|
Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
|
 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Comedy of Errors
| "Emilia, the Abbess at Syracuse, banned Adriana and her sister, Luciana, from entering the priory. As a result, the two sisters decided that they must report the situation to Duke Solinus. Little do they know that the Duke himself will arrive at the location on which they are currently stationed, mainly because of an execution that will take place there."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
Emilia is not an Abbess at Syracuse, but rather, the Abbess at Ephesus. Emilia is the mother of the Antipholi twins. The person who is about to be executed is a Syracusian named Egeon, who is the father of the Antipholus twins and the husband of Emilia.
| "At the beginning of the play, Duke Solinus gave Egeon the opportunity to narrate his tragic story. Thereafter, Egeon told the Duke that Egeon's wife bore two sets of twins, the Antipholi and the Dromios. Egeon also mentioned that while they were on a ship, the family got separated due to a brutal storm. The Duke, feeling some pity on Egeon, decided to delay his execution until he could pay the amount that will guarantee his freedom."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
Egeon's wife only bore one set of twins, the Antipholi. Emilia, Egeon's wife, only bore one set of twins, the Antipholi. The Dromios came from a mother who allowed her sons to be adopted, mainly because she and her husband could not afford the expenses involved with raising two sons.
| "Dr. Pinch claimed that Dromio of Syracuse was also possessed by the evil spirits. Therefore, he asked a few of his helpers to grab Dromio of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus and take them to the Phoenix. After a few minutes, a messenger comes to Adriana and Luciana to tell them that Dromio of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus both got away."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
"Dromio of Syracuse" should be "Dromio of Ephesus". The selection of Ephesus as the setting of the play is commonly agreed upon by many people as a good choice. This is mainly because of Ephesus' reputation as a town filled with witchcraft and trickery. Both Dromio and Antipholus of Syracuse hypothesized that they are being tricked by evil spirits during their stay at Ephesus.
| "Angelo, the goldsmith, brought a merchant with him while attempting to claim the amount that Antipholus of Ephesus owes him for the chain. The merchant came along with Angelo because Angelo himself owes him some money. Antipholus of Ephesus refused to give Angelo the money, claiming that he never received the chain. After a series of arguments, Antipholus of Ephesus was arrested by the officer, who also came along. However, since Antipholus of Ephesus was able to bail himself out by paying the required sum of ducats, he, in turn, requested for the arrest of Angelo."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
Angelo was arrested before Antipholus of Ephesus. With the request of the "Second Merchant", as he is called in the play, Angelo was arrested by the officer. However, Angelo was able to pay the required sum to bail himself out, so he requested for the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, who refused to pay Angelo his debt. However, little does Angelo know that he actually gave the chain to Antipholus of Syracuse, not Antipholus of Ephesus.
| "Dromio of Syracuse talked to Antipholus of Syracuse regarding a cook named Luce. Dromio of Syracuse expressed his feeling of anxiety to his master, declaring that he didn't want to be married to Luce. What Dromio of Syracuse does not know is that Luce is actually the wife of his long-lost twin-brother, Dromio of Ephesus. During the conversation between Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, Dromio described Luce as a fat, deformed person. In fact, he said that she is shaped like a globe. Wittingly, Antipholus of Syracuse asked him where certain countries are located in Luce's body. For example, when Antipholus of Syracuse asked where France was located, Dromio of Syracuse said it was on her right palm."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
According to Dromio, France was on Luce's forehead. Among the other countries that were alluded to in the play were Ireland, England, Spain, Belgia (Belgium), and the Netherlands.
| "While Antipholus of Syracuse and his merchant companion were conversing, the former asked Dromio of Syracuse to bring some money to the Centaur. Shortly thereafter, Antipholus of Syracuse was surprised to see his servant back so early. Unbeknownst to him, the servant with whom he was talking was Dromio of Ephesus, who told Antipholus of Syracuse that his "wife" is looking for him. Obviously, the wife was actually the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus. This led to a series of arguments between Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus. Fortunately, the merchant was able to stop the argument."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
The merchant left well before the argument took place. When Antipholus of Syracuse met Dromio of Ephesus, this was the first of many mistaken identity scenarios in the play. The error in the above statement is that the merchant left before the argument took place. In fact, Antipholus of Syracuse invited the merchant to dine with him, but he also had other invitations of the same kind. Therefore, the merchant declared that he will dine with Antipholus of Syracuse later on. This particular event is never seen in the play.
| "When Dromio of Ephesus came back to Antipholus of Ephesus' house to talk to Adriana, he told her that her husband was asking for money. Of course, the person with whom he was conversing was really a different person, Antipholus of Syracuse, but they do not know this. Adriana was greatly angered by Dromio of Ephesus' report. She even accused her husband that he loves money and possessions more than he loves her. Luciana agreed with her whole-heartedly."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
Luciana did not agree with her sister's accusation, and she even declared that her sister was jealous and impatient. This scene paved the way for more errors to come. It did not limit the mistaken identity scenes between the Antipholus and Dromio twins only, but also to Adriana and Luciana, and to their other contemporaries. Even the Duke, who already heard the tragic story of Egeon, mistook the Syracusian twins for the Antipholi twins.
| "When everyone finally realized what had happened in Ephesus regarding the mistaken identities, the Abbess, Emilia, invited the Duke and Egeon's family in her priory to dine. Duke Solinus, Egeon, and Emilia entered the priroy first. Next, the Antipholus twins entered the priory, and a short conversation occurred between the Dromio twins. Immediately after the conversation, Dromio of Ephesus entered the priory, followed shortly by Dromio of Syracuse."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
The Dromio twins entered the priory together. The last line of the play was uttered by Dromio of Ephesus, and he said:
"Nay, then, thus:
We came into the world like brother and brother;
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another."
Therefore, the Dromio twins entered the priory together, "...not one before another."
| "Antipholus of Ephesus commanded Dromio of Syracuse to get the ducats from the Phoenix to bail himself out. Unfortunately, when he acquired the gold, he gave it to his true master, Antipholus of Syracuse, instead of Antipholus of Ephesus. Dromio of Syracuse explained to Antipholus of Syracuse that the purpose of the money is to bail himself out from the captivity of an officer named Adam. Since Antipholus of Syracuse was confused, he thought his servant was pulling his leg once more. Upon realizing this, Dromio of Syracuse decided to change the topic. The topic transformed from bailing his master out, to leaving Ephesus via a ship, once and for all."
Where is the error in this statement? | The 'Tragedy' of Errors
|
Antipholus of Syracuse brought up the topic, not Dromio of Syracuse. If it were not for the mistaken identity, the Syracusians could have easily left Ephesus, since Dromio of Syracuse already found a ship. However, if they managed to leave Ephesus, their whole family would not be reunited at the end, and, of course, the story would have been incomplete.
| Egeus tells the Duke that, after the shipwreck, he and two of the twins were taken up by men of...? | A Quick "Comedy" Quiz
|
Epidaurus. "Of Corinth that, of Epidaurus this..."
The Corinthian ship took up Aemilia and the other twins. They were sailing from Epidamnum when they were wrecked. I just chucked Athens in there for the sake of it.
5 years. "Five summers have I spent in farthest Greece..."
That's quite a long time, when you think about it.
| When Dromio of Ephesus refuses to search for Antipholus of Epehesus (after his altercation with Antipholus of Syracuse) Adriana threatens to "break (his) pate across". What is a pate? | A Quick "Comedy" Quiz
|
The head. "And he will bless that cross with other beating:
Between you I shall have a holy head."
There is plenty of breaking of pates across in this play, both in reference and in action.
| In Act 3, Scene 2, what does Antipholus of Syracuse not call Luciana during his attempts to woo her? | A Quick "Comedy" Quiz
|
great queen. Antipholus of Syracuse gets pretty enthusiastic in his protestations of love, likening Luciana to a mermaid, a siren and a god, but "great queen" is never spoken.
He is not named. None of the characters refer to him by name, and in the stage directions he is simply called "2nd Merchant".
The Porpentine. "Bring it, I pray you, to the Porpentine, for there's the house..."
Antipholus of Ephesus' house is the Phoenix. The Centaur is the inn where Antipholus of Syracuse intends to stay and the Elephant is the inn frequented by Sebastian and Antonio in "Twelfth Night".
| How much money was in the purse that Antipholus of Ephesus sent Dromio of Syracuse for in order to bail him out of prison? | A Quick "Comedy" Quiz
|
500 ducats. "500 ducats, villain, for a rope?"
That's a lot of money. Back then, 500 ducats would have been equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars.
Abbess. "And here the abbess shuts the gets on us and will not suffer us to fetch him out."
She lives in an abbey. Therefore she is an abbess. Obviously.
It is his shortest play. At around 1800 lines, it's easily Shakespeare's shortest work. His longest, Hamlet, is close to 4000 lines.
The last play Shakespeare wrote without a collaborator was The Tempest. The play with the most prose is The Merry Wives of Windsor. Comedy of Errors has a small number of characters in comparison to the history plays.
Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed it.
|
Fun Trivia | 
Quizzes | 
Games
| 
People | 
Services | 
Help | 
Me
