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The Comedy of Errors

William Shakespeare

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Characters

Antipholus of Syracuse - The twin brother of Antipholus of Ephesus and the son of Egeon; he has been traveling the world with his slave, Dromio of Syracuse, trying to find his long-lost brother and mother.

Antipholus of Ephesus - The twin brother of Antipholus of Syracuse and the son of Egeon; he is a well-respected merchant in Ephesus and Adriana's husband.

Dromio of Syracuse - The bumbling, comical slave of Antipholus of Syracuse. He is the twin brother of Dromio of Ephesus.

Dromio of Ephesus - The bumbling, comical slave of Antipholus of Ephesus. He is the Syracusan Dromio's twin brother.

Adriana - The wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, she is a fierce, jealous woman.

Luciana - Adriana's unmarried sister and the object of Antipholus of Syracuse's affections.

Solinus - The Duke of Ephesus; a just but merciful ruler.

Egeon - A Syracusan merchant, husband of the Abbess (Emilia), and the father of the two Antipholi. He is, like his Syracusan son, in search of the missing half of his family; he has been sentenced to death as the play begins.

Abbess - Emilia, the long-lost wife of Egeon and the mother of the two Antipholi.

Balthasar - A merchant in Syracuse.

Angelo - A goldsmith in Syracuse and a friend to Antipholus of Ephesus.

Merchant - An Ephesian friend of Antipholus of Syracuse.

Second Merchant - A tradesman to whom Angelo is in debt.

Doctor Pinch - A schoolteacher, conjurer, and would-be exorcist.

Luce - Also called Nell. Antipholus of Ephesus' prodigiously fat maid and Dromio of Ephesus' wife.

Courtesan - An expensive prostitute and friend of Antipholus of Ephesus.

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Act I, Scene i