He that commends me to mine own content commends me to the thing I cannot get. I to theworld 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.

    Antipholus E. has been separated from both his parents, is estranged from his wife, and loses hisbrother in the same way that Antipholus S. loses his.

    At the close of the play all these matters are resolved:Aemelia and Aegeon are reunited with both their sets of twin sons; Antipholus E. is reconciled tohis wife; Antipholus S. is about to marry Lucianna (thus creating an even stronger bond with

    his brother).

    Romantic Love:The same imagery applied in the case of familial love is seen again when we are speaking ofromantic love.

    Ah, do not tear away thyself from me! For know, my love, that easy as mayst thou fall a drop ofwater in the breaking gulf, and take unmingled thence that drop again, without addition or

    diminishing, as take from me thyself, and not me too.

    Adrianna beautiful expresses the truth of married love: they are no longer two, but one, and totry to tear the one from the other is as impossible (and as painful) as to withdraw that one drop

    from the pounding surf.

    There once was time when thou unurged wouldst vow that never words were music to thine ear,that never object pleasing in thine eye, that never touch well welcome to the hand, that never meat

    sweet-savored in thy taste, unless I spake, or looked, or touched, or carved to thee.

    If that isnt a delightful despription of how lovers feel about the beloved, I dont know what is.

    I am possessed with an adulterous blot; My blood is mingled with the crime of lust; For if we twobe one, and thou play false, I do digest the poison of thy flesh

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    Adrianna describes what any would feel having been betrayed by a spouse. She uses physicalimages so forcefully one can almost touch the aversion one would feel. And yet, later in the play,she loves her husband so deeply she is willing to forgive him. The vow is For better or for worse

    notFor better, maybe a little worse, but definitely not for bad

    Adrianna is a complex character and also my favorite. She is by turns angry, disgusted, jealous,loving, kind, compassionate and deeply sad. She is, if her husbands words are to be trusted,unreasonably jealous.

    My wife, but I protest, without deserthath oftentimes upbraided me withal.

    Her questionWhy should their liberty than ours be more?is probably a controversialstatement for the day. Through the lens of Christian marriage, however, it seems sound, if we arenot asking Why shouldnt we each be completely free to do as we please?That sort of liberty wasobviously set aside when one chose to marry. Once married, each works for the good of the other,the family, and the greater glory of God. Neither is independentthe two are one. Neither hastime (nor any other good) at his disposal; all things are held in common for the good of the

    family. To push this one step further, the husband as head of his wife, mirrors Christ as Head ofthe Church. Christ came to suffer and die that He, the Head, might preserve us, the Body of

    Christ, or the Church. Lastly, the Master(Christ, and our exemplar) serves for the good of all.

    Adrianna says, Antipholus, my husband, whom I made lord of me and all I had. This ispossibly my favorite line of the play. It stresses the fact that women are in control of theirmarried lives. It is often through unreflected choices that women find themselves unhappilybound. Men must ask women to marry them. The choice is ours.

    Divine love:

    The Abbess represents the church. The Duke, who represents Divine love or mercy, affirms hergoodness:

    She is a virtuous and a reverend lady: it cannot be that she hath done thee wrong.

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    Through her, Adrianna is reconciled to her husband. Through the Duke, Aegeon is reunitedwith his wife and sons, and rescued from his fate. All is righted. One might say of all the choasthat led to the final resolution that Gods ways are not our ways, but He is good. Aegeon isrewarded not through any personal merit or payment of any debt, but simply for being who he

    is. It is Divine mercy, sealed with the approval of the Duke. One might make a further point andsuggest that here we have the state and the Church ruling as one for the good of all.

    Role of Women:

    Weve already spoken of Adrianna at length. Lets turn to Luciana. She is probably my leastfavorite character.

    Why headstrong liberty is lashed with woe. Theres nothing situate under heavens eye but hathhis bound, in earth, in sea, in sky: The beasts, the fishes, and the winged fowls, are their malessubjects and under his controls: Men more divine, the masters of all these, lords of the wide worldand the watery seas, indued with intellectual sense and souls,or more preeminence than fish and

    fowls are masters to their females, and their lords: Then let your will attend on their accords.

    Adrianna points out two things: this attitude keeps Luciana from wanting to marry(at least sheshows some sense) and if Luciana were to find herself in Adriannas perceived predicament, shed

    be singing a different song. We will add that her reasoning is, by Christian standards, faulty.Men and women are equal in dignity, both being made in the image of God. Women are called tobe submissive to their husbands (in all things but sin), just as the Church is submissive to Christ,not because they are less divine.

    If you did wed my sister for her wealth, then for her wealths sake, use her with more kindness: orif you like elsewhere, do it by stealth. Look sweet, speak fair, become disloyalty; Apparral vice like virtues harbiger; bear a fair

    presence, though your heart be tainted.Alas, Poor women! make us but believe being compact of credit, that you love us. Though othershave the arm, show us the sleeve.

    It is in this exchange that Luciana shows herself to be among the most stupid of women. Whatpuzzles me is that this is the discourse that causes Antipholus to fall for her! Proof, as though it

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    were needed, that men can be compelled by reasons as moronic and shallow as women. Luciana isworking for a reconciliation. She wants her sister to be happy. Who would want happiness that issuch a shadow of the real thing?Role of society:

    The identity of the individual as defined by the state and society is first seen when Antipholusbegins to lose himself after having to hide the fact that he is from Syracuse. We meet it againwhen Dromio is told to know my aspect and fashion your demeanor to my looksbyAntipholus. Shortly thereafter Dromio begins to doubt his identity. Again, Adriana measuresherself by her husband, to some degree, pointing to the fact that spouses are in some way definedand affected by each other.

    Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine, whose weakness, married to thy stronger state, makes me

    with thy strength to communicate.

    When spouses no longer know each other, and servants likewise fail to recognize their masters, allis confusion to the point of doubting ones own identity. We are social animals. Without society,we are, to some extent, lost.