Plot of the < Menaechmi >

1. 1) The first play of Shakespeare2) The shortest play which has only 1777 lines3) The plot of the story is founded on that of the <Menaechmi >,a comedy by the Roman dramatist Plautus because of its similar plot.

2. Plot of the <Menaechmi > • Twin brothers, who looks so similar that even their parents cannot differentiate them, were separated unfortunately when they were young. • A little brother tried to find his brother so that he travels a lot but finally decided to settle down in Epidamnum. • The little brother, who doesn’t know whether his brother lives there, are misconceived by the villagers as his brother. • Even he is treated as insane man by a wife of his brother ,and then finally is pulled along to a doctor. • At the moment, as the brothers meet by chance, all of the problems that happened are solved.

3. The comedy of the errors • Shakespeare tried to adapt this plot into his own play. • As presenting twin brothers and their twin servants, Shakespeare makes the play complicated in order to improve its comic effect. • Moreover, as presenting twin’s parents, he made the frame plot which is the main structure of the play. • What is more, there are romantic atmosphere in this play that we couldn’t see in Plautus’ work.

4. Main character of <The comedy of errors> Twin brother Antipholus of Syracuse /Antipholus of Ephesus   Twin servant  Dromio of Syracuse /Dromio of Ephesus Women Adriana /Luciana

5. other character of <The comedy of errors> • Egeon - A Syracusan merchant, the father of twin. • Abbess  - the long-lost wife of Egeon the mother of twin • Solinus -  The Duke of Ephesus • Angelo -  A goldsmith in Syracuse • Courtesan -  An expensive prostitute • Doctor Pinch  -  A schoolteacher

6. the Comedy of Errors ->it followed the three unities of Aristoteles. • This play adapted the ancient traditional play form which has the principal with the unity of time and accident and the identity of places. -> that’s why the Comedy of Errors is a useful starting point of the study of Shakespeare’streatment of character -> the audience can find confusion in the main body of the play, not the characters.

7. This play makes situations a core of laugh. ->it is not a comedy of character and also not a comedy of language. • The comical effect of this play is produced not by the personality or speech of the characters but by just the situation. • the situation about misunderstanding the twins -> a basis of comical factor and laugh.

8. Like farce, we can see, in this play, the characters are very formal and don’t have any characteristic traits. It is not because it is one of his first plays, it is a kind of tactic that makes some comic misconceive as making the twin confused. -> the characteristic traits are neglected by situation.

9. This play has much problem to be solved -> what we should not overlook is the fact that since early comedy, Shakespeare made efforts about an attempt of form and a quest of human being. It is also continued at later comedy.