finished_summaries/sparknotes/The Comedy of Errors/section_3_part_0.txt
The Comedy of Errors.act 4.scenes 1-2
act iii, scene ii; act 4, scenes 1-2
{"name": "Act III, scene ii; Act IV, scenes i-ii", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210224233119/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/errors/section4/", "summary": "Inside the house, Luciana and Antipholus of Syracuse are alone together. Luciana rebukes the man she believes to be her brother-in-law for not treating Adriana well; if he must betray his wife, she pleads, he should at least do it secretly. Antipholus S., meanwhile, insists that he is not Adriana's husband and then professes his love for Luciana. Appalled, she flees to find her sister. Dromio of Syracuse joins his master and recounts how the kitchen maid, Nell, mistook him for her husband . Nell, as the Syracusan Dromio tells it, is a prodigiously fat, ugly, and fearsome woman, and he and his master have a good laugh at her expense. Then, Antipholus S. tells his slave that he intends to depart from Ephesus immediately and sends him to the harbor to book passage. Once Dromio is gone, his master ponders the beauty of Luciana but resolves not to be tempted to remain in the city, since \"none but witches do inhabit here\". As he stands in thought, Angelo the goldsmith comes in and, mistaking him for Antipholus of Ephesus, gives him the gold chain that the Ephesian Antipholus had ordered, promising to stop by later to collect payment. Angelo, we learn, is in debt to a Second Merchant, who threatens to arrest him unless the money is paid. The goldsmith promises to collect the sum from Antipholus of Ephesus, who he sees walking down the street with Dromio of Ephesus. Antipholus E. sends his slave off to buy rope, with which he plans to beat his wife and servants for locking him out of the house at the last meal. Next, he greets Angelo, who asks to be paid for his gold chain. Antipholus, of course, never received the chain, and refuses to pay, so Angelo has him arrested. At that moment, Dromio of Syracuse returns from the harbor, and mistaking Antipholus E. for his master, tells him which ships are ready to sail. Cursing, Antipholus orders him to be silent and sends him to Adriana to fetch a purse of money with which to pay his way out of jail. Meanwhile, Luciana has told Adriana about how her \"husband\" declared his love for her and pledges her innocence of any illicit behavior. Adriana curses Antipholus furiously but admits to still feeling some love for him. Dromio of Syracuse dashes in to report that Antipholus has been arrested and needs money; Adriana sends Luciana to fetch it and then orders Dromio to hurry and save her husband from prison.", "analysis": "ii - Commentary Her encounter with Antipholus of Syracuse provides an occasion for Luciana to expound again on her philosophy of marriage. She rebukes him for not being faithful and then says, \"If you like elsewhere, do it by stealth; / Muffle your false love with some show of blindness .\" In other words, cheat if you must but at least pretend that you still love her, and don't get caught philandering. This assumption that men will have affairs, and that it is better not to know about them, fits in well with Luciana's world of docile women and dominating men, but it has unsettling implications in this case, since Antipholus is professing his love for her. By suggesting that her brother-in-law can commit adultery as long as he is not caught, one might argue, she implicitly suggests her own openness to his entreaties. For his part, Antipholus' speech declaring his love for her has a touching desperation to it. The language, which promises his submission to her ),\" suggests a relationship that reverses Luciana's professed ideal of feminine obedience. In a sense, Antipholus seems to be using his infatuation to achieve what his search for his brother has not granted him--namely, a sense of self. \"Transform me then,\" he entreats her, \"and to your power I'll yield . \" If the enchantments of Ephesus threaten to strip him of his identity, then his love for Luciana offers it back to him through the re-creative powers of love. From this revealing scene, we shift immediately to the uproariously funny exchange between Antipholus and his Dromio, in which Dromio uses geographical references to describe the ugliness of Nell , who has mistaken him for her husband. \"In what part of her body stands Ireland?\" his master asks. \"Marry, sir, in her buttocks,\" the slave replies. \"I found it out by the bogs.\" \"Where Scotland?\" Antipholus continues and gets the reply: \"I found it by the barrenness; hard in the palm of her hand\" . The dialogue continues through France, England, Spain, and the Indies, culminating in Antipholus' question: \"Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands?\" and his man's reply: \"O, sir! I did not look so low .\" This is Dromio S. in his finest form, telling raunchy jokes with obvious glee. What follows is pure plot, as the playwright contrives to entangle his characters in a bewildering web of errors culminating with the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus. Adriana's response to the news is telling--having just been told that her husband tried to commit adultery with her own sister, she nevertheless reaffirms her love for him and sends money to free him immediately. The transience of her jealousy is appropriate to the play, since all negative emotions in a comedy must be transient in order to prepare for the happy ending."}
_SCENE II.

The same._

  _Enter LUCIANA and _ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse_._

_Luc._ And may it be that you have quite forgot
    A husband's office? shall, Antipholus,
Even in the spring of love, thy love-springs rot?
    Shall love, in building, grow so ruinous?
If you did wed my sister for her wealth,                             5
    Then for her wealth's sake use her with more kindness:
Or if you like elsewhere, do it by stealth;
    Muffle your false love with some show of blindness:
Let not my sister read it in your eye;
    Be not thy tongue thy own shame's orator;                       10
Look sweet, speak fair, become disloyalty;
    Apparel vice like virtue's harbinger;
Bear a fair presence, though your heart be tainted;
    Teach sin the carriage of a holy saint;
Be secret-false: what need she be acquainted?                       15
    What simple thief brags of his own attaint?
'Tis double wrong, to truant with your bed,
    And let her read it in thy looks at board:
Shame hath a bastard fame, well managed;
    Ill deeds are doubled with an evil word.                        20
Alas, poor women! make us but believe,
    Being compact of credit, that you love us;
Though others have the arm, show us the sleeve;
    We in your motion turn, and you may move us.
Then, gentle brother, get you in again;                             25
    Comfort my sister, cheer her, call her wife:
'Tis holy sport, to be a little vain,
    When the sweet breath of flattery conquers strife.

_Ant. S._ Sweet mistress,--what your name is else, I know not,
    Nor by what wonder you do hit of mine,--                        30
Less in your knowledge and your grace you show not
    Than our earth's wonder; more than earth divine.
Teach me, dear creature, how to think and speak;
    Lay open to my earthy-gross conceit,
Smother'd in errors, feeble, shallow, weak,                         35
    The folded meaning of your words' deceit.
Against my soul's pure truth why labour you
    To make it wander in an unknown field?
Are you a god? would you create me new?
    Transform me, then, and to your power I'll yield.               40
But if that I am I, then well I know
    Your weeping sister is no wife of mine,
Nor to her bed no homage do I owe:
    Far more, far more to you do I decline.
O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note,                      45
    To drown me in thy sister flood of tears:
Sing, siren, for thyself, and I will dote:
    Spread o'er the silver waves thy golden hairs,
And as a bed I'll take them, and there lie;
    And, in that glorious supposition, think                        50
He gains by death that hath such means to die:
    Let Love, being light, be drowned if she sink!

_Luc._ What, are you mad, that you do reason so?

_Ant. S._ Not mad, but mated; how, I do not know.

_Luc._ It is a fault that springeth from your eye.                  55

_Ant. S._ For gazing on your beams, fair sun, being by.

_Luc._ Gaze where you should, and that will clear your sight.

_Ant. S._ As good to wink, sweet love, as look on night.

_Luc._ Why call you me love? call my sister so.

_Ant. S._ Thy sister's sister.

_Luc._                       That's my sister.

_Ant. S._                                    No;                    60
It is thyself, mine own self's better part,
Mine eye's clear eye, my dear heart's dearer heart,
My food, my fortune, and my sweet hope's aim,
My sole earth's heaven, and my heaven's claim.

_Luc._ All this my sister is, or else should be.                    65

_Ant. S._ Call thyself sister, sweet, for I am thee.
Thee will I love, and with thee lead my life:
Thou hast no husband yet, nor I no wife.
Give me thy hand.

_Luc._          O, soft, sir! hold you still:
I'll fetch my sister, to get her good will.    [_Exit._             70

  _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_._

_Ant. S._ Why, how now, Dromio! where runn'st thou
so fast?

_Dro. S._ Do you know me, sir? am I Dromio? am I
your man? am I myself?

_Ant. S._ Thou art Dromio, thou art my man, thou art                75
thyself.

_Dro. S._ I am an ass, I am a woman's man, and
besides myself.

_Ant. S._ What woman's man? and how besides thyself?

_Dro. S._ Marry, sir, besides myself, I am due to a                 80
woman; one that claims me, one that haunts me, one that
will have me.

_Ant. S._ What claim lays she to thee?

_Dro. S._ Marry, sir, such claim as you would lay to
your horse; and she would have me as a beast: not that,             85
I being a beast, she would have me; but that she, being
a very beastly creature, lays claim to me.

_Ant. S._ What is she?

_Dro. S._ A very reverent body; ay, such a one as a man
may not speak of, without he say Sir-reverence. I have              90
but lean luck in the match, and yet is she a wondrous fat
marriage.

_Ant. S._ How dost thou mean a fat marriage?

_Dro. S._ Marry, sir, she's the kitchen-wench, and all
grease; and I know not what use to put her to, but to make          95
a lamp of her, and run from her by her own light. I warrant,
her rags, and the tallow in them, will burn a Poland
winter: if she lives till doomsday, she'll burn a week
longer than the whole world.

_Ant. S._ What complexion is she of?                               100

_Dro. S._ Swart, like my shoe, but her face nothing like
so clean kept: for why she sweats; a man may go over
shoes in the grime of it.

_Ant. S._ That's a fault that water will mend.

_Dro. S._ No, sir, 'tis in grain; Noah's flood could not           105
do it.

_Ant. S._ What's her name?

_Dro. S._ Nell, sir; but her name and three quarters,
that's an ell and three quarters, will not measure her from
hip to hip.                                                        110

_Ant. S._ Then she bears some breadth?

_Dro. S._ No longer from head to foot than from hip to
hip: she is spherical, like a globe; I could find out countries
in her.

_Ant. S._ In what part of her body stands Ireland?                 115

_Dro. S._ Marry, sir, in her buttocks: I found it out by
the bogs.

_Ant. S._ Where Scotland?

_Dro. S._ I found it by the barrenness; hard in the palm
of the hand.                                                       120

_Ant. S._ Where France?

_Dro. S._ In her forehead; armed and reverted, making
war against her heir.

_Ant. S._ Where England?

_Dro. S._ I looked for the chalky cliffs, but I could find         125
no whiteness in them; but I guess it stood in her chin, by
the salt rheum that ran between France and it.

_Ant. S._ Where Spain?

_Dro. S._ Faith, I saw it not; but I felt it hot in her
breath.                                                            130

_Ant. S._ Where America, the Indies?

_Dro. S._ Oh, sir, upon her nose, all o'er embellished
with rubies, carbuncles, sapphires, declining their rich aspect
to the hot breath of Spain; who sent whole armadoes
of caracks to be ballast at her nose.                              135

_Ant. S._ Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands?

_Dro. S._ Oh, sir, I did not look so low. To conclude,
this drudge, or diviner, laid claim to me; called me
Dromio; swore I was assured to her; told me what privy
marks I had about me, as, the mark of my shoulder, the             140
mole in my neck, the great wart on my left arm, that
I, amazed, ran from her as a witch:

And, I think, if my breast had not been made of faith, and
        my heart of steel,
She had transform'd me to a curtal dog, and made me turn
        i' the wheel.

_Ant. S._ Go hie thee presently, post to the road:--               145
An if the wind blow any way from shore,
I will not harbour in this town to-night:--
If any bark put forth, come to the mart,
Where I will walk till thou return to me.
If every one knows us, and we know none,                           150
'Tis time, I think, to trudge, pack, and be gone.

_Dro. S._ As from a bear a man would run for life,
So fly I from her that would be my wife.    [_Exit._

_Ant. S._ There's none but witches do inhabit here;
And therefore 'tis high time that I were hence.                    155
She that doth call me husband, even my soul
Doth for a wife abhor. But her fair sister,
Possess'd with such a gentle sovereign grace,
Of such enchanting presence and discourse,
Hath almost made me traitor to myself:                             160
But, lest myself be guilty to self-wrong,
I'll stop mine ears against the mermaid's song.

  _Enter ANGELO with the chain._

_Ang._ Master Antipholus,--

_Ant. S._                  Ay, that's my name.

_Ang._ I know it well, sir:--lo, here is the chain.
I thought to have ta'en you at the Porpentine:                     165
The chain unfinish'd made me stay thus long.

_Ant. S._ What is your will that I shall do with this?

_Ang._ What please yourself, sir: I have made it for you.

_Ant. S._ Made it for me, sir! I bespoke it not.

_Ang._ Not once, nor twice, but twenty times you have.             170
Go home with it, and please your wife withal;
And soon at supper-time I'll visit you,
And then receive my money for the chain.

_Ant. S._ I pray you, sir, receive the money now,
For fear you ne'er see chain nor money more.                       175

_Ang._ You are a merry man, sir: fare you well.    [_Exit._

_Ant. S._ What I should think of this, I cannot tell:
But this I think, there's no man is so vain
That would refuse so fair an offer'd chain.
I see a man here needs not live by shifts,                         180
When in the streets he meets such golden gifts.
I'll to the mart, and there for Dromio stay:
If any ship put out, then straight away.    [_Exit._



  NOTES: III, 2.

  SCENE II. Enter LUCIANA] F2. Enter JULIANA F1.
  1: Luc.] Rowe. Julia Ff.
  2: _Antipholus_] _Antipholis, hate_ Theobald. _Antipholis, thus_
    Id. conj. _a nipping hate_ Heath conj. _unkind debate_ Collier MS.
  4: _building_] Theobald. _buildings_ Ff.
  _ruinous_] Capell (Theobald conj.). _ruinate_ Ff.
  16: _attaint_] Rowe. _attaine_ F1 F2 F3. _attain_ F4.
  20: _are_] F2 F3 F4. _is_ F1.
  21: _but_] Theobald. _not_ Ff.
  26: _wife_] _wise_ F1.
  35: _shallow_] F1. _shaddow_ F2 F3. _shadow_ F4.
  43: _no_] F1. _a_ F2 F3 F4.
  44: _decline_] _incline_ Collier MS.
  46: _sister_] F1. _sister's_ F2 F3 F4.
  49: _bed_] F2 F3 F4. _bud_ F1. _bride_ Dyce.
  _them_] Capell (Edwards conj.). _thee_ Ff.
  52: _she_] _he_ Capell.
  57: _where_] Pope. _when_ Ff.
  66: _am_] _mean_ Pope. _aim_ Capell.
  71: SCENE III. Pope.
  93: _How_] _What_ Capell.
  97: _Poland_] _Lapland_ Warburton.
  108: _and_] Theobald (Thirlby conj). _is_ Ff.
  120: _the_] Ff. _her_ Rowe.
  122: _forehead_] _sore head_ Jackson conj.
  _reverted_] _revolted_ Grant White.
  123: _heir_] _heire_ F1. _haire_ F2 F3. _hair_ F4.
  125: _chalky_] _chalkle_ F1.
  135: _caracks_] Hanmer. _carrects_ F1. _carracts_ F2 F3 F4.
  _ballast_] _ballasted_ Capell.
  138: _drudge, or_] _drudge of the Devil, this_ Warburton.
  _or diviner_] _this divine one_ Capell conj.
  140: _mark_] _marke_ F1. _marks_ F2 F3 F4.
  143: _faith_] _flint_ Hanmer.
  143, 144: Printed as prose in Ff. As verse first by Knight.
  144: _curtal_] F4. _curtull_ F1. _curtall_ F2 F3. _cur-tail_ Hanmer.
  146: _An_] Capell. _And_ Ff.
  150: _knows us_] _know us_ Johnson.
  154: SCENE IV. Pope.
  161: _to_] _of_ Pope.
  164: _here is_] Pope. _here's_ Ff.
  177: Ant. S.] Ant. F1 F4. Dro. F2 F3.
  181: _streets_] _street_ Capell conj.




ACT IV. SCENE I.

A public place.

  _Enter _Second Merchant_, ANGELO, and an _Officer_._

_Sec. Mer._ You know since Pentecost the sum is due,
And since I have not much importuned you;
Nor now I had not, but that I am bound
To Persia, and want guilders for my voyage:
Therefore make present satisfaction,                                 5
Or I'll attach you by this officer.

_Ang._ Even just the sum that I do owe to you
Is growing to me by Antipholus;
And in the instant that I met with you
He had of me a chain: at five o'clock                               10
I shall receive the money for the same.
Pleaseth you walk with me down to his house,
I will discharge my bond, and thank you too.

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus_ and _DROMIO of Ephesus_ from
  the courtezan's._

_Off._ That labour may you save: see where he comes.

_Ant. E._ While I go to the goldsmith's house, go thou              15
And buy a rope's end: that will I bestow
Among my wife and her confederates,
For locking me out of my doors by day.--
But, soft! I see the goldsmith. Get thee gone;
Buy thou a rope, and bring it home to me.                           20

_Dro. E._ I buy a thousand pound a year: I buy a rope.
    [_Exit._

_Ant. E._ A man is well holp up that trusts to you:
I promised your presence and the chain;
But neither chain nor goldsmith came to me.
Belike you thought our love would last too long,                    25
If it were chain'd together, and therefore came not.

_Ang._ Saving your merry humour, here's the note
How much your chain weighs to the utmost carat,
The fineness of the gold, and chargeful fashion,
Which doth amount to three odd ducats more                          30
Than I stand debted to this gentleman:
I pray you, see him presently discharged,
For he is bound to sea, and stays but for it.

_Ant. E._ I am not furnish'd with the present money;
Besides, I have some business in the town.                          35
Good signior, take the stranger to my house,
And with you take the chain, and bid my wife
Disburse the sum on the receipt thereof:
Perchance I will be there as soon as you.

_Ang._ Then you will bring the chain to her yourself?               40

_Ant. E._ No; bear it with you, lest I come not time enough.

_Ang._ Well, sir, I will. Have you the chain about you?

_Ant. E._ An if I have not, sir, I hope you have;
Or else you may return without your money.

_Ang._ Nay, come, I pray you, sir, give me the chain:               45
Both wind and tide stays for this gentleman,
And I, to blame, have held him here too long.

_Ant. E._ Good Lord! you use this dalliance to excuse
Your breach of promise to the Porpentine.
I should have chid you for not bringing it,                         50
But, like a shrew, you first begin to brawl.

_Sec. Mer._ The hour steals on; I pray you, sir, dispatch.

_Ang._ You hear how he importunes me;--the chain!

_Ant. E._ Why, give it to my wife, and fetch your money.

_Ang._ Come, come, you know I gave it you even now.                 55
Either send the chain, or send me by some token.

_Ant. E._ Fie, now you run this humour out of breath.
Come, where's the chain? I pray you, let me see it.

_Sec. Mer._ My business cannot brook this dalliance.
Good sir, say whether you'll answer me or no:                       60
If not, I'll leave him to the officer.

_Ant. E._ I answer you! what should I answer you?

_Ang._ The money that you owe me for the chain.

_Ant. E._ I owe you none till I receive the chain.

_Ang._ You know I gave it you half an hour since.                   65

_Ant. E._ You gave me none: you wrong me much to say so.

_Ang._ You wrong me more, sir, in denying it:
Consider how it stands upon my credit.

_Sec. Mer._ Well, officer, arrest him at my suit.

_Off._ I do; and charge you in the duke's name to obey me.          70

_Ang._ This touches me in reputation.
Either consent to pay this sum for me,
Or I attach you by this officer.

_Ant. E._ Consent to pay thee that I never had!
Arrest me, foolish fellow, if thou darest.                          75

_Ang._ Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer.
I would not spare my brother in this case,
If he should scorn me so apparently.

_Off._ I do arrest you, sir: you hear the suit.

_Ant. E._ I do obey thee till I give thee bail.                     80
But, sirrah, you shall buy this sport as dear
As all the metal in your shop will answer.

_Ang._ Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus,
To your notorious shame; I doubt it not.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_, from the bay._

_Dro. S._ Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum                      85
That stays but till her owner comes aboard,
And then, sir, she bears away. Our fraughtage, sir,
I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought
The oil, the balsamum, and aqua-vitae.
The ship is in her trim; the merry wind                             90
Blows fair from land: they stay for nought at all
But for their owner, master, and yourself.

_Ant. E._ How now! a madman! Why, thou peevish sheep,
What ship of Epidamnum stays for me?

_Dro. S._ A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage.                   95

_Ant. E._ Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for a rope,
And told thee to what purpose and what end.

_Dro. S._ You sent me for a rope's end as soon:
You sent me to the bay, sir, for a bark.

_Ant. E._ I will debate this matter at more leisure,               100
And teach your ears to list me with more heed.
To Adriana, villain, hie thee straight:
Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk
That's cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry
There is a purse of ducats; let her send it:                       105
Tell her I am arrested in the street,
And that shall bail me: hie thee, slave, be gone!
On, officer, to prison till it come.

    [_Exeunt Sec. Merchant, Angelo, Officer, and Ant. E._

_Dro. S._ To Adriana! that is where we dined,
Where Dowsabel did claim me for her husband:                       110
She is too big, I hope, for me to compass.
Thither I must, although against my will,
For servants must their masters' minds fulfil.    [_Exit._



  NOTES: IV, 1.

  8: _growing_] _owing_ Pope.
  12: _Pleaseth you_] Ff. _Please you but_ Pope. _Please it you_
    Anon. conj.
  14: _may you_] F1 F2 F3. _you may_ F4.
  17: _her_] Rowe. _their_ Ff. _these_ Collier MS.
  26: _and_] om. Pope.
  28: _carat_] Pope. _charect_ F1. _Raccat_ F2 F3 F4. _caract_ Collier.
  29: _chargeful_] _charge for_ Anon. conj.
  41: _time enough_] _in time_ Hanmer.
  46: _stays_] _stay_ Pope.
  _this_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
  47: _to blame_] F3. _too blame_ F1 F2 F4.
  53: _the chain!_] Dyce. _the chain,_ Ff. _the chain--_ Johnson.
  56: _Either_] _Or_ Pope.
  _me by_] _by me_ Heath conj.
  60: _whether_] _whe'r_ Ff. _where_ Rowe. _if_ Pope.
  62: _what_] F1. _why_ F2 F3 F4.
  67: _more_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
  70: Printed as verse by Capell.
  73: _this_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
  74: _thee_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4. _for_ Rowe.
  85: SCENE II. Pope.
  _there is_] Pope. _there's_ Ff.
  87: _And then, sir,_] F1. _Then, sir,_ F2 F3 F4. _And then_ Capell.
  _she_] om. Steevens.
  88: _bought_] F1. _brought_ F2 F3 F4.
  98: _You sent me_] _A rope! You sent me_ Capell.
    _You sent me, Sir,_ Steevens.


SCENE II.

The house of _ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus_.

  _Enter ADRIANA and LUCIANA._

_Adr._ Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
    Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye
That he did plead in earnest? yea or no?
    Look'd he or red or pale, or sad or merrily?
What observation madest thou, in this case,                          5
Of his heart's meteors tilting in his face?

_Luc._ First he denied you had in him no right.

_Adr._ He meant he did me none; the more my spite.

_Luc._ Then swore he that he was a stranger here.

_Adr._ And true he swore, though yet forsworn he were.              10

_Luc._ Then pleaded I for you.

_Adr._                       And what said he?

_Luc._ That love I begg'd for you he begg'd of me.

_Adr._ With what persuasion did he tempt thy love?

_Luc._ With words that in an honest suit might move.
First he did praise my beauty, then my speech.                      15

_Adr._ Didst speak him fair?

_Luc._                      Have patience, I beseech.

_Adr._ I cannot, nor I will not, hold me still;
My tongue, though not my heart, shall have his will.
He is deformed, crooked, old, and sere,
Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere;                      20
Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
Stigmatical in making, worse in mind.

_Luc._ Who would be jealous, then, of such a one?
No evil lost is wail'd when it is gone.

_Adr._ Ah, but I think him better than I say,                       25
    And yet would herein others' eyes were worse.
Far from her nest the lapwing cries away:
    My heart prays for him, though my tongue do curse.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_._

_Dro. S._ Here! go; the desk, the purse! sweet, now, make haste.

_Luc._ How hast thou lost thy breath?

_Dro. S._                            By running fast.               30

_Adr._ Where is thy master, Dromio? is he well?

_Dro. S._ No, he's in Tartar limbo, worse than hell.
A devil in an everlasting garment hath him;
One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel;
A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough;                                35
A wolf, nay, worse; a fellow all in buff;
A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that countermands
The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands;
A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry-foot well;
One that, before the Judgment, carries poor souls to hell.          40

_Adr._ Why, man, what is the matter?

_Dro. S._ I do not know the matter: he is 'rested on the case.

_Adr._ What, is he arrested? Tell me at whose suit.

_Dro. S._ I know not at whose suit he is arrested well;
But he's in a suit of buff which 'rested him, that can I tell.      45
Will you send him, mistress, redemption, the money in his desk?

_Adr._ Go fetch it, sister. [_Exit Luciana._] This I wonder at,
That he, unknown to me, should be in debt.
Tell me, was he arrested on a band?

_Dro. S._ Not on a band, but on a stronger thing;                   50
A chain, a chain! Do you not hear it ring?

_Adr._ What, the chain?

_Dro. S._ No, no, the bell: 'tis time that I were gone:
It was two ere I left him, and now the clock strikes one.

_Adr._ The hours come back! that did I never hear.                  55

_Dro. S._ O, yes; if any hour meet a sergeant, 'a turns back
        for very fear.

_Adr._ As if Time were in debt! how fondly dost thou reason!

_Dro. S._ Time is a very bankrupt, and owes more than he's
        worth to season.
Nay, he's a thief too: have you not heard men say,
That Time comes stealing on by night and day?                       60
If Time be in debt and theft, and a sergeant in the way,
Hath he not reason to turn back an hour in a day?

  _Re-enter LUCIANA with a purse._

_Adr._ Go, Dromio; there's the money, bear it straight;
  And bring thy master home immediately.
Come, sister: I am press'd down with conceit,--                     65
  Conceit, my comfort and my injury.

    [_Exeunt._



  NOTES: IV, 2.

  SCENE II.] SCENE III. Pope.
  2: _austerely_] _assuredly_ Heath conj.
  4: _or sad or_] _sad_ Capell.
  _merrily_] _merry_ Collier MS.
  6: _Of_] F2 F3 F4. _Oh,_ F1.
  7: _you_] _you; you_ Capell.
  _no_] _a_ Rowe.
  18: _his_] _it's_ Rowe.
  22: _in mind_] F1. _the mind_ F2 F3 F4.
  26: _herein_] _he in_ Hanmer.
  29: SCENE IV. Pope.
  _sweet_] _swift_ Collier MS.
  33: _hath him_] _hath him fell_ Collier MS. _hath him by the heel_
    Spedding conj.
  34: _One_] F2 F3 F4. _On_ F1.
  After this line Collier MS. inserts: _Who knows no touch of mercy,
    cannot feel_.
  35: _fury_] Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). _Fairie_ Ff.
  37: _countermands_] _commands_ Theobald.
  38: _of_] _and_ Collier MS.
  _alleys_] _allies_ Ff.
  _lands_] _lanes_ Grey conj. See note (V).
  37, 38: _countermands The ... lands_] _his court maintains I' the
    ... lanes_ Becket conj.
  42, 45: _'rested_] Theobald. _rested_ Ff.
  43: _Tell_] _Well, tell_ Edd. conj.
  44: _arrested well;_] F1. _arrested, well;_ F2 F3.
    _arrested: well:_ F4.
  45: _But he's_] F3 F4. _But is_ F1 F2. _But 'a's_ Edd. conj.
  _can I_] F1 F2. _I can_ F3 F4.
  46: _mistress, redemption_] Hanmer. _Mistris redemption_ F1 F2 F3.
    _Mistris Redemption_ F4. See note (VI).
  48: _That_] _Thus_ F1.
  49, 50: _band_] _bond_ Rowe.
  50: _but on_] _but_ Pope.
  54-62: Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
  55: _hear_] _here_ F1.
  56: _'a turns_] _it turns_ Pope. _he turns_ Capell.
  58: _bankrupt_] _bankrout_ Ff.
  _to season_] om. Pope.
  61: _Time_] Rowe. _I_ Ff. _he_ Malone. _'a_ Staunton.
  62: _an hour_] _any hour_ Collier MS.



Act III, scene ii; Act IV, scenes i-ii
Inside the house, Luciana and Antipholus of Syracuse are alone together. Luciana rebukes the man she believes to be her brother-in-law for not treating Adriana well; if he must betray his wife, she pleads, he should at least do it secretly. Antipholus S., meanwhile, insists that he is not Adriana's husband and then professes his love for Luciana. Appalled, she flees to find her sister. Dromio of Syracuse joins his master and recounts how the kitchen maid, Nell, mistook him for her husband . Nell, as the Syracusan Dromio tells it, is a prodigiously fat, ugly, and fearsome woman, and he and his master have a good laugh at her expense. Then, Antipholus S. tells his slave that he intends to depart from Ephesus immediately and sends him to the harbor to book passage. Once Dromio is gone, his master ponders the beauty of Luciana but resolves not to be tempted to remain in the city, since "none but witches do inhabit here". As he stands in thought, Angelo the goldsmith comes in and, mistaking him for Antipholus of Ephesus, gives him the gold chain that the Ephesian Antipholus had ordered, promising to stop by later to collect payment. Angelo, we learn, is in debt to a Second Merchant, who threatens to arrest him unless the money is paid. The goldsmith promises to collect the sum from Antipholus of Ephesus, who he sees walking down the street with Dromio of Ephesus. Antipholus E. sends his slave off to buy rope, with which he plans to beat his wife and servants for locking him out of the house at the last meal. Next, he greets Angelo, who asks to be paid for his gold chain. Antipholus, of course, never received the chain, and refuses to pay, so Angelo has him arrested. At that moment, Dromio of Syracuse returns from the harbor, and mistaking Antipholus E. for his master, tells him which ships are ready to sail. Cursing, Antipholus orders him to be silent and sends him to Adriana to fetch a purse of money with which to pay his way out of jail. Meanwhile, Luciana has told Adriana about how her "husband" declared his love for her and pledges her innocence of any illicit behavior. Adriana curses Antipholus furiously but admits to still feeling some love for him. Dromio of Syracuse dashes in to report that Antipholus has been arrested and needs money; Adriana sends Luciana to fetch it and then orders Dromio to hurry and save her husband from prison.
ii - Commentary Her encounter with Antipholus of Syracuse provides an occasion for Luciana to expound again on her philosophy of marriage. She rebukes him for not being faithful and then says, "If you like elsewhere, do it by stealth; / Muffle your false love with some show of blindness ." In other words, cheat if you must but at least pretend that you still love her, and don't get caught philandering. This assumption that men will have affairs, and that it is better not to know about them, fits in well with Luciana's world of docile women and dominating men, but it has unsettling implications in this case, since Antipholus is professing his love for her. By suggesting that her brother-in-law can commit adultery as long as he is not caught, one might argue, she implicitly suggests her own openness to his entreaties. For his part, Antipholus' speech declaring his love for her has a touching desperation to it. The language, which promises his submission to her )," suggests a relationship that reverses Luciana's professed ideal of feminine obedience. In a sense, Antipholus seems to be using his infatuation to achieve what his search for his brother has not granted him--namely, a sense of self. "Transform me then," he entreats her, "and to your power I'll yield . " If the enchantments of Ephesus threaten to strip him of his identity, then his love for Luciana offers it back to him through the re-creative powers of love. From this revealing scene, we shift immediately to the uproariously funny exchange between Antipholus and his Dromio, in which Dromio uses geographical references to describe the ugliness of Nell , who has mistaken him for her husband. "In what part of her body stands Ireland?" his master asks. "Marry, sir, in her buttocks," the slave replies. "I found it out by the bogs." "Where Scotland?" Antipholus continues and gets the reply: "I found it by the barrenness; hard in the palm of her hand" . The dialogue continues through France, England, Spain, and the Indies, culminating in Antipholus' question: "Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands?" and his man's reply: "O, sir! I did not look so low ." This is Dromio S. in his finest form, telling raunchy jokes with obvious glee. What follows is pure plot, as the playwright contrives to entangle his characters in a bewildering web of errors culminating with the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus. Adriana's response to the news is telling--having just been told that her husband tried to commit adultery with her own sister, she nevertheless reaffirms her love for him and sends money to free him immediately. The transience of her jealousy is appropriate to the play, since all negative emotions in a comedy must be transient in order to prepare for the happy ending.