The Comedy of Errors, separated family and mistaken identity, Egeon and his family, reunification of the family

The Comedy of Errors is a comedy that reveals the theme of separated family and mistaken identity. The play begins with a merchant of Syracuse Egeon telling his story to Solinus, Duke of Ephesus. Thirty-three years before Egeon was travelling home on a boat with his family: a wife and their identical twin boys that were accompanied by the identical twin boys bought by Egeon from a poor jobless woman to be servants for his sons.

Suddenly clouds in the sky led Egeon to believe there was going to be a storm and there was the panic on the boat. So, the crew abandoned the ship, leaving Egeon and his family. Egeon lashed himself to the main-mast with one son and his servant, and his wife took the other son and his slave and were tied to the other. 

But no tempest came. In calm seas the vessel drifted serenely in to a rock and was split in two as no one was at the helm. The same thing happened with the family. Later they were rescued by different boats. Thus, Egeon never again saw his wife and the children.

Years later, Egeon’s son Antipholus and his slave Dromio left Syracuse to find their brothers. When they did not return, Egeon set out in search of them. In Ephesus Egeon is arrested as a law forbids alien merchants from entering this location and he is sentenced to beheading. He tells his extraordinary story to the Duke who is moved and commutes his sentence until sundown giving Egeon one day to pay his fine. So, the merchant has a chance to find someone in Ephesus that might help him...

Next events in the comedy happens in the course of a few hours, when, Duke spared Egeon, but Egeon and four twins end up in a miraculous way in the same town on the same day. All members of the family exit into the abbey celebrating the long hoped-for reunification.