Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and Plautus' Menaechmi and Amphitruo One of Shakespeare's earliest plays (its first recorded performance in December 1594), The Comedy of Errors has frequently been dismissed as pure farce, unrepresentative of the playwright's later efforts. While Errors may very well contain farcical elements, it is a complex, layered work that draws upon and reinterprets Plautine comedy. Shakespeare combines aspects of these Latin plays with biblical source material, chiefly
surprising, therefore, that for one of his earliest comedies, Shakespeare found a model in the plays of Plautus and Terence, which were studied in all Elizabethan Grammar Schools, praised by schoolmasters, and critically respectable. (Muir 3) The Menaechmi was the first Plautus play to appear in translation, and was a popular school text (Muir 16). Amphitruo, the second Plautus play informing The Comedy of Errors, was available in English translation by 1562-63, and was similarly taught (Miola 22)
Shakespeare no doubt held, and was to develop further in later works. Plautus' Menaechmi yields a basic framework for Shakespeare's plot: two long-separated brothers mistaken for one another. Yet Plautus' two brothers differ markedly in attitude: one is "gay, generous, and fun-loving," the other "shrewd, calculating, and cynical" (Kinko, p. 10). Shakespeare's Antipholi seem as confused as their Menaechmi relations, but more interchangeable in general temperament. Plautus' Amphitryon provides
marriage that Shakespeare no doubt held, and was to develop further in later works. Plautus' Menaechmi yields a basic framework for Shakespeare's plot: two long-separated brothers mistaken for one another. Yet Plautus' two brothers differ markedly in attitude: one is "gay, generous, and fun-loving," the other "shrewd, calculating, and cynical" (Kinko, p. 10). Shakespeare's Antipholi seem as confused as their Menaechmi relations, but more interchangeable in general temperament. Plautus' Amphitryon provides
production of Two Gentlemen of Verona The Musical, the original Shakespearean play and five former plays adaptations, themes, and characters will be evaluated. The first is Euripides 431 B.C. E. play Medea, the second is the 148 A.D. Latin play, The Menaechmi by Plautus, the third is the 1509 play Everyman by an anonymous playwright during the Tudor period, the fourth is the 1671 three-act comedy play The Impostures of Scapin by French playwright Moliere and the fifth is the 1604 Dr. Faustus by Christopher
Both are comedies, but Errors incorporates other genres over the course of the play while Menaechmi is more consistent. The Egeon frame plot in particular introduces elements of tragedy and romance into the play while the main play retains its comedic roots. These shifts between genre and tone are what cause critics to “complain that the frame
long however, when he was removed from school at the age of thirteen due to his father’s financial and social difficulties. This did not stop young Shakespeare from furthering his education however, and he began to write several plays, such as “Menaechmi.” It is impossible to trace what happened to Shakespeare from the time he left school till the time he re-emerged as an actor, so these years are rightfully referred to as his “lost years.” There is, however, a vital piece of information that emerges
Farce and Satire in The Comedy of Errors All is not as it seems in The Comedy of Errors. Some have the notion that The Comedy of Errors is a classical and relatively un-Shakespearean play. The plot is, in fact, based largely on Plautus's Menaechmi, a light-hearted comedy in which twins are mistaken for each other. Shakespeare's addition of twin servants is borrowed from Amphitruo, another play by Plautus. Like its classical predecessors, The Comedy of Errors mixes farce and satire and (to a
Rome). The legacy left by the Roman Empire in arts and literature can be seen since its demise up until present day. Many Shakespeare's plays are inspired by Roman authors like ‘The Comedy of Errors’, for example, is highly influenced by Plautus' Menaechmi. Likewise, Milton was influenced by Virgil. Centuries of European writers, artists and painters grew up studying Roman literature. The US founding fathers, especially those like Jefferson, had extensive classical educations and deliberately modelled
Twelfth Night’s Inspiration and Consequenting Inspiration Stranded on the island of Illyria, Shakespeare’s Viola puts her hope in a plan to become the boy Cesario. Viola “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid For such disguise as haply shall become The form of my intent.” (Shakespeare Act I, scene ii, line 53) Disguise, masquerade, opposite of intention; in many ways, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is the authority on concealment. At the turn of the 16th century, the distinguished comedy depicts