90 ‘She has exposed me to my own self-censure’; betray means give up or expose to punishment (OED v. 1b, first citation) (see also MW 3.3.195); reproof means censure, rebuke (OED n. 1a). Adriana speaks either to Luciana or to herself. Her speech marks a self-awareness beyond that of the other characters.
94 Neither reinforcing the Abbess’ previous No (92) (OED adv. 3b, first citation as intensifier); see also 302 and n.
took See 36n.
sanctuary In Shakespeare’s England, a fugitive from secular justice or debt could take refuge (sanctuary) in a church or other holy place and be immune from arrest (see OED n.1 6a). This vestigial medieval practice was abolished by Parliament in the 17th century.
95 privilege give immunity to (as from civil law) (OED v. 2)
98–9 perhaps recalling the marriage vows in BCP: ‘to haue and to holde, … in sickenesse, and in health’ (sig. O6r; see Shaheen, 117)
89 SD] Johnson subst.
99 Diet treat through healthful food (OED v. 2a)
office duty (as a wife); see 3.1.44 and n. Adriana fulfils her office although her husband has forgotten his (see 3.2.2 and n.).
100 attorney substitute, agent (OED n.1 1)
101 have bring (OED v. 16a)
102–7 The Abbess ‘claims genuine healing skills, a practical extension of her religious vocation’, in contrast to Doctor Pinch’s ‘sham occult powers’ (Oxf1); see 4.4.55–8 and n. In RJ, Friar Lawrence extols the medicinal virtue and ‘powerful grace that lies / In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities’ (2.3.15–16).
102 Be patient suggesting that Adriana has spoken heatedly in 98–101 (cf. 87–8n.; see also 174 and n., on patience); the Abbess repeats Luciana’s phrase from 2.1.9 (see n.); on patience, see 1.2.86 and n.
103 approved proven, tried (OED adj. 1a); perhaps pronounced ‘th’approvèd’
105 formal normal in intellect, sane (OED adj. 4c, only citation). Cf. ‘this is evident to any formal capacity’, TN 2.5.117 (Ard1); also AC 2.5.41.
106 branch and parcel ‘part and parcel’; branch = part (OED n. 2a); the synonyms increase emphasis.
oath i.e. as a nun
106–7 mine … my See 1.1.33n.
107 order i.e. the religious society of nuns to which she belongs (see OED n. 5a)
109 will not with ‘go’ implied (Abbott, 41)
110–11 In BCP, one reason that a couple is ‘ioyned’ in marriage is for their ‘mutuall societie, helpe and comforte’ (sig. O5v). ‘Those whome God hath ioyned together, let no man putte a sunder’ (sig. O6v): thus, for a member of a religious order to separate (111) husband and wife would be ill-fitting.
110 your holiness used either to indicate spiritual quality (OED holiness n. 1) or as an address to a high ecclesiastical official (OED 2), perhaps here ironically
112 SD] Hanmer
114 Come, go see 4.4.41n.
115 tears another association of Adriana with crying; see 2.1.114 and n.
116 his grace i.e. the Duke; a title of respect for one of noble rank (OED grace n. 8a); cf. your holiness (110); grace recurs at 136.
117 Perhaps after this line Adriana and Luciana step upstage.
118–28 This exchange reintroduces the Egeon family subplot (for the first time since 1.1–2), as the story-lines of long-term romance and one-day farcical misprisions now begin to merge.
118 By this ‘By this time’; perhaps cueing ‘the ringing of the priory bell’ (Cam2)
dial … five The time towards which the lines of action have been climactically heading; see 1.2.26n., on five o’clock. On the convergence of story-lines, see 1.1.27n., on evening sun, and 1.1.100n., on five.
119 Anon soon, shortly; also at 148
120–2 melancholy … here The inspiration may be ‘Holywell Priory, near where Shakespeare lived and worked’ (Ard1, xli). See 37n., on priory, and Appendix 1.
121 death A few editors retain F’s ‘depth’ because it accords with vale (120) and because death and execution seem pleonastic, although the repetition adds rhetorical gravity to the sentiment.
sorry sorrowful
122 ditches trenches probably used for drainage
abbey religious establishment under an abbot or abbess (OED n. 1b), i.e. a nunnery; earlier called a priory: see 37 and n., on priory.
124 reverend See 3.2.88n.; also at 5. The word’s occurrence here and again at 134 enhances the spiritual aura of the last act.
113 SD] Oxf 117 Abbess.] Abbesse. Exeunt. / Enter Merchant and Goldsmith. F2 118, 124 SP] ANGELO Oxf1 118 points] point’s Oxf (McKerrow, per Oxf) 121 death] F3; depth F 123, 128 SP] SECOND MERCHANT Oxf1 124 reverend] (reuerent) Syracusan] Pope; Siracusian F
125 put nautical term for driving a vessel in a certain direction (OED v. 5b)
126 statutes sovereign decrees, as distinct from parliamentary laws
127 offence perhaps ironical, given unluckily (125)
127.1–3 *Relocated here from their position in F after 129; see 2.1.42.1 LN.
127.2 bareheaded conventional for beheading (the SD thus implies that in 1.1 Egeon wore a hat)
*and bound See 294 and n., 1.1.81n.
127.3 Headsman thus carrying an axe or broadsword
129 pass i.e. passes; the subjunctive, with an implied auxiliary: ‘before he should pass the abbey’
130–2 Cf. 1.1.150–4. The Duke reveals implicitly his sympathy for Egeon, anticipating his sparing of Egeon’s life at 390.
130 proclaim The Duke presumably addresses one of his officers (although, effectively, he makes the proclamation himself), whose responding action might be halted by Adriana’s intervention.
132 tender hold dear (OED v.2 3a)
133 Ephesian Antipholus will employ the same form at 190, 197; see also 4.1.83 and n. Such mirroring language follows the pattern of repetition-with-variation.
134 reverend See 124n.
127.1–3 SD] this edn; after 129 F 127.1 Solinus,] Ard2 EGEON] Capell (Rowe subst.) 127.2 bareheaded] F2 subst.; bare head F and bound] Bevington4 133 SD] Oxf1
136 May it perhaps contracted: ‘May’t’
your grace See 116 and n.
137–8 Cf. 198 for a slightly different version of the marriage arrangements; according to each, however, the Duke took a hand in the nuptials, as he confirms at 161–4. See also 3.2.3 and n.
137 Who whom; common in Shakespeare (see Abbott, 274)
138 important importunate, urgent (OED adj. 3); cf. MA 2.1.71, Ham 3.4.108.
ill unlucky, unpropitious (OED adj. 5)
139–40 Cf. 80–1 and n.
139 fit See ‘fits’, 85, and 85–6n.
140–4 Adriana has accepted the fabricated story from the Courtesan that Antipholus broke into her house and snatched away her ring (4.3.93–6). She even enlarges upon the falsehood with the report of Antipholus’ committing public outrage.
140 That so that; ‘so’ before ‘that’ is frequently omitted in Shakespeare (Abbott, 283).
desp’rately with reckless violence (Ard2), with a hint of ‘despair’ (OED adv. 1); cf. 80 and 80–1n.
141 bondman slave (OED n. 2); cf. ‘To make a bondmaid and a slave of me’ (TS 2.1.2); see 288–91 and n.; cf. 4.1.13n.
142 displeasure See 4.4.117n.
144 Rings The Courtesan’s ring has multiplied into Rings in general. On the ring, see 4.1.13.1n.
rage Antipholus’ presumed madness personified, as with fury at 147; on rage, see 4.3.88n.
146 take order for make arrangements for settling (Ard2) (see OED order n. 14a)
148 Anon See 119n.
wot know; first-person present indicative of ‘wit’ (see OED v. 1)
strong performed with muscular strength (OED adj. 1d)
150 with … himself Because ‘with himself’ sounds redundant, the text is sometimes emend
ed. But Adriana’s locution reflects the spontaneity of rushed, emotional speech, as does her grammar elsewhere in these lines.
150 with] here Capell; then Hudson2 (Ritson, per Steevens4) and] mad Hanmer
151 drawn swords See 4.4.144.2 and n.
152 bent on headed towards (OED bent adj. 4), perhaps also connoting ‘determined’ (OED 3). The word bent functions as a participial adjective, i.e. ‘being madly bent on us’; the phrase creates a moment of suspension before the climactic Chased us away (153).
153 of typically used after a participle (Abbott, 178)
156 gates doors; see 2.2.212 and n.
157 suffer allow (OED v. 13a)
158 bear See 35n.
161 SD If Adriana kneels at 133 (see 129), then the Duke might reasonably raise her here.
161 wars perhaps including that with Syracuse; see 1.1.11–12; cf. 192.
163 emphasizing Adriana’s choosing of her marriage partner; cf. 198 and n.; also 3.2.3 and n.
165 Go … you Neither F nor subsequent editions inserts a SD pursuant to this command, presumably because the entrance of the Messenger forestalls any action. At 281, the Duke again orders the Abbess called forth.
167 The Duke suspends the execution march to resolve the domestic dispute: private ‘errors’ now conclusively invade, disrupt and alter Ephesus’s public proceedings.
168 shift depart (OED v. 22a), escape (Wells); cf. Luc 1104.
161 SD] Oxf 168 SP] F2 (Mess.); not in F
169 are In the perfect tense, the auxiliary verb are was used with intransitive verbs (Blake 3.3.7.1); it stands in for have with Beaten and bound in 170; cf. 388.
170–3 For possible allusions, see LN.
170 a-row in a row (Abbott, 24)
171 brands torches, probably of wood from a fireplace (OED n. 2); see 183 and n.
173 puddled mire filthy, muddy water; urine (OED puddle n. 1a, b); household sewage. Although OED records ‘puddle’ as urine first in 1649, Shakespeare employs it elsewhere, e.g. AC 1.4.62; see also 2H6 4.1.71.
174 An alexandrine (unless some syllables are elided, as in Ard2); cf. 208 and n. Compositor B’s abbreviation of master as M r (he spells it out fully at 178) suggests that he was making room for the line’s unusual length (Oxf1).
patience Impatient Antipholus (e.g. 4.4.18–19) sarcastically preaches patience (Ard2); cf. 87–8 and n., 102; on patience and impatience, see 1.2.86n.
175 nicks … fool suggesting with nicks a patchy, indiscriminate clipping that leaves notches (OED v.2 1a). Such nicking might create the effect of the fool’s coxcomb (Folg2). Simon Robson’s The Choice of Change (1585) refers to monks being ‘shaven and notched on the head, like fooles’ (sig. K1v) (Boswell–Malone, quoted from Var.). Alternatively, nicks might suggest that Pinch’s hair, in places, was left as close-cropped as that of a court jester or professional fool (Steevens2).
176 present instant, immediate (OED adj. 9a)
177 conjuror See 243, 4.4.40.2n.
178, 188 here probably spoken with a gesture towards the abbey; also at 258, 264, 272, 279
171 singed] (sindg’d) 174 to him] om. Capell and the] the Hanmer; om. Steevens4 (Heath) 175 scissors] (Cizers) 180 SP] (Mess.)
183 scorch burn, recalling ‘singed off with brands of fire’ (171); see also e.g. MW 1.3.67. The word may pun on scorch as ‘slash’ (OED v.3) (cf. Mac 3.2.13), fulfilling Adriana’s fearful imaginings at 2.2.142. Antipholus is conceived as a demon loosed from hell (‘a dark and dankish vault’, 248) and advancing with hell-fire. Syracusan Antipholus had earlier questioned whether he was ‘in heaven or in hell’ (2.2.218); his brother now emerges figuratively from the latter. Ephesian Antipholus had looked fiery at 4.4.51. Hell references abound in CE: e.g. prison as hell (4.2.40); the Officer as a devil and fiend (4.2.33, 35); the Courtesan as devil (4.3.51). In Plautus’ Men., the itinerant Menaechmus threatens to burn out his brother’s wife’s eyes with torches (see 4.4.105n.).
183 SD On within, see 3.1.32 SD and n.
185 Guard with halberds! The Duke’s soldiers probably gather defensively around him. A halberd resembles a spear with a battle-axe head (OED n. 1).
185.1–2 *This entrance SD occurs in F after 189. Yet Adriana’s speech, 186–9 (‘it is my husband! Witness you … there’), suggests that Ephesian Antipholus stands before her eyes. A pause by Antipholus upon entering would heighten tension. Collier3 places the entrance after 188. See 2.1.42.1 LN. On the ‘ring’, see 4.1.13.1n.
186–9 Adriana is now fully absorbed into the experience of Ephesus as the place of magic that the Syracusans had feared (see e.g. 1.2.97–102) (Ard2).
187 borne about carried around (as if by demons); Adriana, who had wanted to bear Antipholus hence (35, 41, 158), now sees him borne.
188 housed pursued him into the house (OED v.1 1c); also at 272.
189, 197 there taking on a deictic function like that of here (cf. 178, and 178, 188n.; 276; 413)
183 scorch] scotch Hanmer 185.1–2] Cam1 subst.; after 189 F; after 188 Collier3 185.1 OF EPHESUS] F3 subst. wearing the ring] this edn 185.2 DROMIO OF EPHESUS] E. Dromio of Ephesus F
190 Cf. 133, 197; also 4.1.83 and n.
192 bestrid … wars i.e. stood over you when you were down in battle; cf. 1H4 5.1.121–2.
wars Cf. 161.
195–6 In F, Egeon’s SP starts as Mar.Fat., for‘Merchant Father’, but then turns exclusively into forms of Father (Fa.; Fath.; Father.; Fat.), as if Shakespeare were now thinking of him less in his mercantile and more in his paternal role (see List or Roles, 1n.; and Appendix 2). Since no one responds to Egeon’s claim and since Antipholus simply continues his plea, the father may speak in an aside (although why he would do so is unclear). These lines are prose in F; perhaps because F’s SP, Mar.Fat., pushed out 195, the compositor lacked room to fit in dote (Ard2).
195 dote be deranged (OED v.1 1); also at 329
197 Cf. 133, 190; on there, see 189, 197n.
198 emphasizing the Duke’s authority over whom Adriana married; cf. 163.
199 abused abusèd
200 in … height ‘to the greatest degree possible’
202 shameless shamelessly. Shakespeare freely uses adjectives as adverbs (Abbott, 1).
thrown Following abused (199), strength and height (200) and Beyond imagination (201), thrown completes a hyperbolic attribution of malicious power to Adriana.
203 Discover reveal (OED v. 3a)
190+ SP] (E.Ant., E.Anti., Ant., E. Ant., E.An.) 190 justice,] justice, Kneeling. / Collier4 195+ SP] Capell (Rowe subst.); Mar.Fat., Fa., Fath., Father., Fat. F SD] Boswell–Malone 195–6] Rowe3; prose F
205 harlots men of loose morals, fornicators (OED n. 1), a unisex insult although frequently applied to women; cf. R3 3.4.71, RJ 2.4.42. Adriana had imagined having a harlot brow (2.2.142 and n.), and Antipholus had previously called her a harlot (4.4.102).
feasted perhaps connoting ‘banqueted sexually’ (Williams, Glossary, 122). Antipholus accuses Adriana of the kind of offence that she suspected of him, e.g. at 2.1.30.
208 the second alexandrine in the scene (see 174 and n.), perhaps adding weight to Adriana’s asseveration
208–9 so … false ‘May the fate of my soul depend on the falsehood of these accusations.’ The so clause states the result, the As clause the condition (cf. R3 2.2.10).
209 this … withal Adriana’s formulation will be repeated by Antipholus at 269; withal = with.
210 on at (see Blake, 5.4.2)
211 But she tells ‘if she does not tell’
212–13 Some editions make Angelo’s lines an aside, since he does not pursue his assertion until 255, yet the speech seems too vehement and interjectory for an aside. Angelo has no reason here to withhold his claim, and Antipholus immediately responds to the accusation of madness (214–17); but see 219–20n.
2
14 advised advisèd; heedful of (Folg2); cf. e.g. MV 1.1.142.
216 heady-rash impetuously rash (OED heady adj. 1; first citation of compound); the phrase is redundant and used for rhetorical effect.
212 O] Aside O Ard2
219–20 Antipholus charged previously that Adriana suborned Angelo to have him arrested (4.4.83), as if Angelo were a conspirator, an idea now lodged in Antipholus’ mind. He appears oblivious to Angelo’s corroborating claim at 212–13.
219 there See 189, 197n.
packed with in league with (OED pack v.2 1b); see 4.4.103 and n., on pack.
221 parted with departed from (OED part v. 1b)
222 Promising perhaps pronounced ‘prom’sing’ (Walker, Versification, 66)
227 swear me down ‘swear emphatically, as if to silence me by his vehemence’ (Oxf1). Cf. face me down, 3.1.6; 245 and n., on out-facing.
230 with through the agency of (OED prep. 37a)
231 peasant See 2.1.80 and n.
233 bespoke asked (OED bespeak v. 5c, first citation)
235–6 constituting one line in F, but so atypically long (heptameter) that editors have conjectured that some words were dropped so that the original two lines could be compressed to save space in typesetting. Treating By … met as a single line makes sense on the grounds that the play elsewhere employs short lines, e.g. 61. The typesetting in F, ‘By’th’way’, suggests contraction and iambic metre; cf. KL 4.1.43.
237 confederates See 4.1.17 and n.
226 SD] Bevington4 subst. 235–7] Malone; F lines more / them / ; Capell lines [To which he yielded:] by the way we met / more / them / ; Steevens lines and / confederates; / them / 235 By] Rowe; By’ F
238–42 This description’s sordidness and excess evokes Pinch’s uncanny grip on Antipholus’ imagination. Syracusan Antipholus’ fear of demonic possession seems registered now in the Ephesian brother. The repetition of the same idea in many figures is rhetorical exergasia. Pinch’s depiction may be an exaggerated description of his actor, John Sinkler. Sinkler, strikingly thin and pale, probably played similar roles in Shakespeare, such as Starveling in MND, Slender and a beadle in 2H4 and the Apothecary in RJ (see RJ 5.1.37–54), along with parts in 3H6 and TS, and related ones in other non-Shakespearean plays (Gurr, Company, 241). See Appendix 3
The Comedy of Errors Page 43