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  • Published: 1 September 2011
  • ISBN: 9780812969337
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $16.99

The Comedy of Errors




This updated edition has provided a completely new, illustrated Introduction.

Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen provide a fresh new edition of this raucous story of mistaken identity and family — along with more than a hundred pages of exclusive features, including

- An original Introduction to The Comedy of Errors
- Incisive scene-by-scene synopsis and analysis with vital facts about the work
- Commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers
- Photographs of key RSC productions
- An overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career and chronology of his plays

Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.

  • Published: 1 September 2011
  • ISBN: 9780812969337
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $16.99

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About the author

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, and was baptised on 26 April 1564. His father was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a well-to-do local land owner. Shakespeare was probably educated in Stratford’s grammar school. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, and the couple had a daughter the following year and twins in 1585.

Shakespeare’s theatrical life seems to have commenced around 1590. We do know that he was part of the Lord Chamberlain’s Company, which was renamed the King’s Company in 1603 when James I succeeded to the throne. The Company acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London, near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars.

Shakespeare’s poetry was published before his plays, with two poems appearing in 1593 and 1594, dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets were probably written at this time as well.

Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin to appear in 1594, and he produced roughly two a year until around 1611. His earliest plays include Henry VI and Titus Andronicus. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Richard II all date from the mid to late 1590s. Some of his most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s; these include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Antony & Cleopatra. His late plays, often known as the Romances, date from 1608 onwards and include The Tempest.

Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as ‘the First Folio’.

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