Shakespeare and the classical Roman comedies

This thesis examines the similarities between Shakespeare’s The Comedy o f Errors and Plautus’s Menaechmi (The Twin Brothers), including some references to Plautus’s Amphiruo. I will prove that Shakespeare used the above mentioned comedies of Plautus as a basis for his early comedies. I will demonstrate how the classical comedies influenced the Renaissance playwright, while I will also point out the differences between the classical and the Renaissance comedies. I am going to show that the classical plays served only as inspiration for Shakespeare, thus he was not a slavish imitator of Plautus, but The Comedy of Errors reflects a totally different view of life.