The Comedy of Errors (Oxford Shakespeare) [Hardcover]

William Shakespeare (Author), Charles Whitworth (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198129335 | ISBN-13: 978-0198129332 | Publication Date: March 27, 2003

This new modern-spelling edition of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors includes a full introduction by Charles Whitworth that discusses the probable occasion of its first performance in 1594, its multiple sources, and its uneven critical and theatrical history. A full text of Plautus's comedy Men�chmus, and extracts from Gesta Gragorum and the Geneva Bible are included in appendices.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Whitworth is a Professor of English Literature and Director, Centre for English Renaissance Studies, Universite Paul Valery.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198129335
• ISBN-13: 978-0198129332
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,918,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oxford World's Classics is the best choice for Shakespeare, January 10, 2004

By 

R. Rockwell (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Comedy of Errors (Oxford Shakespeare) (Paperback)

As someone who is reading Shakespeare for the second time at the age of 40 and who considers himself a careful reader, I am always surprised to find the Oxford editors bring new ways of looking at the plays. In this introduction, Whitworth does a commendable job of explaining the importance of The Comedy of Errors which is usually dismissed as light weight farce, by explaining the history of critiism of the play and it social relevance.
Presented as a Christmas entertainment for the queen, The Comedy cleverly combines plots from two Plautus plays as well as introducing plot elements of his own.
I-- a mere mortal-- have no ability to criticize Shakespeares truly immortal genious. As the best writer ever, all I can do is enjoy the work. The scholarly intro allows you to heighten the pleasure seeing thing that might not be seen at surface level.
An additional benefit of the Oxford Shakespeare is that it is annotated with just enough notes-- on the same page as the text.
If you read Shakespeare for enjoyment or for a class, Oxford is the best.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite of all Shakespeare's comedies., January 20, 2005

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Comedy of Errors (Oxford Shakespeare) (Paperback)

I love all Shakespeare's works in all his genres, but this play is my favourite one of the Comedies. I have read it numerous times, but I have also seen it played on the stage, and it was unbelievably funny there. This play is actually one of Shakespeare's earliest. The play is a story about doubles, and the confusion that arises from this. Shakespeare protagaonists are a pair of twins, and to complicate things further each twin has an identical twin for a servant. Shakespeare's humour is bawdy as it was expected to be during the Elizabethan age. Some people think this particular play displays farcical humour because the humour is so broad, but I truly enjoyed reading it and seeing it. I think the genius of this particular play is in the deftness of the plot and the fast-paced perfection and timing of its action. I laughed out loud many times during this wonderful play.