Mistaken Identity In Shakespeare's The Comedy Of Errors

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Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” In the case of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, there are many questions raised and very few answered. One of the central questions, however, is how the actions of other people affect one’s identity. The way Shakespeare changes the behaviors of confused characters in reaction to their environment and displays their feelings to subtly suggest an answer to this question further develops the meaning of the work as a whole that mistaken identity can cause more than confusion. The conflict is first presented early on when Syracusan Antipholus mistakes Dromio of Ephesus for his counterpart. This being only one error, confusion is its only effect. When Syracusan