The Prologue of Plautus’ Menaechmi and the Opening Scene of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors (I.1.1-160): A Comparative Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25145/j.fortunat.2025.42.03Keywords:
comparative drama, fabula palliata, prologue, comedyAbstract
This paper aims to examine how Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, specifically Scene I.1, diverges from Plautus’ Menaechmi in its adaptation and interpretation. In his Prologue, Plautus uses Prologus to speak on behalf of the poet and provide valuable information about the plot of the play. In contrast, Scene I.1 of The Comedy of Errors introduces several characters on stage, with the most prominent being the father of the twin boys, who explains that he came to Ephesus searching for his lost son. It is a comparative analysis that examines plot elements in these two comedies and proves that, although it is common knowledge among previous scholars that Shakespeare has used Plautine Menaechmi as a model, he manages even from the beginning of his play to create a more complex plot.
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