The character of Adriana in The Comedy of Errors

1. Introduction........................................................................................................................... 2
2. Main Part .............................................................................................................................. 2
2.1 Relationships ........................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Characteristics ......................................................................................................... 4
3. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 7
4. Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 8

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1. Introduction
The Comedy of Errors written by William Shakespeare is a play based on the
Roman comedy Menaechmi by Plautus. This work of literature was performed
in the early 1590s and is one of Shakespeare’s first plays. The play´s plot
revolves around two sets of identical twins who were separated at birth and
coincidentally reunite as adults in the same town, leading to a series of
misunderstandings and confused situations.
The play is set in the city of Ephesus, where the two sets of twins, each named
Antipholus and Dromio, cause chaos in the lives of their fellow human beings
through unintended confusions.
The confusion arises when Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio arrive
in Ephesus and are mistaken for their identical counterparts, Antipholus of
Ephesus and his servant Dromio. The chaos becomes even more complicated by
the fact that both Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse come into contact with
women who believe them to be their husbands, leading to a series of mistaken
identities and conflicts between the couples.
One important aspect of the play is the role of women, particularly Adriana, the
wife of the protagonist, Antipholus of Ephesus. Throughout the play, Adriana
highlights the social norms and expectations that restrict women´s freedoms and
opportunities. Her struggles and challenges demonstrate the limitations and
injustices faced by women in the Elizabethan era.
This term paper will explore the role of women in The Comedy of Errors, with
a particular focus on the character of Adriana. It will be examined how her
character challenges traditional gender roles and how she serves as a symbol of
the struggles for women´s rights. Yet she still lives up to her place as caring and
loving wife.

2. Main Part

2.1 Relationships
Adriana plays an essential role as wife in The Comedy of Errors. She is the wife
of Antipholus of Ephesus and the sister-in-law of his twin brother Antipholus of
Syracuse. Adriana is a character who represents the traditional expectations and

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obligations of a wife during the Elizabethan era. She is loyal and obedient, but
at the same time possessive.
Marriage is seen as a “transaction” (Maguire 366)1 where the woman is traded
by men like an object and therefore Adriana and Antipholus did not marry
because of love, but it was an arranged marriage to live up to the standards of
that time (cf. Maguire 366).
As soon as she appears in a scene for the first time, namely in Act 2, Scene 1,
she complains about the unfair distribution of the roles of woman and man. She
asks her sister “Why should their liberty than ours be more?” (2.1.10)2.
Therefore, she claims that husbands and wives should have “geographical
freedom” (Maguire 378) and “equal liberty” (Maguire 378). Unlike the other
women mentioned in the play, who strictly adhere to traditional gender rules,
Adriana seeks to challenge her place in her marriage through continuous and
deliberate questioning of the power disparities. However, it is important to
differentiate that she does not want to be an independent woman who wants more
power than men, but her desire is for her husband to have as little freedom as she
does and “be loved as a wife” (Maguire 380).
Adriana also says “There´s none but asses will be bridled so.” (2.1.14). Thus,
she progressively defines gender norms, claiming that she does not want to be
controlled by her husband. The word “bridle” is used as description of
Antipholus´ reign over Adriana´s freedom, to which she sarcastically replies that
only animals accept such a severe restriction on freedom.
In a conversation with her sister about her feelings in her marriage, she describes
her husband as “unkind mate to grieve thee” (2.1.38), which underlines that she
is unhappy with her marriage and her husband’s behavior towards her.
Even though she is so dissatisfied and wants to be treated better, she continues
with her submissiveness. This can be seen when she confronts her husband with
her suspicion that he is having an affair and then describes their relationship as
“elm tree” (2.2.180), which is supposed to represent her husband, and “small
vine” which represents herself. Therefore, she only gets strength when she clings
to him and is not able to live without him. From that behavior it can be seen that

1
Laurie Maguire. “The girls from Ephesus”. Robert S. Miola, ed. The Comedy of Errors.
Critical Essays. New York, London: Garland Publishing, 1997. 366-373.
2
William Shakespeare. The Comedy of Errors. Ed. Kent Cartwright. London: Bloomsbury,
2017.
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despite her way of thinking she still wants to behave as it is socially correct and
does not want to lose her husband.
Therefore, she is aware of her obligations in her marriage and she fulfils her
duties as a wife and always supports her husband in every situation, even though
they are in a marital crisis.
In her role as mistress, she exercises the power that she does not have in her
marriage with the slaves. Adriana gives them many orders and as soon as
something is not done to her satisfaction she threatens and beats them. Sentences
like “Back, slave, or I will break thy pate across.” (2.2.77) reflect that she
considers herself superior and refers to Dromio as slave instead of calling him
by his name. In addition to her condescending nature towards the slaves she is
also very aggressive, because the sentence “I will break thy pate” basically
means I will break your head and is repeated in almost all conversations between
her and the slaves.

2.2 Characteristics
Adriana´s character is introduced in the play as a concerned wife who is worried
about where her husband spends his time. However, her concerns quickly turn
into jealousy and suspicion when her husband does not show up for dinner and
she discovers that he has been spending time with another woman (cf. 2.1.30).
She immediately becomes impatient and restless and is sure that he’s having an
affair (cf. 2.1.103-104). Adriana´s character is seen as an example of the typical
Elizabethan woman in the play: she is expected to be a dutiful wife who is
obedient to her husband and her jealousy and possessiveness are seen as natural
response for a woman who is protecting her marriage. On the other hand, her
jealousy underlines her own insecurities, because she directly questions whether
it is all her fault that her husband rather spends time with another woman than
coming home to her. Thus, from her strong jealousy develops self-pity (cf.
Maguire 146) and sadness, which can be seen in her short monologue: “[…]
Since that my beauty cannot please his eye, I´ll weep what´s left away, and
weeping die” (2.1.114).
Throughout the play, Adriana exhibits a strong will and determination. She is a
fierce woman who knows what she wants which is evident in her interactions
with her husband. She confronts her husband with her feelings and reminds him

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of his responsibilities as husband (cf. 2.2.116-152). She tells him with an ironic
undertone that his behavior is unacceptable in a marriage and emphasizes that
he has changed very much in a negative way. Adriana claims that in the
beginning of their marriage he showed no interest in other woman and that they
were actually inseparable and truly in love. She wants him to imagine what it
would be like if they switched roles and how he would feel if she was unfaithful
to him. Adriana says “[…] Wouldst thou not spit at me, and spurn at me, and
hurl the name of ´husband´ in my face, […]” (2.2.140-141), underlining that he
would not act differently than her and would exaggerate even more.
Adriana is shown to be deeply loyal to her husband and her love for him borders
on possessiveness. As a consequence, she appears to be very fixed to her
husband. On the one hand, her referring to him as “Master of my state” (2.1.94),
directly shows her own submissiveness and that she considers herself
subordinate while worshiping him. This designation is picked up in the further
course of the play and stresses that she regards him as superior and is dependent
on him, what reflects life at that time. In the Elizabethan era life was
“hierarchical”, meaning that the husbands were the master and “ruled over wives
who ruled over children […]” (Maguire 373). According to that, Adriana as wife
belongs to “a group of social subordinates” (Maguire 372), which means that it
is her obligation to serve her husband and therefore wives were treated similarly
to slaves at that time.
On the other hand, Adriana also mentions: “My decayed fair a sunny look of his
would soon repair.” (2.1.97-98), which basically means that even though she is
mad at her husband, his smile would change the whole situation and make her
happy right away. Thus, Antipholus has a lot of power over her feelings and
Adriana´s fear of losing her husband as well as her fear of being rejected
develops from her own insecurities and the social pressures of that time. As a
woman in the Elizabethan era, Adriana´s worth is defined by her relationship to
her husband. This dependence on him is evident in her behavior throughout the
play, as she becomes increasingly hysterical at the thought of losing her husband.
In addition, she begins to speak badly about him in a conversation between her
and her sister and calling him “deformed, crooked, old and sere” (4.2.19), but
nevertheless she directly admits that she actually thinks only good about him and
loves him from the heart (cf. 4.2.25). She wishes that other women would not

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find him attractive so that she could have him completely to herself without
having to worry about him leaving her for another woman (cf. 4.2.26-28).
Because of the mentioned traits, Adriana is described as “dark woman” (Waller
33)3 with her sister as the opposite counterpart, “the fair maid” (Waller 33).
These two characters combined represent “the split image of the mother” (Waller
33). Adriana being “threatening and restrictive” (Waller 33) and Luciana who
represents the positive side and thus takes on the role of the good mother (cf.
Waller 33).
Besides the more negative character traits of Adriana, she still evokes sympathy.
On the one hand, her vulnerable and insecure way of being, makes it easy to
identify with her and her feelings and empathize with her person. Precisely, these
negative character traits make her seem human and real and get the spectators to
project these situations and feelings in the play onto their own lives. Another
point, that makes Adriana so sympathetic and lovable, is that although she is
unhappy with her marriage and feels unloved, she is always loyal to her husband
and fights for what she truly believes in. She is willing to give Dromio as much
money as it is needed to pay off the debt and thus prevents Antipholus from
going to prison (cf. 4.2.62-63). Adriana just wants to take care of her husband
and support him in that situation so that he can return home and be safe. She also
worries about Antipholus and instead of blaming him, she fears that he has gone
mad and that is why he acts different. Her words to the doctor: “Establish him in
his true sense again, And I will please you what you will demand.” (4.4.49-50),
show once again her loving side, where she is willing to do anything to free her
husband from the situation and pay as much money as the doctor needs just to
get Antipholus back to health. Therefore, Adriana seems to be a very caring and
empathetic wife, because although her husband has treated her badly, she accepts
this behavior and says that she is willing to be his nurse and help him get well
(cf. 5.1.98). The way she puts aside her own needs and prioritizes her husband's
well-being illustrate once again the image of the typical wife at the time, in
whose world the man comes first and her world almost revolves around her
husband.

3
Gary Waller. Shakespeare´s Comedies. London, New York: Longman Publishing Group,
1991.
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3. Conclusion
Adriana is important for the plot, because she is responsible for many mix-ups
in the play. She sends Dromio of Ephesus to ask his master, Antipholus of
Ephesus, her husband, to return home for dinner, but it is actually Antipholus of
Syracuse who Dromio speaks with. That is the moment where the confusion
starts.
In conclusion, The Comedy of Errors consists of many different themes
including the role of women with Adriana being the main female representative.
She is a strong female character who is not afraid to stand up for herself and
express her opinion. She directly confronts her husband with her suspicion that
he is unfaithful to her. This is one of the situations that lead to the dissolution of
the plot. Her character combines loyalty, communication and trust, therefore the
key competences of a marriage or a relationship in general. According to this,
Adriana serves primarily as an image of the typical wife of Elizabethan times
and brings the themes of love, passion and marriage into the play.
Additionally, she is an ambivalent character whose emotions constantly change
during the play. On the one hand, the strong negative character traits are
expressed, such as jealousy and obsession. But there is also a variety of positive
character traits that make her a sympathetic part of the play. Furthermore, she
has a multifaceted and dynamic personality, so a personality with many different
sides that change during the play. Compared to the beginning, she is going
through a development and changes her behavior from the insecure, jealous and
self-pitying wife to the loyal, supportive wife who will do anything for her
husband and in the end even manages to save their marriage.

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4. Bibliography

Maguire, Laurie. “The Girls from Ephesus”. Robert S. Miola, ed. The Comedy of Errors.
Critical Essays. New York, London: Garland Publishing, 1997. 366-373.

Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors. Ed. Kent Cartwright. London: Bloomsbury,
2017.

Waller, Gary. Shakespeare´s Comedies. London, New York: Longman Publishing Group,
1991.