Journal 24: Simple Comedy.
Unity of Action: I don't think this limits or controls the play. It guides. If there were anymore main actions I do believe The Comedy of Errors would become confusing with too much going on. Having one main action helps the audience that is viewing this play stay focused on the characters and plot.
Unity of Place: The Comedy of Errors could be staged in one single space, such as a block of houses. But it isn't written quite as strictly; there is the Street of Ephesus, before the house of Antipholus of Ephesus and before the priory. It's nice that there are only three places. If there were more places, different regions, different countries, etc it would be difficult to keep track of place and characters and would take away from the characters and what is happening to them.
Unity of Time: I think it outstanding that this play is no more than 24 hours! The ensuing chaos is hiliarious and there seems to be no time crunch with the characters which makes it that much greater. If The Comedy of Errors would drag out past 24 hours, I think it would lose it's luster of comedy. I think it also makes it easier for the audience because they don't need to keep track of what happened on this day or that. I suppose it controls the play because it gets things resolved.
Simplicity makes for easy viewing. It's nothing that makes you think. A person can enjoy it for what it is, and for The Comedy of Errors it is to enjoy the comedy.
yeah
shakespeare does sort of push the limit when it comes to unity of action, although it does play into the perspective of the play as a comedy. It deffinatly does resolve a lot more through its shorten time frame as well as simplifies it.
Simplicity
I remember hearing somewhere that an author described a setting by saying things like "the rock by that lake across from the forest" and the guy teaching was explaining that this assumption by the author that the readers could picture "the rock" in their heads painted a familiarity in their minds even though the author doesn't describe the rock. The reader's assume they know. I wonder if this is why Shakespeare does this so simply. It draws people into a familiar place and then lets bizarre characters situations and orations take place.
Ryan K Bishop