Title: The Comedy of Errors
Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Number of pages: 272
Type of Book: Classic, Fiction
Age: 8+
Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Comedy-Errors-Folger-Shakespeare-Library/dp/0743484886/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= ; free download here (unabridged version for older readers): http://www.pubwire.com/DownloadDocs/PDFiles/SHAKESPR/COMEDY/COMEDYOF.PDF
Price: $5:99
MY SUMMARY
This story is one of mistaken identity and as is common with stories of this nature, what follows is chaos for the characters and laughter for the readers. One fateful night, two women gave birth to a set of identical twin boys each. The first woman was a wealthy merchant’s wife from Syracuse, the other, a poor woman. The latter sold her twins as servants to the former’s twins. Shortly after, the merchant and his family were caught in a storm at sea; the wife and a set of twins (one son and one servant) was lost. Distraught, the merchant named the surviving boys after the lost boys. Many years later, both boys (Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus) and their servants (Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus) happened to be in the town of Ephesus at the same time. This led to mass confusion, a lot of beatings, some arrests, an almost exorcism and riotous laughter!
THUMBS UP AND DOWN
UP: Humour! It lives up to its title. Most stories featuring identical twins are filled with laughter, this one features two sets of identical twins so its twice as much fun! I recommend for all the members of the family.
DOWN: None
RATING
5 Stars
TRIVIA
- The story is set in the city of Ephesus
- Egeon, (the father of the twins) must do this to avoid being executed the next day? Give a thousand marks to the Duke of Ephesus.
- While dining in his brother’s house, (he’s mistaken for his brother) Antipholus of E does this: he woos his brother’s wife’s sister!
- Antipholus of Ephesus suffers this as a result of the mix-up: He’s locked out of his own house
- His wife thinks he has gone mad and begs an exorcist to cure him.
- He’s accused of refusal to pay a debt and he’s locked up in prison.
Visit William Shakespeare here: http://www.shakespeare-online.com
Watch the play here:
CHALLENGE: The Comedy of Errors
CREATE (WRITE a Story/Poem OR DRAW)
- Write a 600-word comedy of errors. (8 – 9 year olds)
OR
- Write a 1000-word comedy of errors (10-12 year olds)
Send your answers to ugochinyelu.anidi@gmail.com
Entry requirements: Entrants must be within the 8-12 age range. The first correct entry will be announced on this page and will win a copy of this book.
Answers must be submitted before 12:00am on Sunday, May 1st 2016.
Next Book of the Week:
MERCHANT OF VERNICE by William Shakespeare
U G O . . . .A N I D I 