So I've finished rereading The Comedy of Errors. My first gut reaction is man, what a short play! If it weren't for Real Life stuff interfering, I would have finished it several days ago. (sorry about that)
In many ways, The Comedy of Errors is much more of a "comedy" in the modern sense than in the Shakespearean one. Namely, there's no wedding at the end, and it has a lot of jokes. In fact, I sort of found it to be Shakespeare's foray into sitcom writing: lots of laughs, ultimately little depth. I say that not disparagingly, for I really enjoyed the play, and I'm sure lots of scholarly treatises have gone at length trying to explain what it "means". What I argue, though, is that whether it "means" anything or not in a grand sense is really besides the point. The Comedy of Errors is a prime example of Shakespeare as an entertainer, pure and simple.
I'll admit here that oftentimes Elizabethan humor completely goes over my head the first time I hear it, and even when I "get" it I don't always find it very ha-ha funny. I did, however, find a lot of the wordplay in The Comedy of Errors to be legitimately funny. Part of that is the quick pace. It reads a lot like a Marx Brothers movie, with the Dromios as Grouchos, throwing out one-liners constantly.
All in all, I really liked revisiting The Comedy of Errors, and I look forward to reading the rest of Shakespeare's canon in the near future.
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4 comments:
"Comedy of Errors: The Sit Com." I like it! So, what play is next in line for you?
Hey I love that you're doing this, it's so cool to be able to see what other people think about the plays with out having to have a real conversation about them (not that i don't love doing that to)
hey I just tried to comment but I don't think it worked.
I just wanted to say that I love that you're doing this. Its really cool to be able to see what other people think about the plays with out having to have a real conversation about them. (not that I don't Love doing that to)
So, um, where's the in depth plot summaries of the last 3/5ths of the play? Man, you're slacking off! Seriously though (that wasn't serious?), CoE is far too short. Hilarious short play. Maybe every time it's performed it should be done TWICE! Wouldn't that be fun?
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