Who isn’t fascinated by Identical Twins? And who, at some time, didn’t want to have an Identical Twin to blame for poor judgment?
The ‘proper’ name for “Identical Twins” is Monozygotic Twins, meaning from one egg, but Identical Twins is easier to conceptualize.
Shakespeare’s Twins
Shakespeare loved Identical Twins. They caused confusion and misdirection through mistaken identity in The Comedy of Errors, (1593) and Twelfth Night, (1601). He used Identical Twins to embellish farcical comedy.
A wonderful presentation on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night was written by Kathryn Neves of the Utah Shakespeare Festival on June 20, 2019. Easy to read and delightfully presented, Kathryn provides excellent insight. It’s on the Net.
Neither in Shakespeare’s time nor now, are their many Identical Twin actors. Shakespeare’s ‘Twins’ were therefore, never Identical and often didn’t even look similar. A good audience was expected to ‘suspend reality’ and enjoy the play.
Are Identical Twins Really Identical?
Yes, and No. I knew Identical Twins in the Seventies. They looked identical but had totally different personalities. The same with a U. of A. Drama Professor. He was an Identical Twin and Gay. His twin brother was straight and a Medical Doctor.
Identical Twins share the same DNA, blood type, genes and are the same sex but have individual personalities and unique, individual finger prints.
Some are ‘mirror images’ and developed facing each other. One is left handed the other right handed. This is a sub-section and not common to all Identical Twins.
During development some share a placenta. But just as often, they don’t.
Identical Twins only represent one third of multiple births and occur in about one in two hundred and fifty pregnancies.
Identical Twin differences are explained as, “a result of slight variations in their genetic codes.”
Cells duplicate over and over and occasionally there are slight variations when the cell divides, resulting in small differences.
Several years ago The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, had a show about Identical Twins and cancer. The risk of both twins developing the same cancer was 46%. That means 54% of Identical Twins do not develop the same cancer at the same time.
Conclusion
Shakespeare was fascinated by Identical Twins 400 years ago. They hold our interest today and probably have through human history.
And really, who wouldn’t want someone who looked like them, to blame when things went wrong? Like that time in the bar or at a Rider game?
