Comedy of Errors?

Question

Can someone tell me what the plot of Comedy of Errors is? I saw it and because of the peoples' either heavy or horrible accents I did not understand a thing. And why were there two Dromios? HELP!! =/

Answer 1

Here is a summary from No Fear Shakespeare

Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is condemned to death in Ephesus for violating the ban against travel between the two rival cities. As he is led to his execution, he tells the Ephesian Duke, Solinus, that he has come to Syracuse in search of his wife and one of his twin sons, who were separated from him 25 years ago in a shipwreck. The other twin, who grew up with Egeon, is also traveling the world in search of the missing half of their family. (The twins, we learn, are identical, and each has an identical twin slave named Dromio.) The Duke is so moved by this story that he grants Egeon a day to raise the thousand-mark ransom that would be necessary to save his life.

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Meanwhile, unknown to Egeon, his son Antipholus of Syracuse (and Antipholus' slave Dromio) is also visiting Ephesus--where Antipholus' missing twin, known as Antipholus of Ephesus, is a prosperous citizen of the city. Adriana, Antipholus of Ephesus' wife, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and drags him home for dinner, leaving Dromio of Syracuse to stand guard at the door and admit no one. Shortly thereafter, Antipholus of Ephesus (with his slave Dromio of Ephesus) returns home and is refused entry to his own house. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse has fallen in love with Luciana, Adriana's sister, who is appalled at the behavior of the man she thinks is her brother-in-law.

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The confusion increases when a gold chain ordered by the Ephesian Antipholus is given to Antipholus of Syracuse. Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay for the chain (unsurprisingly, since he never received it) and is arrested for debt. His wife, seeing his strange behavior, decides he has gone mad and orders him bound and held in a cellar room. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse and his slave decide to flee the city, which they believe to be enchanted, as soon as possible--only to be menaced by Adriana and the debt officer. They seek refuge in a nearby abbey.

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Adriana now begs the Duke to intervene and remove her "husband" from the abbey into her custody. Her real husband, meanwhile, has broken loose and now comes to the Duke and levels charges against his wife. The situation is finally resolved by the Abbess, Emilia, who brings out the set of twins and reveals herself to be Egeon's long-lost wife. Antipholus of Ephesus reconciles with Adriana; Egeon is pardoned by the Duke and reunited with his spouse; Antipholus of Syracuse resumes his romantic pursuit of Luciana, and all ends happily with the two Dromios embracing.

Answer 2

The summary that was already posted is a good and very complete one, but in case you want something simpler:

There are two sets of twins. There is one set of twins both named Antipholous (who are from a rich family) . There is one set of twins both named Dromio (they are both servants).  The reason the twins have the same name is that before the play starts there is a shipwreck, and the twins get separated.  Somehow (Shakespeare never explains this) each pair grows up being called the same name--possibly as a tribute to the twin they thought died.   One Antipholous and One Dromio grow up in Syracuse.  The other pair shipwreck in Ephesus and live there.

The towns of Ephesus and Syracuse hate each other, so when the Antiphlouses father ends up in Ephesus, the people there threaten to kill him.  Eventually, both Antipholuses and both Dromios end up in Ephesus, and the basic story of the play involves one twin being mistaken for another over hte course of a very long day.  Also, Antipholus S falls in love with Luciana. Luciana is the sister of Adriana, the wife of Antipholous E.  So Luciana thinks her brother in law is hitting on her when in fact it's a complete stranger.  Antihplolus E, meanwhile, gets arrested for not paying a debt (because his twin pocketed the money).  A prostitue, a goldsmith, and an exorcist also get involved in the story.

And on and on go the mistaken identities, until the end, where everything gets sorted. The twins are reuninted, and then they are reuninted with their father, and then it turns out that the nun who was helping one set of twins is actually their long-lost mother.  

Everyone is happy.  The end.