The Comedy of Errors
Page 30
merry See 21n., on merry jests.
80 ‘which [i.e. your head] insists on practising tricks when I am not in the mood’; stands on means ‘insists on doing’ (OED stand v. Phrasal verbs ‘to stand on’ 1); and undisposed, ‘not inclined or willing’ (OED undisposed adj. 6), with an historical (if not etymological) association with ‘disposition’ as humour (OED disposition n. 7b). Cf. dispose at 1.1.20.
81 thousand marks the same amount as Egeon’s ransom; see 1.1.21 and n., on a thousand marks.
82–4 marks bruises; see 65n.
82 pate See 65n.
85–6 hinting at resentment and aggression. Dromio’s shift from subjunctive (should) to declarative (will) adds imminence to his implied threat. Cf. Ephesian Dromio at 3.1.15–18, 4.4.30–40.
85 pay i.e. repay by beating (OED v.1 12c), punning on the idea that servants’ wages are paid in bruises
86 patiently perhaps recalling 51–2. The motif of patience and impatience occurs repeatedly in CE, especially in relation to Adriana and Ephesian Antipholus; see 2.1.9, 32, 34–41, 85; 3.1.94; 4.2.16; 4.4.18–19; 5.1.87–8, 102, 174; and related nn.
87 2mistress While Dromio means the female head of household (OED n. 2a), Antipholus understands ‘female sweetheart’ (OED 6a)–or worse (see OED 7). In Men. (265–71), Sosicles Menaechmus reclaims his wallet from Messenio because he fears that Messenio, as ‘a great lover of the ladies’ (269), will be delinquent with the money.
slave a harsh epithet; it recurs at 104; 2.1.1, 74, 77; 2.2.2, 175; 4.1.96, 107; 5.1.242. Cf. 1.1.127n., on attendant.
87 ‘mistress’ marks’] this edn; Mistris markes F What ‘mistress’] this edn; what Mistris F
89, 90 home to dinner rhetorical antistrophe, the repetition of a word or phrase at the ends of successive lines, here underlining the action that Dromio encourages
90 prays Cf. 51 and n.
hie hasten, go quickly (OED v.1 2a); also at 3.2.152, 4.3.93, 4.4.57
91 flout ‘mock, jeer, insult’ (OED v. 1)
92 SD Cf. Dromio’s ‘you beat me at the mart’ (3.1.12). The Elizabethan ‘Homily on Matrimony’ insists that it is ‘a great shame for a man to beat his bondservant’ (Homilies, 544).
93–4 hold … heels Dromio’s take my heels for ‘run off’ is colloquial (see Dent, H394). Its paralleling with hold your hands constitutes rhetorical isocolon (successive phrases of similar length and structure) and marks the climax of the episode. Antipholus apparently beats with both hands.
95 device trick (see OED n. 6), often signifying the kind of ingenious scheme typical in comedy (see e.g. TGV 2.1.139, TS 1.1.193)
96 mirroring Sosicles Menaechmus’ fear; see Men., 265–9.
villain repeated from 19 but now in earnest. Antipholus will review this episode at 2.2.17–19. See 1.1.127n., on attendant.
*o’er-raught i.e. overreached; outwitted, cheated (OED overreach v. 5b); raught or ‘wrought’ (as in F) are archaic past participles of ‘reach’ (OED reach v.1 form 2a). Spenser uses ‘ouerreach’ to describe a fiendish spirit outwitting a human (FQ, 4.2.10; cited in OED), as Antipholus may imagine here.
92 SD] Capell subst. (after you) 93 God’s] Theobald2; God F 94 an] (and) SD] F2; Exeunt Dromio Ep. F 96 o’er-raught] Hanmer; ore-wrought F; o’re wrought F4
97–102 Shakespeare’s catalogue emphasizes witchcraft and charlatanism. By contrast, Men.’s Messenio highlights ‘hedonists and drinkers’, ‘impostors and cajolers’ and ‘prostitutes’ (258–64). Warner translates, ‘full of Ribaulds, Parasites, Drunkards, Catchpoles, Cony-catchers, and Sycophants’, as well as ‘Curtizans’ (17). Antipholus’ anxiety moves him to imagine, in an extended fantasia, a profusion of threatening agents (rhetorical amplificatio). A similar rhetorical manner typifies Ephesian Dromio’s catalogue (44–8), so that the two speeches establish Ephesus as a place of the most normal domesticity and, contradictorily, the most dangerous deception and witchcraft. Antipholus feels threatened here; later he will welcome transformation by the presumed goddess Luciana; see 3.2.39–40 and n. On Ephesian transformation, cf. 2.2.201–8. On error in judgement, see 2.2.190 and n.
97 this town perhaps with a meta-dramatic reference to Elizabethan London. On Ephesian magic.
cozenage cheating, deception or fraud (OED n. a); cf. MW 4.5.63, Ham 5.2.67. Cozenage was a main theme of Robert Greene’s London cony-catching pamphlets in the early 1590s, e.g. A Notable Discovery of Cozenage (1591); see Kinney, Rogues.
98 As such as
98–100 nimble … body rhetorical isocolon; see 93–4n. Here the parallelisms suggest a self-perpetuating rhythm of thought.
98 nimble jugglers evoking criminal deception, foolery, magic, demonism, papistry and more. ‘Juggler’ often meant a cheater (cozener), magician or illusionist (OED n. 2). A juggler, being nimble in sleight-of-hand, might cozen money or goods from a gull by physical deception. More darkly, ‘juggler’ denoted a magician, wizard, sorcerer or conjuror (OED 2); cf. the juggler and conjuror Doctor Pinch (5.1.240, 243). Protestant reformers applied ‘juggling’ derogatorily to the Catholic Mass and other Catholic practices, and ‘juggler’ was a demeaning term for a Catholic priest. The word ‘juggler’ could also denote an entertainer employing buffoonery or tricks (OED 1); Elizabethan actors used juggling deceptions to create realistic effects. On ‘juggler’ and ‘juggling’, see Caputo; Axton, 18–20; Butterworth, 3–4, 7–25; White, 126–8.
99 Dark-working (1) invoking the powers of darkness; (2) darkening (i.e. clouding or confusing) the mind; and perhaps (3) working in the dark (Steevens4). In The Discovery of Witchcraft, Scot calls attention to witchcraft’s capacity to alter human judgements and emotions (Scot, 6; see also Malleus Maleficarum, 99). According to the Malleus Maleficarum, the devil ‘can incite the fancy and inner sensory perceptions of a man by apparitions and impulsive actions’ (50). The Malleus also describes how the devil can ‘darken’ one’s ‘understanding’ (55); cf. Sidney, A&S, Fifth song, 77–8.
100 Soul-killing exaggerates the hypothetical power of witches. Scot acknowledges the somewhat more limited belief that witches can ‘bring trembling to the hands’, ‘kill whom they list with lightening and thunder’, ‘make a woman miscarrie’, ‘with their looks kill either man or beast’ and ‘deprive men of their privities’ (6). On deform, cf. 4.2.19, 5.1.299. The term ‘witch’ is applicable to either sex (OED n.1, n.2); cf. 3.2.161 and n.; 4.4.148, 157 and n.
97 cozenage–] this edn; cosenage: F 99 Dark-working] (Darke working); Drug-working Warburton; Soul-killing (Johnson) 100 Soul-killing] Soul-selling Hanmer; Dark-working (Johnson)
101 Disguised disguisèd
prating chattering (OED prate v. 2a); cf. 2.1.80, 2.2.199.
mountebanks charlatans who sold medicines in public places, often using entertainment to attract a crowd (OED n. 1a); from the Italian monta in banco, ‘climb on a bench’; recurring at 5.1.239. See also Jonson, Volpone, 2.2.
102 *such–like liberties The dash, editorially introduced, signals that Antipholus breaks off his catalogue of cozeners at such and shifts his thought to a comparison of this town (97) to sinful liberties. Editors have typically accepted either ‘such-like liberties’ (with liberties referring to sinful activities) or ‘such-like libertines’; see LN. A ‘liberty’ was ‘an area of local administration distinct from neighbouring territory and possessing a degree of independence’ (OED liberty n.1 6c(a)). Thus, a London precinct established as a liberty might permit ‘sinful’ bawdy houses or playhouses while remaining immune from the city’s legal sanction (see e.g. Mullaney, 20–5). As with this town, liberties may refer metadramatically to Elizabethan London. Cf. liberty at 2.1.7, 10, 15; 4.3.20; 5.1.53, 340.
104 I’ll to ‘I’ll go to’. ‘Omission of a verb of motion [e.g. ‘go’] may occur after modal auxiliaries, especially will or shall’ (Blake, 6.3.2.3); cf. 3H6 4.3.3.
the Centaur See 9n., on the Centaur.
2.1 Pope places this scene inside Antipholus’ house; White, in an inner courtyard; and Dyce, in front of the home.
0.1 *Antipholus of Ephesus See List of Roles, 4n.
1 slave used derisively, as at 1.2.87 (see n., on slave); for a parallel missing slave, cf. 2.2.2.
3 two o’clock another time marker; cf. twelve and one (1.2.45 and n., on twelve … bell; 1.2.46 and n.).
5 mart See 1.2n.
102 such–like] this edn; such like F; such-like Dyce liberties] libertines Hanmer 2.1] Rowe (ACT II. SCENE I.); Actus Secundus. F 0.1 Antipholus] (Antipholis), Verplanck (after Malone) of Ephesus] Collier; Sereptus F 1+ SP] (Adr., Adri., Ad.) 2 master?] Master: F4; master! Pope 4+ SP] (Luc., Luci.)
7–25 reflecting Ephesians, 5.22: ‘Wyues, submit your selues vnto your owne husbandes, as vnto the Lorde’ (see 5.22–4) (Ard2). At 3.2.5–28 (see n.), Luciana takes a more deceptive approach to marriage.
7 The line sounds proverbial, but no match has been found; cf. Dent, A88; Tilley, M474 (Ard2).
man In EM English, man could act as a plural when used as an indefinite pronoun to form part of a universal truth: ‘man … their’ (7–8) and ‘Man … Are’ (20–4); see Blake, 3.3.2.7, 6.1.14.
liberty unrestrained freedom to act (OED n.1 2a); cf. liberties, 1.2.102 and n. On liberty, see 7–25 and n.; 10 and n., on liberty; 4.3.20 and n.; 5.1.53, 340.
8–9 Time … come ‘Time governs men, who, when faced with its demands, will go or come accordingly’. Luciana’s see time may mean (1) encounter or accompany time (OED see v. 12a); cf. MW 4.6.36; or (2) apprehend time mentally (OED 3a). The thought flows awkwardly in 7–9 (Wells), where man is first master of his liberty but then a subject of time. In Trevor Nunn’s 1976 production, Luciana carried a large book, apparently of proverbs, from which she read these lines.
9 patient The Abbess will later repeat Luciana’s imperative to Adriana; see 5.1.102 and n.; the Officer will similarly counsel Ephesian Antipholus (see 4.4.18 and n.). On patience and impatience, see 1.2.86n.
10–41 Adriana and Luciana engage in a verbal duel by stichomythia, i.e. alternating, combative single lines, here with competing end-rhymes and mixed with longer homiletic speeches; see also 85–115, 3.2.53–60, 4.4.69–80, 5.1.58–61 and related nn.. The style probably derives from Lyly’s Euphues (Ard2) and illustrates the play’s penchant for alternative ‘double-truths’ (Cam2). Ephesian Dromio, entering (at 42.1), disrupts the pattern with his punning, colloquial prose and irregular verse.
10 liberty probably not just freedom of movement (cf. 7) but entitlement to move freely (see OED n.1 3a, 2c); liberty can denote ‘improper licence’ (Crystal & Crystal, n. 1) (see e.g. 1H4 5.2.71), similar to the Abbess’s use at 5.1.53; cf. 1.2.102 and n.
more greater (Blake, 3.2.3.4)
11 still continually, always (OED adv. 3a); cf. 4.4.45, 157; 5.1.67, 386.
out o’door outside (OED door n. 5); ‘away from home’. Cf. ‘God hath made the man to travaile abroade, and the woman to keepe home … for the mans pleasure is most abroade, and the womans within’ (Smith, Marriage, sig. E2r, 55).
12 serve him so ‘treat him in the same way’, i.e. by going out o’door (11), presumably unattended; serve may imply sarcasm (see OED serve v.1 8a).
*ill F2’s ill corrects F’s ‘thus’; the rhyme pattern suggests a compositor’s mistake.
8 master] mistress Oxf 11 o’door] (adore) 12 ill] F2; thus F
13 bridle curb or restraint, referring to the headgear with bit and rein used to control horses or similar animals (see OED n. 1, 2); a Renaissance iconographic symbol of restraint, temperance or control over the will or passions (see Whitney, 6, ‘Temeritas’). A ‘scold’s bridle’ was used in some parts of England for the public punishment of talkative or scolding women (see Boose, esp. 196–213). It consisted of a cage placed over the head, with a flat metal piece that projected backwards into the mouth to repress the tongue.
14 asses Adriana refuses to be made into a beast of burden; such transformational possibilities will occur elsewhere, however; see 2.2.205 and n.
15–25 Luciana’s homology of man’s dominion over animals and women defends hierarchy as producing restraint and, by implication, harmony. It draws on the Bible and other religious writings; see LN. This set-piece peroration features couplets, alliterations (liberty/lashed; fishes/fowls, etc.), near-rhymes (wide/wild), personification and balanced phrasing (e.g. ‘in earth, in sea, in sky’). The alliterated likening of females (24) to fish and fowls may lightly undercut the florid argument. Luciana’s bookishness establishes an identity from which she can develop. Cf. Katherine’s speech, TS 5.2.136–79.
15 liberty Cf. 1.2.102 and n.
lashed scourged (as with a whip), so that liberty will be punished by woe (OED v.1 6); cf. KL 4.6.161, ‘those who refuse the bridle must bear the lash’ (Steevens); Luciana accuses Adriana of behaving as a beast. Although lashed suggests ‘castigated in words’ (OED 6c, first citation), Ephesian Antipholus will later procure a rope in order to beat (‘lash’) Adriana; see 4.1.15–18 and n.
16 situate situated; probably pronounced as two syllables
heaven’s eye the sun, but connoting divine ordination. The personification (as with liberty and woe) reinforces the speech’s sententiousness.
17 his bound its boundary, limit; pertaining here to action more than geography (see OED bound n.1 4); cf. 1.1.133 and n., on bounds.
18–19 i.e. female beasts, fish and fowls are under the sovereign control of the males of their species
18 fishes Shakespeare uses ‘fish’ or ‘fishes’ depending on his metrical needs (Hope, 1.3.1).
winged wingèd
18–19 fowls … controls a rhyme (Kökeritz, 422; Cercignani, 225)
19 at their controls under their command (OED control n. 1a, first citation); a unique Shakespearean use of the plural noun controls. Cf. TN 2.5.66.
20 Man as in 7; Man turns plural in 24 as the complement of Are masters (see 7n., on man). Genesis uses man similarly: God says, ‘let us make man … and let them rule’ (1.26, emphasis added).
21 wild watery seas The extra-biblical emphasis on man’s mastery of the seas extends the play’s water imagery. Luciana sounds naïve, since Egeon’s tale has illustrated the opposite of such mastery.
watery wat’ry
22 with intellectual modifying both sense and souls, which establish the capacity to understand (OED adj. 3a). For Aristotle, humans are endowed–i.e. Indued (OED endue/indue v. 9; F’s spelling retains assonance)–with a rational soul, in addition to the sensitive soul of animals and the nutritive soul of plants. Luciana’s speech locates human attributes specifically in males. It reflects the Elizabethan ‘Homily on Matrimony’, which states that a female, compared to a male, is ‘not endued with like strength and constancy of mind’ (Homilies, 537). For intellectual, cf. H5 3.7.138.
22–3 souls … fowls a rhyme (Kökeritz, 482)
23 more pre-eminence higher rank
25 attend … accords ‘be subject to their consent’; accords implies that male hegemony produces harmony (see OED accord n. 1a; the plural noun occurs uniquely here in Shakespeare).
26 servitude i.e. theory of servitude
keep remain (OED v. 39b)
27 Luciana glances at the sexual strife between Adriana and her husband. Folg2 compares 1 Corinthians, 7.28: those who marry ‘shall haue trouble in their fleshe’.
29 The 1559 BCP puts obedience before love: ‘wilte thou obey hym and serue him, loue, honour, and keepe him, in sickenesse and in health … ?’ (sig. O6r).
30 start some otherwhere fly off in another direction (Crystal & Crystal, start v. 4), i.e. turn unfaithful with another woman; start implies an abrupt swerving away, as a horse ‘starts’ off course (Ard2), continuing the animal imagery. Further, start can mean ‘desert one’
s place’ (OED v. 4c); also, perhaps unintentionally, ‘escape’ (OED v. 14); otherwhere = elsewhere (OED adv. 1); cf. 103.
20–3 Man … master … Lord … souls … fowls] Man … Master … Lord … soule … fowle F2; Men … masters … Lords … soul … fowl Hanmer; Men … masters … Lord … souls … fowls Steevens; Men … masters … Lords … souls … fowls Steevens2 21 wild] wide F2
31 forbear control myself, have patience (Crystal & Crystal, v. 3)
32 Patience unmoved Patience, personified, is emotionally unperturbed. For unmoved, see also Son 94.4. Cf. Viola: ‘Patience on a monument, / Smiling at grief’ (TN 2.4.114–15). On patience, see 1.2.86n.
32–3 unmoved!–… cause.–Here she (32) indicates that Adriana turns her address away from her sister and probably towards the audience (Wells); the dashes (32, 34) are editorially introduced.
32 No … pause i.e. it is not to be wondered at that she hesitates (before marrying).
33 ‘They can be meek who have no cause to act differently’; meek means humble and submissive (OED adj. 2); and cause, ground or reason for action (OED n. 3). Adriana’s other recollects her otherwhere at 30; the other cause is the ‘other woman’.
34–41 The idea that humans can be indifferent to suffering until they experience it themselves is proverbial: see Dent, A124 (Ard2). It occurs elsewhere in Shakespeare, e.g. ‘He jests at scars that never felt a wound’ (RJ 2.2.1); cf. MA 5.1.20–3, Oth 1.3.212–15. The image of a soul crying (34–5) may recall the weeping narrated by Egeon (1.1.70–2).
34–5 adversity … cry a rhyme (Kökeritz, 401)
36 burdened See 1.1.55n.
38 unkind Besides the obvious, unkind could also mean ‘ungrateful’ (OED adj. 3a; cf. AYL 2.7.175); ‘undutiful’ (OED 3b; cf. KL 3.4.71); and ‘unnatural’ (OED 4; cf. Tit 5.3.48), all of which might pertain.
39 helpless unavailing, not helpful (OED adj. 3); cf. 1.1.157; also R3 1.2.13, Luc 1027.