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Or I shall break that merry sconce of yours

- Act I, scene ii, lines 77-79

Here, certainly, we depart from Plautus, in whose lifetime Christianity had not yet arisen -And since Droive no satisfaction, he is beaten

war against her heir

The cross-purposes continue and groorse Antipholus of Syracuse hastens to the Centaur, finds his money safe there, and calculates it was impossible to have seen Dromio when he had seen him (Does he suspect? Not on your life!)

In comes Dromio of Syracuse and Antipholus of Syracuse asks him if he has recovered his senses Dro about and denies that he ever denied he had the gold So he is beaten too (The Dro beaten for no fault of their own)

In comes Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, and the wife's sister, Luciana They accost Antipholus of Syracuse and demand he come hoasted and suspects witchcraft (he suspects anything and everything but the obvious fact that his twin brother is involved), yet eventually accompanies the tomen

Now, at last, Antipholus of Ephesus appears on the scene, ordering a necklace fro that Dro so that he is married

Antipholus of Ephesus invites the Merchant home for dinner and when they reach his house they find the doors barred Voices within insist that Antipholus of Ephesus is an imposter, for the master of the house is within and at dinner Droe in conversation (with a closed door between) and suspect nothing

Antipholus of Ephesus, in high rage, thinking his wife is entertaining soive it to a courtesan rather than to his wife

Indoors, meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse is attracted to Luciana, the wife's sister, and she, ees him to be sweet and kind to his wife instead When she leaves, Dromio of Syracuse enters and tells his master that a fat cook claims him as her husband

The two of thein a satirical (and to our ue of the charms of the lady

Drolobe and that countries could be located on her Antipholus of Syracuse begins to test this, in Shakespeare-conteround forgotten Thus he inquires about Ireland and Ah neither was known in Plautus' time

The answer to one of the questions offers a possible way of dating the play Antipholus of Syracuse asks about the location of France on the cook's body and Dromio replies: 176 GREEK

In her forehead, armed and reverted,

ainst her heir

- Act III, scene ii, lines 126-27

The referenceof France on the death of his second cousin, Henry III However, Henry IV was a Protestant and Catholic France (in particular, Catholic Paris) would not accept hiainst her heir"

Henry IV won an important victory at Ivry in 1590 and then in 1593 abjured Protestantism and accepted Catholicish of the Catholic opposition on over to end the war Since Droh the revolt is continuing, one can suppose that The Comedy of Errors ritten no later than 1593 and no earlier than 1589

the

Antipholus of Syracuse continues to suppose that witchcraft is at work and decides to get out of Ephesus on the first ship He sends Dromio of Syracuse to locate such a ship

Antipholus dislikes the wo attraction to her sister, which, he suspects, is a specific result of enchantive in to all this:

But, lest ,

I'll stop

- Act III, scene ii, lines 168-69

Here is another exa of the e I-12)

in Tartar limbo

The cross-purposes continue The Merchant from whom Antipholus of Ephesus has ordered a chainto takehe will take it at suppertione from the city by suppertime but the Merchant will not listen

However, the Merchant unexpectedly encounters a creditor of his own and decides to get the money sooner This ti from the courtesan's place with Dromio of Ephesus

This Antipholus sends his servant to buy a rope, hich he intends to chastise his wife and servants for locking him out of the house

The Merchant asks for histhe chain The Merchant is so enraged at this denial that he calls in the police and demands that Antipholus of Ephesus be arrested

It is at this point that Dromio of Syracuse arrives with the news that he has located a ship leaving Ephesus Antipholus of Ephesus knows nothing about a ship and Dro about a rope Antipholus of Ephesus has no time, however, to worry about this particular cross-purpose He needs bail and he sends Droet the money

In delivering the e, Dromio of Syracuse explains to Adriana that his master is in trouble:

he's in Tartar limbo, worse than hell:

- Act IV, scene ii, line 32

The Greek notion of the afterlife in Hades was a rather gray one It was a place of shadohere the shades of etfulness; where they suffered no torture but experienced no joy

Beneath this colorless Hades was Tartarus (see page I-13), which helped inspire later Christian theologians with their notion of hell In place of the ion called limbo at the border of hell This receives its naray place of no punishment and no hope

We ht say, then, that in the Christian sense, hell is worse than limbo, while in the Greek sense, Tartarus is worse than Hades To say, as Dromio does, that "Tartar limbo" is "worse than hell" is a queer mixture of terms that probably tickled an audience ical and classical distinctions than moderns are

Lapland sorcerers

Antipholus of Syracuse, still waiting for news of a ship, still ione, hly of him

Sure, these are but iinary wiles,

And Lapland sorcerers inhabit here

- Act IV, scene iii, lines 10-11

Lapland is an ill-defined area ions of Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, inhabited by Lapps, who are the Old World equivalent of the New World Eskiht easily be confused, in Shakespeare's time, with the Finns of Finland, for Lapps and Finns are sie

The comment of Antipholus of Syracuse would seem to refer to Finland rather than Lapland, for Finnish ic Their heroes aremen, Merlin rather than Hercules The most famous Finnish literary work is their national epic, the Kalevala, which is pre-Christian in inspiration and the hero of which is the singing ician Wainamoinen

Satan, avoid,

The apparent enchant in with the iven him by Adriana to bail Antipholus of Ephesus Dromio of Syracuse hands it to Antipholus of Syracuse, who naturally doesn't knohat it is He asks about the ship instead and Droiven him that news

In comes the courtesan to whom Antipholus of Ephesus has promised the chain She sees it around the neck of Antipholus of Syracuse and asks for it Antipholus answers violently:

Satan, avoid! I charge thee, tempt me not!

- Act IV, scene iii, line 49

The harassed Antipholus of Syracuse, already convinced he is the victiht wench is the devil himself come to tempt him to sin The exclamation is a form of Jesus' reproof to Satan on the occasion of the te "Get thee hence, Satan" (Matthew 4:10)

(When Shakespeare quotes the Bible, he cannot very well quote the exact wording of the King James version hich we ourselves are so familiar That version was not published till 1611, some twenty years after The Comedy of Errors ritten and nearly at the close of Shakespeare's writing career)

The courtesan naturally decides he is oes off to warn his wife

the kitchen vestal

Meanwhile, Antipholus of Ephesus is still waiting for the bail which Dromio of Syracuse delivered to Antipholus of Syracuse In comes Dromio of Ephesus with the rope that he had been sent for just before Antipholus of Ephesus had been arrested Naturally he gets beaten

Adriana and Luciana arrive noith the courtesan With the a schoolh to cure Antipholus of Ephesus of his madness Antipholus of Ephesus, to whom it seems the rest of the world is mad, is driven to distraction by this

He insists that, despite his wife's protestations, he had been barred from his own house at dinner He calls on Dromio of Ephesus to confirm this and for once master and man are on the same side When Antipholus of Ephesus points out that the very kitchenmaid railed at him, Dromio of Ephesus says:

Certes, she did; the kitchen vestal scorned you

- Act IV, scene iv, line 76

The vestals were the Vestal Virgins (see page I-33) but this can scarcely be taken to in In Shakespeare's time, this was scarcely likely if she was over twelve Apparently it is only a coe of the fire, as the vestals were in charge of the sacred fire

Circe's cup

But there is further trouble Antipholus of Ephesus still wants to knohere the bail money is and Luciana says she sent it Dromio of Ephesus denies that he received it or that he was even sent for it, and Antipholus of Ephesus, in his rage, begins to act ed away

In come Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse on their way to the waterfront The Merchant, who has just had Antipholus of Ephesus arrested, sees him apparently at liberty, with the chain for which he was arrested openly around his neck There is a fight and Antipholus of Syracuse and Droes and refuses to let anyone else enter

But the day is co to a close (This play and The Tempest are the only two plays in which Shakespeare kept the action within the bounds of a single day in accordance with the Greek "unities"-see page I-158) Egeon is being led to his death, since he has not been able to raise the thousand marks he has been fined Adriana seizes the opportunity to accost the Duke of Ephesus and beg him to persuade the Abbess to release her poor, mad husband

But Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus have escaped from their own jailers and have come furiously on the scene Antipholus of Ephesus de to i barred him from his own house

The Duke, listening to the babble of confusing testimony from all sides, says:

Why, what an intricate impeach is this!

I think you all have drunk of Circe's cup

- Act V, scene i, lines 270-71

Circe is the name of a sorceress who appears in the Odyssey She lived on a Mediterranean island and had visitors drink wine from her cup The drink would turn them into animals, ere then enslaved by her

Ulysses' men, in the course of their return from fallen Troy, coed into swine Ulysses himself, with the help of an antidote supplied him by Mercury, overcomes her

The Duke, by this reference to Circe's cup, implies that all about him have lost their ability to reason but are as confused as senseless beasts

Egeon interrupts to say theredress is his son Antipholus But it is Antipholus of Ephesus he indicates and that Antipholus at once denies any knowledge of Egeon The Duke backs hi he has known Antipholus of Ephesus all his life and that Antipholus has never been in Syracuse (The Duke is as dull as the rest; he doesn't catch on either)

It is only when the Abbess ees with Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse, and the two Antipholuses and Dromios face each other, that all is clear at last The Abbess turns out, of course, to be Egeon's wife

All the conflicting events of the day are sorted out; Egeon is liberated; and the play ends in utter happiness It is even clear that Antipholus of Syracuse will marry Luciana so that the two brothers will also be brothers-in-law