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Teaching The Comedy of Errors

Error on the comedy express.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 83

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You guessed it: this play's a comedy by William Shakespeare. Written in 1594, it centers on two sets of identical twins separated as infants, and the absurdity surrounding their accidental reunion. Sound familiar?

What sets The Comedy of Errors apart isn't a matter of difference but of degree. Shakespeare knew that his audience may already be familiar with the story (it was as conventional in his day as it is now), so he's careful to give them more bang for their buck by intensifying the play's action and characterization.

In this guide, you'll find

  • a chance to explore the concept of isolation along with its pains and benefits, and then analyze the play for the underlying messages this theme suggests.
  • an analysis of how the play is the quintessential farce.
  • an exploration of the significance of family throughout the play.

We can guarantee your classroom won't be a comedy of errors if you turn to our guide. Eh? Eh?

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Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13 – 18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching The Comedy of Errors?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Family's a funny thing—sometimes we love 'em, sometimes we hate 'em, but they're still our family, so you better not do or say anything against them. Though what we now classify as a family has shifted and changed since Shakespeare's time, the importance of that group that we call "family" has never been more important. So, is it really probable that in The Comedy of Errors we've got these two guys roaming around looking for brothers that they haven't seen in years?

In this exercise, students are going to explore the significance of family, analyze the role of family in the play, and bring it all together in an essay.

Materials Needed: Access to this TED talk

Step 1: This play opens with a father looking for his son, and brothers looking for their twins and mother. Ask your students:

  • Do you think something like this is believable?
  • Does stuff like this happen today?

Local news programs are full of human-interest stories where families are reunited. There are plenty of examples of people today looking for long-lost siblings, parents, etc. The internet and genealogy sites have made such searches much easier; people don't have to wander around aimlessly, though there are examples of people physically looking for relatives, too.

Ask: Why do you think S. Antipholus and S. Dromio go out looking for their brothers? What is it that they're missing? Converse for about ten minutes.

Step 2: Have the class watch this TEDTalk by Joseph Kim, who fled North Korea and came to America as a child by himself. He can be hard to understand at times, but the video details his struggle with his old family as well as his foster family. The most compelling part of the video is at the very end, once the speech is over with. He sends a message to his mother and sister whom he has not seen in years (so don't turn the video off when it seems like the speech is over—there are two or three more minutes).

Once students have viewed the video, you'll want to connect it to the play. Joseph Kim's struggle is very similar to that of S. Antipholus: though he has a new life, he clearly longs for his birth family.

Step 3: Give students 20 minutes to dive into the play. Working in groups of three or four, have students discuss the following:

  1. What are the different family relations in the play?
  2. What would each of the following characters say about the importance of family: Egeon, S. Antipholus, E. Antipholus, Emilia, Dromio?
  3. In other literary works, family is often the focus because it's very present and evident (Think of Michael Corleone talking to his brother Fredo in the Godfather: "Never take sides against the family."). In this play, family's absent or missing. What do you think Shakespeare was saying about family?

Step 4: Bring all of this together by applying these insights about family to a bit of character analysis.

Have students take on the role of one of the characters in The Comedy of Errors and answer the following question: What's the importance of family to you? This should take the form of a free-response—just responding to the question in the voice of one of Shakespeare's characters. They should be sure to specific examples from the play to support their point of view and write about 500 words.

Instructions for Your Students

Though what we now classify as a family has shifted and changed since Shakespeare's time, that group of people that we call "family" has never been more important. So is it really probable that in The Comedy of Errors we've got these two guys roaming around looking for brothers that they haven't seen in years?

In this exercise, you're going to explore the significance of family, analyze the role of family in the play, and bring it all together in an essay.

Step 1: Let's think about this for a minute: The play opens with a father looking for his son, and brothers looking for their twins and mother. Discuss as a class:

  • Do you think something like that is believable? Explain.
  • Does stuff like this happen today? Explain.
  • Why do you think S. Antipholus and S. Dromio go out looking for their brothers? What is it that they're missing?

Step 2: Watch this TED talk by Joseph Kim, who fled North Korea and came to America as a child by himself. He can be hard to understand at times. The video details his struggle with his old family as well as his foster family. Don't turn the video off when it seems like the speech is over—there are two or three more minutes.

Now connect this to the play: Lots of times, when we read plays we don't get the full emotion behind the words. But if you think of Joseph Kim, his struggle is very similar to that S. Antipholus: though he clearly has a new life, he still longs for his birth family.

Step 4: Let's dive into the play. Working in groups of three or four, discuss the following:

  1. What are the different family relations in the play?
  2. What would each of the following characters say about the importance of family: Egeon, S. Antipholus, E. Antipholus, Emilia, S. Dromio?
  3. In other literary works, family becomes the focus because it's very present and evident (think of Michael Corleone talking to his brother Fredo in the Godfather, "Never take sides against the family."). In this play, family's absent or missing. What do you think Shakespeare was saying about family?

Step 4: Let's bring all of this together by combining the theme of family with a bit of character analysis.

Your task is to take on the role of one of the characters in The Comedy of Errors and answer the following question: what's the importance of family to you? This essay should take the form of a free-response—responding to the question in the voice of one of the play's main characters. Be sure to use specific examples from the play to support your point of view. We're looking for about 500 words.