     the comedy of errors is one of william shakespeare's early plays. it is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. the comedy of errors (along with the tempest) is one of only two of shakespeare's plays to observe the classical unities. it has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre. the comedy of errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. antipholus of syracuse and his servant, dromio of syracuse, arrive in ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, antipholus of ephesus and his servant, dromio of ephesus. when the syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of antipholus of ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession. ==characters==  *solinus â duke of ephesus *egeon â a merchant of syracuse *emilia â egeon's lost wife, now lady abbess at ephesus *antipholus of ephesus and antipholus of syracuse â twin brothers, sons of egeon and emilia *dromio of ephesus and dromio of syracuse â twin brothers, bondmen, each serving his respective antipholus *adriana â wife of antipholus of ephesus *luciana â adriana's sister *nell/luce â kitchen wench/maid to adriana *balthazar â a merchant *angelo â a goldsmith *courtesan *first merchant â friend to antipholus of syracuse *second merchant â to whom angelo is in debt *doctor pinch â a conjuring schoolmaster *gaoler, headsman, officers, and other attendants  ==synopsis==  because the law forbids merchants from syracuse to enter ephesus, elderly syracusian trader egeon faces execution when he is discovered in the city. he can only escape by paying a fine of a thousand marks. he tells his sad story to solinus, duke of ephesus. in his youth, he married and had twin sons. on the same day, a poor woman without a job also gave birth to twin boys also without a job, and he purchased these as slaves to hi
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