82 like likewise
other i.e. other two twins
84 exemplifying rhetorical polyptoton (see 38n., on hap) and epanalepsis (repetition at the end of the clause of the word with which it begins); Fixing, Fastened (85) and floating (86) create a rhetorical unit that conveys the action; see 57n.
care See 42 and n.
75 was, for] Rowe; was: (for F none:] Ard1; none) F; none. Rowe 77 sinking-ripe] (sinking ripe), F2 78 latter-born] (latter borne), Steevens2 79 fastened] (fastned) 85 Fastened] (Fastned)
86 straight immediately (OED adv. C2a); also at 3.2.190; 4.1.102; 4.2.62; 4.4.57, 141.
87 Was with wife and I (83) as its subject; see 10n.
carried carrièd
87, 93 Corinth Corinth, in the Peloponnese, was an ancient Greek city and a major trading centre: ‘it was the greattest marte towne in all the worlde’ (Cooper, Thesaurus, sig. G1r). Corinth was also the base for St Paul’s early missionary activities in Greece and Macedonia (see Acts, 18.1–18).
88 At length in time; repeated at 112
gazing staring (OED v. 2); forms of ‘gaze’ occur seven times in CE; cf. especially 3.2.57 and n.; also 1.2.13; 3.2.56; 5.1.53, 244.
89 vapours … us mists that assailed us (by obscuring the light, as at 66) (see OED vapours n. 2a); see also VA 184, 1H4 1.2.202–3. Cf. the obscuring mist at 2.2.222.
offended vexed, annoyed (OED v. 5b); or attacked or assailed (OED 6a), emphasizing the sun’s beneficent intervention (note benefit, 90)
90 wished wished for
91 discovered discoverèd
92 amain at full speed (OED adv. 2)
93 With his deictic that and this, Egeon enters imaginatively into his retelling of the providential rescue, intensifying his collapse in the next line.
Epidaurus probably the Epidaurus on the coast of the eastern Adriatic, rather than the southern Epidaurus on the Aegean near Corinth in the Peloponnese; see LN, nn. 1, 2. If the ship cited by Egeon were travelling from Aegean Epidaurus, then it would be coming from the same direction as that from Corinth, whereas Egeon’s that and this imply different directions. Geographical exactitude, however, is not essential.
94 came–… more Egeon breaks off (rhetorical aposiopesis), overcome as he re-experiences his sorrow, confirming his inability ‘to speak my griefs unspeakable’ (32); see 31–2n. His change in sentence form exemplifies rhetorical anacoluthon.
O a ‘crypto-direction’, not so much a specific word or sound as a signal to the actor ‘to sigh, groan, gasp, roar, weep’ or ‘make whatever noise was locally appropriate’ (Honigmann, 123)
95 sequel after-consequence (OED n. 3)
that that which; cf. TGV 2.4.10.
96 old man The Duke’s address has become more personal, as opposed to ‘Merchant of Syracusa’ (3).
93 Epidaurus] F2; Epidarus F 94 came–O,] Rowe3 subst.; came, oh F
97 pity … pardon Shakespeare adopts a rhetorical technique–two words paralleled alliteratively and grammatically (rhetorical isocolon) but contrasted in meaning–made popular by Lyly; for similar examples, see 106, 108, 124, 128. The Duke’s pity provides a model for emotional response to Egeon’s story and explains his desire to hear the rest of the narrative.
98 2had would have (see Blake, 4.3.6)
99 Worthily deservedly, justly (OED adv. 3)
100 ere … leagues i.e. before the two ships could intersect with us, being a great distance away; twice five leagues is best taken poetically, since it is about 30 miles; on leagues, see 62n.
five This number recurs in CE regarding distance, time and amount, helping subtly to link aspects of the play. See 132; 1.2.26 and n., on five o’clock; 4.1.10; 4.4.13; 5.1.118. See also 27n., on evening sun.
101 encountered assailed, confronted
102 *borne upon thrust or pushed against (OED bear v.1 III).
103 helpful ship i.e. the floating mast to which they clung, helpful because it saved their lives
splitted a common form; the word splits the line metrically; cf. 5.1.308 and n.; 2H6 3.2.411.
104 unjust recalling merciless at 99
106 See 97n.
107 as as if
burdened burdenèd; recalling 55, but here the burden of woe
108 See 97n.; lesser weight because the wife weighs less than Egeon
111 of Corinth presumably the ship from Corinth sighted in 93
112 another ship the second ship, coming from Epidaurus
seized on taken possession of by force (OED seize v. 9a, 6a). Hints of aggression also occur in reft and prey (115). If the survivors had to pay for their rescue (see 113n.), their saviours would be only a little removed from pirates. In Shakespeare’s time, piracy, kidnapping and prisoner-taking were common in the Mediterranean, where Spaniard vied with Englishman, and Turk with Christian.
102 upon] Pope; vp F; up upon F2 103 helpful] (helpefull); helpless Rowe; hopeful Hudson2 (Jervis)
113 knowing … save i.e. knowing that they had luckily saved a wealthy merchant capable of rewarding them; on hap- words, see 37n.
114 healthful health-giving
115 reft … prey The Epidaurian sailors would have ‘robbed’ (OED reave v.1 1) the Corinthians of their prey, Egeon’s wife and children; alternatively, reft may mean ‘rescued’ (OED 6b); cf. Reft at 128. Cf. 2.1.40 and n.
116 *bark a small sailing vessel; sometimes applied to a Spanish fishing ship common in the Mediterranean (OED n.2); see also 3.2.155; 4.1.85, 99; 4.3.39. The image of the adventurous sea-tossed bark appears in RJ 3.5.130–7, MV 2.6.14–19.
118 heard … bliss ‘heard how I was cut off from my happiness’, but heard me severed may recall Egeon’s threatened execution.
bliss supreme delight; heavenly joy (OED n. 2a, b), a powerful emotional expression about one’s family that anticipates the play’s ending
119 That ‘so that’ or ‘such that’
misfortunes See 34n.
120 anticipating Richard’s desire to ‘tell sad stories of the death of kings’ (R2 3.2.156; see Forker, 3.2.156 LN). Egeon’s spared life now consists of retelling, Ancient Mariner-like, the pitiful tale of his misadventures; cf. e.g. 3H6 1.4.160, RJ 5.3.309.
mishaps sufferings of misfortune (OED n. 3); cf. mishap (141); on hap- words, see 37n.; mishap(s) and Hapless (140) apply in CE exclusively to Egeon.
122 dilate ‘relate, describe, or set forth at length; enlarge or expatiate upon’ (OED v.2 4). In Shakespeare, dilate connotes delay, deferral and protraction of time (OED v.1).
123 What … of ‘what has become of’ (see OED befall v. 6b), i.e. what things have happened to. What takes a plural verb because it refers to the fates of several people.
114 shipwrecked] (ship-wrackt) 116 bark] F2; backe F 121 sake] sakes F2 123 have] hath F2 thee] F2; they F
124 See 97n.
youngest boy Cf. 78, where the younger twin is assigned to the care of the wife; youngest rather than ‘younger’ presumably to parallel the emphatic eldest.
care See 42 and n.
125 inquisitive Cf. 1.2.38 and n., on Unseen, inquisitive.
126 importuned perhaps importunèd; solicited pressingly and persistently (OED v. 3)
127 attendant i.e. Dromio of Syracuse. On the Dromios’ status, cf. villain (1.2.19 and n., 96), servants (4.1.113) and slave (1.2.87 and n., on slave).
so … like ‘so much was his situation like mine’. F2 emends so to ‘for’, but Blake notes that so commonly occurred as a conjunction in clauses of comparison (5.3.2.9[a]; see also OED so adv. 9).
128 See 97n.
Reft robbed, deprived; see 115 and n.
retained his name The remaining brother memorializes the lost brother by taking his name, as in Men. (Prologue, 41–3).
129 company probably comp’ny
130 Whom i.e. the son lost with
the wife
I … love i.e. I was troubled [or burdened] from my love (OED labour v. 15). Egeon’s loving desire to see his long-lost son was a physical pain or burden suggestive of childbirth; cf. 45–6; 5.1.400–6. Shakespeare’s male characters sometimes express emotion in terms of maternal feelings; see e.g. WT 4.4.666–7; also cf. Sidney, A&S, 1.12.
130–1 love … loved rhetorical polyptoton (see 38n., on hap)
131 whom i.e. the remaining son
132–4 This speech is adapted from Plautus’ Men., where the slave Messenio announces that for six years Sosicles Menaechmus and he have searched for the stolen brother: ‘We’ve sailed round the people near the Danube, the Spaniards, the people of Marseille, the Illyrians, the entire Adriatic, Sicily, and all Italian shores, wherever the sea reaches’ (Men., 235–8). In CE, by contrast, Egeon’s travels couple farthest Greece with Asia, where Ephesus is located, as opposed to Men.’s itinerary of Adriatic and western Mediterranean coastlines; farthest Greece recalls Messenio’s ‘Graeciamque exoticam’ (236; translated by de Melo as ‘Sicily’ but literally ‘and foreign Greece’). ‘Graecia exotica’ referred to classical Greek settlements in southern Italy; in Warner’s translation, the phrase becomes ‘all high Greece’ (17).
132 Five summers i.e. five years, a synecdoche; on Five, see 100n., on five; 5.1.309 and n.
127 so] for F2
133 clean entirely (OED adv. 5c); cf. JC 1.3.35; perhaps recalling ‘omnis’ in ‘orasque Italicas omnis’ (‘and all Italian shores’) (Men., 237).
bounds ‘territory situated on or near a boundary’ (OED bound n.1 3a); Egeon has roamed Asia’s coastal areas. Cf. bound at 2.1.17 and AYL 3.5.107. See also 81n.
Asia trisyllabic (‘Asïa’), as in Tamburlaine’s famous line ‘Holla, ye pampered jades of Asia!’ (Marlowe, 2 Tamburlaine, 4.3.1) and Pistol’s garbled memory of it, ‘And hollow pamper’d jades of Asia’ (2H4 2.4.164)
134 The line recalls the Apostle Paul’s arrival at Ephesus: ‘Paul passed through the vpper coastes, and came to Ephesus’ (Acts, 19.1). Paul’s ministry took him throughout Asia Minor. In Twine’s The Pattern of Painful Adventures (1594), Apollonius of Tyre instructs his captain to ‘coast towards Ephesus’ (sig. K2v).
coasting Where possible, ships generally travelled by going from coastal city to coastal city, keeping land in sight; cf. LLL 5.2.554. One could not coast, however, from Ephesus to Syracuse in Sicily.
135 Hopeless See 151n.
unsought unexplored (OED adj. 3)
136 Or … or either … or; a familiar Elizabethan usage (Blake, 5.3.1.c), recalling Latin’s aut … aut (see e.g. Men., 211, 373); cf. 4.2.4, 5.1.84.
1that i.e. Ephesus
harbours accommodates (cf. KJ 2.1.262); evoking coastal cities as ports full of itinerant travellers
137 the story … life Cf. Oth 1.3.129, Tem 5.1.305.
138 timely seasonable, well-timed
139 travels punning on ‘travails’ and connoting both journeys and hardships; cf. travel at 1.2.15. ‘Travail’ often takes the place of ME ‘travel’ in 16th-century travel-book titles.
warrant assure (OED v. 5); cf. 4.4.3 and n., on warrant thee as.
140 Hapless unfortunate (OED adj.); on hap- words, see 37n.
Egeon See List of Roles, 1n. That the merchant’s name first occurs here suggests that the Duke now sees him in personal terms; it recurs similarly at 5.1.337 (see n.).
141 extremity extreme degree (OED n. 3); also extreme penalty (OED 3b)
mishap misfortune (OED n. 1); cf. mishaps (120); on hap- words, see 37n.
142–5 The Duke’s compassion conflicts with his sworn promise to uphold a rigorous law, as happens with dukes in other Shakespearean comedies, such as MND, MV and MM. See 5.1.390 and n.
143 dignity high office (Ard2)
144 would they ‘even if they wished to’
disannul ‘cancel’, ‘bring to nothing’, ‘annul’ (OED v. 1), applied comprehensively and not only to laws (142). Theobald relineated 143–4.
145 sue plead (OED v. 10); a legal term, like advocate
146 adjudged adjudgèd; sentenced
147 passed passèd
148 our making clear that the Duke speaks from his official position; cf. I (149).
disparagement ‘dishonour’, ‘disgrace’ (OED n. 2)
150 Therefore, merchant The two trochaic feet here mark the Duke’s climactic ‘transition from comment to decision’ (Ard2). The formal merchant now replaces the familiar Egeon (140).
limit appoint (OED v. 1a)
151 *hope emended from F’s ‘helpe’ to avoid circularity: to seek ‘help’ by means of help. Collier2’s hope squares with the dialogue; the original ‘helpe’ may have occurred because of metathesis from its second occurrence in the line. Egeon had declared himself Hopeless to find his son at 135; thus, the Duke’s To seek thy hope addresses Egeon’s near-despair in a like image of searching. The Duke’s hope cues Egeon’s subsequent demurral, Hopeless and helpless (157). In 151, hope refers not to a feeling of expectation but to the thing hoped for (OED n.1 4c); that is, the ransom money (cf. ‘But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me’, Son 143.11).
152 friends See 5.1.284n., on friend.
154 If no ‘if you are unsuccessful’; or ‘if you do not’. In EM English, ‘no’ could replace ‘not’ as an adverb of negation (Blake, 5.1.3.6 [ii]).
155 The thrust of this nine-syllable line is trochaic (technically, trochaic pentameter catalectic), creating a tone of aggressive finality (Shakespeare uses catalectic forms elsewhere, such as in MND, Mac). Cf. 150 and n., on Therefore, merchant. Alternatively, with a pause after Jailer, the line becomes regular; a missing unstressed syllable following a caesura (creating a short foot) is a familiar variant within the blank verse form (Wright, Metrical, 102). Although some editors have added one-syllable words before or after Jailer (see t.n.), no correction is necessary.
143, 144] lines transposed in Theobald 151 hope] Collier2 (Collier, Notes); helpe F; life Rowe3; fine Singer2; pelf Ard1; health Cam1 154 no] not Rowe 155 Jailer,] Jailer, now Hanmer; So, jailer, Capell; Jailer, go Ard (anon., per Cam) custody.] custody. Exeunt Duke, and Train. / Theobald
157 Hopeless and helpless The opening trochee and the alliteration and rhetorical antisthecon (Hopeless/helpless) lend emphasis and resonance. For helpless, cf. 2.1.39 and n.
Egeon The third-person reference adds detachment to Egeon’s resignation.
157–8 wend … end Egeon completes this blank verse scene with a rhyming couplet, a common practice in Shakespeare. Here wend/end recapitulates the themes of wandering and loss. Shakespearean comedies often begin in melancholy (see e.g. MV, TN, AW). Anglo-Saxon wend means ‘to go off, depart’ (OED v.1 10), but it also suggests altering or reversing direction (OED 1, 6). With its archaic and formal tone, wend occurs elsewhere in Shakespeare only twice (MND 3.2.372, MM 4.3.145).
158 procrastinate postpone; Shakespeare’s only use of this word
lifeless end i.e. his end in lifelessness
1.2 The setting is the Ephesian mart, as indicated by from the mart (74; also at 2.1.5, 2.2.6; see also at the mart, 3.1.12).
0.1 *ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE See List of Roles, 3n.
0.1–2 *First Merchant See List of Roles, 11n.
1 Epidamium See 1.1.41n. The mention of Epidamium links this scene to the previous one, and the Merchant’s speech recalls that scene’s action.
2 goods too soon with too probably referring adverbally to goods, i.e. ‘also’; but cf. too soon at 1.1.60, one of the scene’s numerous verbal echoes with the first.
confiscate cònfiscàte; confiscated; cf. goods confiscate (1.1.20 and n.), with different stress.
3–7 The Merchant’s strange awareness of the first scene’s events evokes both the pressure and plasticity of time in CE.
4 for arrival because it is a cri
me for any Syracusan born (1.1.18) to enter Ephesus (see 1.1.11–22), although Antipholus is not precisely Syracusan born
156] verse as Wells 157 Egeon] F2; Egean F 1.2] Pope (SCENE II.) 0.1 ANTIPHOLUS] (Antipholis), Malone OF SYRACUSE] Rowe; Erotes F 0.1–2 First Merchant] Dyce; a Marchant F; a Merchant of Ephesus Kittredge 0.2 OF SYRACUSE] Capell subst. 1+ SP] Dyce; Mer., E.Mar. F; 1. E. Mer. Riv 1 Epidamium] Epidamnium / Rowe; Epidamnum / Pope; Epidamnus Oxf1 3 Syracusan] Pope; Syracusian F 4 arrival] F2 (arrivall); a riuall F
*arrival F’s splitting of a-words (here ‘a riuall’) is ‘not uncommon’ (Ard2); cf. F’s ‘A lots’ for ‘Allots’ (TS 4.5.41).
5 buy out ransom, redeem (OED buy v. 8a)
7 weary sun recalling the time appointed for Egeon’s execution (see 1.1.27 and n., on evening sun; 150); one of the scene’s several time references. The sun’s personification as weary recollects Egeon’s age and world-weariness (see also 1.1.26–7; cf. R3 5.3.19, KJ 5.4.35); weary also occurs at 15.
8 your money The Merchant hands Antipholus’ money back to him implicitly as protection in case of arrest, thereby displaying a possible means for Egeon’s redemption; see 5.1.389 and n. That the Merchant held Antipholus’ funds goes unexplained, although his costume may include a secure-looking pouch. The visual emphasis on money prepares for Antipholus’ concern about it later in the scene; money occurs 26 times in CE (Oxf1), the most in any Shakespearean play. The incident reflects Men., where, shortly after arriving, Sosicles Menaechmus demands the wallet of money from his servant, Messenio (265–72).
9 Go, bear Cf. Men., 385–6, 435–6.
the Centaur an inn, identifiable by its sign of a centaur (a Greek mythological creature having a man’s head, arms and trunk but a horse’s body and legs); no contemporary London inn so-named has been discovered. The name recurs at 2.2.2, 5.1.410. Centaur suggests a being either uniting opposites or caught between two natures (traditionally the civil and appetitive). In Ovid’s Met., drunken centaurs try to abduct the bride at a wedding feast, provoking a bloody battle (12.209–26), an event to which Shakespeare alludes in Tit 5.2.203, MND 5.1.44. The Centaur offers the first of several animal-named places: the Phoenix (75), the Tiger (3.1.95) and the Porpentine (3.1.116). Phoenix and Tiger recur as ships’ names in TN.
The Comedy of Errors Page 28