Emotion, Perception and Anagnorisis in The Comedy of Errors: A Cognitive Perspective

Abstract

The following discussion of Comedy of Errors draws on insights and models of analysis derived from the appraisal theory of emotion, the most important among cognitive theories of emotion. Emotions and action outcomes in this play are explicitly caused by evaluation of situations arising from mistaken identities of two sets of twins. These evaluations and subsequent actions, though based on misconstrued visual information, alter people's personal and social realities. Clearly, the play foregrounds appraisal as a principle guiding elicitation of emotion. The first section of the following discussion provides an introduction to relevant concepts derived from appraisal theory and cognitive poetics. Section two draws attention to Aristotle's idea of Anagnorisis and Agnoia, inviting a look at structures of recognition and reversal from a cognitive perspective. The remaining sections focus on patterns of appraisal in relation to elicitation and thematization of emotion in The Comedy of Errors.

Aristotelian Analysis of Parvin E’tesami’s Poems: "The Reliever", "Two Courts" and "Words and Deeds"

“…He did not formulate a theory on comedy. In recent studies, the two Aristotelian elements of anagnorisis and peripeteia have been studied in comedy because both tragedy and comedy have plots and the discovery and reversal can bring tears or laughter to the audience, respectively [25]. Apart from comedy, we can even find anagnorisis and peripeteia in the plot of short stories.…”

“…Apart from comedy, we can even find anagnorisis and peripeteia in the plot of short stories. For instance, B. Meghdadi's book entitled Dictionary of Literary Theory Terms: From Plato to the Contemporary Age has devoted four pages to the role of anagnorisis in detective stories, particularly in Edgar Alan Poe's "The Purloined Letter" [25]. Thus, due to the centrality of the plot in tragedy, comedy, and short as well as long stories, it is probable to find the two Aristotelian elements of anagnorisis and peripeteia in narrative poems as well.…”