finished_summaries/shmoop/The Comedy of Errors/section_9_part_0.txt
The Comedy of Errors.act iv.scene iv
act iv, scene iv
{"name": "Act IV, Scene iv", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201219160210/https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/comedy-of-errors/summary/act-iv-scene-iv", "summary": "E. Antipholus is still at the marketplace. He fumes about how he'll give it to everyone once he's bailed out, and he spots E. Dromio just in time to think he's saved. When E. Dromio relates that all he's brought is a piece of rope , E. Dromio receives a beating. E. Dromio laments that this is his usual undeserved payment, but doesn't mention that E. Antipholus never asked him for any bail money. Adriana, Luciana, the Courtesan, and a schoolmaster named Pinch all enter the scene. This is reason enough for E. Antipholus to again beat E. Dromio, at which point all the women descend on E. Antipholus, treating him like he's a raging lunatic. They plead with Pinch, who is a schoolmaster and a conjurer, to exorcise whatever demon possesses E. Antipholus. Now E. Antipholus starts beating Pinch as well. Everyone's stories then begin to work against each other, as E. Antipholus insists that he's not mad. He asks whether this witch-doctor is the man Adriana dined with, and the reason he was locked out of his own house. Adriana insists that E. Antipholus was at dinner, and E. Antipholus and E. Dromio insist they were not. E. Antipholus also is a bit unhappy about being arrested. Adriana promises she sent the bail money via Dromio. Poor E. Dromio is certain that he was neither asked to bring the money, nor given any money, and he certainly didn't deliver the money, as everyone is sure of. Basically, everyone seems crazy, and Pinch concludes the men are possessed and must be bound and put into a dark room for their own good. E. Antipholus is driven into greater fury - he declares his wife a false harlot, and promises to pluck out her eyes with his bare hands. After a bit of a scuffle, E. Dromio is tied up, and he and E. Antipholus are taken away. Adriana then tries to deal with her husband's debt. The officer explains the debt was called in by Angelo the goldsmith for a certain necklace. Adriana notes she never got the necklace her husband had spoken of, and this is when the Courtesan pipes up. The Courtesan says E. Antipholus ran into her house and took a ring from her, promising a gold chain in return. She says she saw Antipholus earlier, wearing the chain. Adriana, confused, and not the recipient of the chain, asks to be taken to Angelo the goldsmith to hear the whole truth. Before they can all leave, S. Antipholus runs in with his sword drawn and S. Dromio in tow. Luciana speaks, shocked that the men are loose again. Adriana decides they should run off and get help to tie the men up again. As the officer runs off with the women, S. Antipholus and S. Dromio are left alone, marveling at the fact that these \"witches\" fear their swords. S. Antipholus hurriedly tells S. Dromio to go grab their things from the Centaur inn so they can leave Ephesus quickly. S. Dromio thinks out loud that S. Antipholus might be being a bit hasty about departing. After all, everyone's so nice to them, and gives them gifts of gold. In fact, if it weren't for \"the mountain of mad flesh\" that wanted to mount him , S. Dromio might be happy to stay. S. Antipholus insists on leaving ASAP.", "analysis": ""}
SCENE IV.

A street.

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus_ and the _Officer_._

_Ant. E._ Fear me not, man; I will not break away:
I'll give thee, ere I leave thee, so much money,
To warrant thee, as I am 'rested for.
My wife is in a wayward mood to-day,
And will not lightly trust the messenger.                            5
That I should be attach'd in Ephesus,
I tell you, 'twill sound harshly in her ears.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Ephesus_ with a ropes-end._

Here comes my man; I think he brings the money.
How now, sir! have you that I sent you for?

_Dro. E._ Here's that, I warrant you, will pay them all.            10

_Ant. E._ But where's the money?

_Dro. E._ Why, sir, I gave the money for the rope.

_Ant. E._ Five hundred ducats, villain, for a rope?

_Dro. E._ I'll serve you, sir, five hundred at the rate.

_Ant. E._ To what end did I bid thee hie thee home?                 15

_Dro. E._ To a rope's-end, sir; and to that end am I
returned.

_Ant. E._ And to that end, sir, I will welcome you.
    [_Beating him._

_Off._ Good sir, be patient.

_Dro. E._ Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity.        20

_Off._ Good, now, hold thy tongue.

_Dro. E._ Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands.

_Ant. E._ Thou whoreson, senseless villain!

_Dro. E._ I would I were senseless, sir, that I might not
feel your blows.                                                    25

_Ant. E._ Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and
so is an ass.

_Dro. E._ I am an ass, indeed; you may prove it by my
long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity
to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service       30
but blows. When I am cold, he heats me with beating;
when I am warm, he cools me with beating: I am waked
with it when I sleep; raised with it when I sit; driven out
of doors with it when I go from home; welcomed home
with it when I return: nay, I bear it on my shoulders, as           35
a beggar wont her brat; and, I think, when he hath lamed
me, I shall beg with it from door to door.

_Ant. E._ Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder.

  _Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, the _Courtezan_, and PINCH._

_Dro. E._ Mistress, 'respice finem,' respect your end; or
rather, the prophecy like the parrot, 'beware the rope's-end.'      40

_Ant. E._ Wilt thou still talk?    [_Beating him._

_Cour._ How say you now? is not your husband mad?

_Adr._ His incivility confirms no less.
Good Doctor Pinch, you are a conjurer;
Establish him in his true sense again,                              45
And I will please you what you will demand.

_Luc._ Alas, how fiery and how sharp he looks!

_Cour._ Mark how he trembles in his ecstasy!

_Pinch._ Give me your hand, and let me feel your pulse.

_Ant. E._ There is my hand, and let it feel your ear.               50
    [_Striking him._

_Pinch._ I charge thee, Satan, housed within this man,
To yield possession to my holy prayers,
And to thy state of darkness his thee straight:
I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven!

_Ant. E._ Peace, doting wizard, peace! I am not mad.                55

_Adr._ O, that thou wert not, poor distressed soul!

_Ant. E._ You minion, you, are these your customers?
Did this companion with the saffron face
Revel and feast it at my house to-day,
Whilst upon me the guilty doors were shut,                          60
And I denied to enter in my house?

_Adr._ O husband, God doth know you dined at home;
Where would you had remain'd until this time,
Free from these slanders and this open shame!

_Ant. E._ Dined at home!--Thou villain, what sayest thou?           65

_Dro. E._ Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home.

_Ant. E._ Were not my doors lock'd up, and I shut out?

_Dro. E._ Perdie, your doors were lock'd, and you shut out.

_Ant. E._ And did not she herself revile me there?

_Dro. E._ Sans fable, she herself reviled you there.                70

_Ant. E._ Did not her kitchen-maid rail, taunt, and scorn me?

_Dro. E._ Certes, she did; the kitchen-vestal scorn'd you.

_Ant. E._ And did not I in rage depart from thence?

_Dro. E._ In verity you did; my bones bear witness,
That since have felt the vigour of his rage.                        75

_Adr._ Is't good to soothe him in these contraries?

_Pinch._ It is no shame: the fellow finds his vein,
And, yielding to him, humours well his frenzy.

_Ant. E._ Thou hast suborn'd the goldsmith to arrest me.

_Adr._ Alas, I sent you money to redeem you,                        80
By Dromio here, who came in haste for it.

_Dro. E._ Money by me! heart and good-will you might;
But surely, master, not a rag of money.

_Ant. E._ Went'st not thou to her for a purse of ducats?

_Adr._ He came to me, and I deliver'd it.                           85

_Luc._ And I am witness with her that she did.

_Dro. E._ God and the rope-maker bear me witness
That I was sent for nothing but a rope!

_Pinch._ Mistress, both man and master is possess'd;
I know it by their pale and deadly looks:                           90
They must be bound, and laid in some dark room.

_Ant. E._ Say, wherefore didst them lock me forth to-day?
And why dost thou deny the bag of gold?

_Adr._ I did not, gentle husband, lock thee forth.

_Dro. E._ And, gentle master, I received no gold;                   95
But I confess, sir, that we were lock'd out.

_Adr._ Dissembling villain, them speak'st false in both.

_Ant. E._ Dissembling harlot, them art false in all,
And art confederate with a damned pack
To make a loathsome abject scorn of me:                            100
But with these nails I'll pluck out these false eyes,
That would behold in me this shameful sport.

  _Enter three or four, and offer to bind him. He strives._

_Adr._ O, bind him, bind him! let him not come near me.

_Pinch._ More company! The fiend is strong within him.

_Luc._ Ay me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks!                 105

_Ant. E._ What, will you murder me? Thou gaoler, thou,
I am thy prisoner: wilt thou suffer them
To make a rescue?

_Off._          Masters, let him go:
He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.

_Pinch._ Go bind this man, for he is frantic too.                  110

    [_They offer to bind Dro. E._

_Adr._ What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer?
Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself?

_Off._ He is my prisoner: if I let him go,
The debt he owes will be required of me.                           115

_Adr._ I will discharge thee ere I go from thee:
Bear me forthwith unto his creditor,
And, knowing how the debt grows, I will pay it.
Good master doctor, see him safe convey'd
Home to my house. O most unhappy day!                              120

_Ant. E._ O most unhappy strumpet!

_Dro. E._ Master, I am here entered in bond for you.

_Ant. E._ Out on thee, villain! wherefore dost thou mad me?

_Dro. E._ Will you be bound for nothing? be mad, good
master: cry, The devil!                                            125

_Luc._ God help, poor souls, how idly do they talk!

_Adr._ Go bear him hence. Sister, go you with me.
    [_Exeunt all but Adriana, Luciana, Officer and Courtezan._]
Say now; whose suit is he arrested at?

_Off._ One Angelo, a goldsmith: do you know him?

_Adr._ I know the man. What is the sum he owes?                    130

_Off._ Two hundred ducats.

_Adr._                   Say, how grows it due?

_Off._ Due for a chain your husband had of him.

_Adr._ He did bespeak a chain for me, but had it not.

_Cour._ When as your husband, all in rage, to-day
Came to my house, and took away my ring,--                         135
The ring I saw upon his finger now,--
Straight after did I meet him with a chain.

_Adr._ It may be so, but I did never see it.
Come, gaoler, bring me where the goldsmith is:
I long to know the truth hereof at large.                          140

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse_ with his rapier drawn,
  and _DROMIO of Syracuse_._

_Luc._ God, for thy mercy! they are loose again.

_Adr._ And come with naked swords.
Let's call more help to have them bound again.

_Off._ Away! they'll kill us.

    [_Exeunt all but Ant. S. and Dro. S._

_Ant. S._ I see these witches are afraid of swords.                145

_Dro. S._ She that would be your wife now ran from you.

_Ant. S._ Come to the Centaur; fetch our stuff from thence:
I long that we were safe and sound aboard.

_Dro. S._ Faith, stay here this night; they will surely do
us no harm: you saw they speak us fair, give us gold:              150
methinks they are such a gentle nation, that, but for the
mountain of mad flesh that claims marriage of me, I could
find in my heart to stay here still, and turn witch.

_Ant. S._ I will not stay to-night for all the town;
Therefore away, to get our stuff aboard.

    [_Exeunt._                                                     155



  NOTES: IV, 4.

  SCENE IV.] SCENE VIII. Pope.
  and the Officer.] Capell. with a Jailor. Ff.
  5, 6: _messenger. That ... Ephesus,_] Rowe.
    _messenger, That ... Ephesus,_ F1 F2 F3.
    _messenger; That ... Ephesus,_ F4.
    _messenger, That ... Ephesus:_ Capell.
  14: Dro. E.] Off. Edd. conj.
  15: _hie_] _high_ F2.
  17: _returned_] _come_ Anon. conj.
  18: [Beating him.] Capell. [Beats Dro. Pope. om. Ff.
  29: _ears_] See note (VII).
  38: SCENE IX. Pope. The stage direction 'Enter ... Pinch,'
    precedes line 38 in Ff, and all editions till Dyce's.
  Pinch.] a schoolmaster, call'd Pinch. Ff.
  40: _the prophecy_] _the prophesie_ F1 F2 F3 F4. _prophesie_ Rowe.
    _to prophesy_ Dyce.
  39-41: _or rather ... talk?_] _or rather, 'prospice funem,'
    beware the rope's end._ Ant. E. _Wilt thou still talk like
    the parrot?_ Edd. conj.
  41: [Beating him.] [Beats Dro. Ff.
  46: _what_] _in what_ Hanmer.
  65: _Dined_] _Din'd I_ Theobald. _I din'd_ Capell.
  72: _Certes_] Pope. _certis_ Ff.
  74: _bear_] _beares_ F1.
  75: _vigour_] _rigour_ Collier MS.
  _his_] _your_ Pope.
  83: _master_] _mistress_ Dyce conj.
  _rag_] _bag_ Becket conj.
  84: _not thou_] _thou not_ Capell.
  87: _bear_] _do bear_ Pope. _now bear_ Collier MS.
  89: _is_] _are_ Rowe.
  101: _these false_] Ff. _those false_ Rowe.
  102: [Flying at his wife. Capell.
  Enter ...] The stage direction is transferred by Dyce to follow 105.
  106: _me? Thou ... thou,_] Rowe. _me, thou ... thou?_ Ff.
  110: [They ... Dro. E.] Edd. om. Ff.
  117: [They bind ANT. and DRO. Rowe.
  124: _nothing?_] _nothing thus?_ Hanmer, reading as verse.
  126: _help, poor_] Theobald. _help poor_ Ff.
  _idly_] Pope. _idlely_ Ff.
  127: _go_] _stay_ Pope.
  [Exeunt all but ...] Exeunt. Manet ... Ff (after line 128).
  129: SCENE X. Pope.
  133: _for me_] om. Hanmer.
  141: SCENE XI. Pope.
  143: [Runne all out. Ff.
  144: [Exeunt ...] Exeunt omnes, as fast as may be, frighted. Ff.
  150: _saw ... speak us ... give_] F1.
    _saw ... spake us ... give_ F2 F3 F4.
    _saw ... spake to us ... give_ Rowe.
    _saw ... spake us ... gave_ Pope.
    _see ... speak us ... give_ Capell.





Act IV, Scene iv
E. Antipholus is still at the marketplace. He fumes about how he'll give it to everyone once he's bailed out, and he spots E. Dromio just in time to think he's saved. When E. Dromio relates that all he's brought is a piece of rope , E. Dromio receives a beating. E. Dromio laments that this is his usual undeserved payment, but doesn't mention that E. Antipholus never asked him for any bail money. Adriana, Luciana, the Courtesan, and a schoolmaster named Pinch all enter the scene. This is reason enough for E. Antipholus to again beat E. Dromio, at which point all the women descend on E. Antipholus, treating him like he's a raging lunatic. They plead with Pinch, who is a schoolmaster and a conjurer, to exorcise whatever demon possesses E. Antipholus. Now E. Antipholus starts beating Pinch as well. Everyone's stories then begin to work against each other, as E. Antipholus insists that he's not mad. He asks whether this witch-doctor is the man Adriana dined with, and the reason he was locked out of his own house. Adriana insists that E. Antipholus was at dinner, and E. Antipholus and E. Dromio insist they were not. E. Antipholus also is a bit unhappy about being arrested. Adriana promises she sent the bail money via Dromio. Poor E. Dromio is certain that he was neither asked to bring the money, nor given any money, and he certainly didn't deliver the money, as everyone is sure of. Basically, everyone seems crazy, and Pinch concludes the men are possessed and must be bound and put into a dark room for their own good. E. Antipholus is driven into greater fury - he declares his wife a false harlot, and promises to pluck out her eyes with his bare hands. After a bit of a scuffle, E. Dromio is tied up, and he and E. Antipholus are taken away. Adriana then tries to deal with her husband's debt. The officer explains the debt was called in by Angelo the goldsmith for a certain necklace. Adriana notes she never got the necklace her husband had spoken of, and this is when the Courtesan pipes up. The Courtesan says E. Antipholus ran into her house and took a ring from her, promising a gold chain in return. She says she saw Antipholus earlier, wearing the chain. Adriana, confused, and not the recipient of the chain, asks to be taken to Angelo the goldsmith to hear the whole truth. Before they can all leave, S. Antipholus runs in with his sword drawn and S. Dromio in tow. Luciana speaks, shocked that the men are loose again. Adriana decides they should run off and get help to tie the men up again. As the officer runs off with the women, S. Antipholus and S. Dromio are left alone, marveling at the fact that these "witches" fear their swords. S. Antipholus hurriedly tells S. Dromio to go grab their things from the Centaur inn so they can leave Ephesus quickly. S. Dromio thinks out loud that S. Antipholus might be being a bit hasty about departing. After all, everyone's so nice to them, and gives them gifts of gold. In fact, if it weren't for "the mountain of mad flesh" that wanted to mount him , S. Dromio might be happy to stay. S. Antipholus insists on leaving ASAP.