MISPRINTING AND MISREADING IN THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

Abstract

This chapter tackles the special case of textual error in The Comedy of Errors as the play appeared in Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623). The error concerns the speech prefixes and stage directions of the two sets of twins, the Antipholi and Dromio brothers, enhancing the confusion of identity that drives the plot. The annotations left by seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century readers demonstrate that they fell into a state of error, sometimes significantly, in simply attempting to follow the play. Contrary to the standard approach of textual criticism, these inaccuracies could contribute to the interpretation and the historical reception of The Comedy of Errors in new and meaningful ways.