The Comedy of Errors

by Kent Cartwright

  110–11 *name … ell The kitchen wench is ‘a Nell’, that is, ‘aN ell’. An ell was a length of 45 inches (OED n.1 1a); thus, Nell, from hip to hip (112), measures more than her name, an ell, by at least an additional three-quarters (altogether, over six feet). This reading derives from Theobald’s emendation of F’s ‘name is’ to name and. Nell’s sphericalness may be inspired by the name of Men.’s cook, Cylindrus (Oxf1).

  116–44 spherical … low Correlations between body and geography amused Elizabethans. Among numerous Shakespearean examples, Falstaff in MW celebrates Mistress Page as ‘a region in Guiana, all gold and bounty’ (1.3.69). Cf. Donne’s love poems, such as ‘Elegy 2: To His Mistress Going to Bed’ (‘Oh my America, my new found land’, swoons the lover before his naked mistress (27)).

  116 globe perhaps prompted by a recent public interest in cartographic globes. The first English ones, made by Emery Molyneux, appeared in 1592, although Germany had manufactured them since the early 1500s. Molyneux ‘Englished’ his globe by showing the circumnavigational routes of Sir Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish, by displaying an English coat of arms on North America and by marking English discoveries (see Cohen, 46–57). See Appendix 1, and 4.1.111 and n.

  117 find out countries perhaps as in a grammar school exercise; at Westminster School, in 1630, for example, seventh-form students ‘ “practised to describe and find out cities and countries in the mappes” ’ (Baldwin, Small Latine, 1.360).

  110–11 and … 2quarters–] Theobald subst. (Thirlby, per Theobald); is three quarters, that’s an Ell … quarters, F

  121 bogs wet, spongy ground, typical in Ireland. ‘[N]o doubt’ bogs here means anus (Williams, Glossary, 47); it reflects an Elizabethan linking of Irish ‘savagery’ and ‘anality’ (Hadfield, 54). Also bogs probably puns on ‘bog’ as ‘boggard’, meaning a privy (OED bog n.4, although ‘bog’ is not recorded as a short form until 1789).

  123–4 with barrenness as a ‘conventional English slur’ on Scotland’s ‘alleged unfruitfulness and poverty’ (Oxf1); hard means ‘exactly’ (Ard1) but also refers to the calluses on a kitchen-maid’s hands (Cam1). Nell’s dry hand signals infertility, in contrast to the proverb ‘A moist hand argues fruitfulness’ (Tilley, H86) (Ard1). Cf. 4.2.19 and n., on sere; MA 2.1.118, TN 1.3.73.

  126–7 Dromio makes two jokes: one involving Nell’s scabs and lost hair from syphilis (the French disease, as recorded by Johnson); the other invoking French religious wars over succession (Theobald) (see 127n., on hair). Syphilis functions here as a metaphor for civil war. For allusions to venereal disease, see 2.2.85–6n.

  126 forehead with the connotation of audacity, impudence (OED n. 2b), referring to the succession war in France; see 127n., on hair. On forehead, see 2.2.142n.

  armed furnished with weaponry; also perhaps ‘covered with encrusted eruptions’ of pustules from venereal disease (Johnson); on such disease imagery, see 2.2.85–6n.

  127 reverted revolted, rebelled (Crystal & Crystal, adj.); returned to its original possessors (OED v. 3), those being Catholics in the case of the French succession wars (see next note); also ‘turned the wrong way’, ‘reversed’ (OED reverted adj. 2, first citation).

  *hair F2’s emendation of F’s ‘heire’ to hair maintains Dromio’s metaphor, with a pun on ‘heir’ (‘heire’ is a spelling variant of both hair and ‘heir’), referring to the war of succession in France involving the then-Protestant Henri of Navarre as the heir to the Catholic King Henri III (Theobald); see Appendix 1.

  129 chalky cliffs i.e. Nell’s teeth (Cam1), alluding to the white cliffs of Dover

  124 her] Rowe; the F 127 reverted] revolted White hair] F2; heire F

  131 by judging by (Norton)

  salt rheum mucus discharged from the nose (OED salt rheum n. 1, first citation), or perhaps perspiration (given Nell’s fatness), or even watering of the eyes (Oxf1) (cf. Oth 3.4.51); rheum stands for the English Channel.

  134–5 hot … breath probably referring to hot Spanish winds (the humid year-round Sirocco from the south or the dry summer Terral from the north); perhaps breath heated by spicy Spanish food (hotness was associated with the Spanish disposition; see e.g. Heywood, Stuckeley, 13.93); perhaps the fiery threats of Catholic Spain against England (Malone).

  136 America Shakespeare’s only reference to America, known for its wealth and for the syphilis that spread to Europe (Williams, Glossary, 27)

  Indies the western hemispheric lands discovered by Europeans in the 15th and 16th centuries, thought to be part of India (OED n. pl. 1). Indies came to represent figuratively a place yielding great wealth (OED 2); cf. MW 1.3.71–2.

  138–41 rubies … nose employing two images: (1) Nell’s nose, grossly spotted with pimples, pustules and boils, curving down towards her mouth (see 139n.); (2) America’s new world yielding valuable shiploads of luminous red and blue gems to Spanish conquerors. Gillies sees a mock reference to Marlowe’s treatment of maps as ‘images of desire’ (60).

  138 rubies rare and valuable precious stones varying in colour from deep crimson to pale red (OED n.1 1a); red facial pimples (OED 4)

  carbuncles large precious red stones (OED n. 1); inflammatory red skin lesions, boils, pustules (OED 3)

  139 declining bending down (implying a hooked nose (Wells)); perhaps bending from the weight of the nose’s riches, i.e. pustules (Oxf1). Cf. 44 and n., on decline.

  140 *armadas of carracks fleets of galleons. The application to Nell’s physiognomy is unclear, although the general sense may be that something offensive in Nell’s breath (bad odour?) finds it way to her nose. The term armadas recalls Philip II’s war fleet sent against England in 1588 (see also LLL’s Spaniard Don Armado; KJ 3.4.2); carracks were large ships of burden, fitted for war but also used for trading by the Portuguese and Spanish in the East Indies, i.e. galleons (OED n.); also at Oth 1.2.50.

  ballast i.e. ballasted (ppl.), ‘loaded’ (OED v. 4, first citation); perhaps the bad breath ‘loaded’ into Nell’s nose

  140 armadas] (Armadoes) carracks] (Carrects)

  142 Belgia the Low Countries; cf. 3H6 4.8.1.

  144 low The Low Countries as the genital region also occurs in 2H4 2.2.21–2 (Williams, Glossary, 195).

  145 diviner practitioner of divination, here sorceress; cf. Luciana as a goddess or siren.

  146 assured betrothed

  146–9 told … witch As in other works, the inexplicable possession of intimate personal knowledge can lead to a (here humorous) accusation of witchcraft; cf. Middleton, The Witch, 1.2.201–2.

  147 privy private, personal

  147–9 marks … arm Birthmarks are common identifying signs in romance; cf. TN 5.1.242.

  147–8 of … in = on … on

  149 as as if she were

  150–1 These lines occur as prose in F, but their scansion as loose fourteeners and their end-rhyme (steel/wheel) argue for verse, marking a transition from bawdy comic prose to normalizing blank verse (from 152).

  150 breast … steel alluding to the armour of the Christian knight, especially ‘the brest plate of righteousnesse’ and ‘the shielde of fayth’, donned in the struggle ‘agaynst worldy gouernours of the darknesse of this worlde’ (Ephesians, 6.14, 16, 12) (Ard2), passages sometimes cited to prove faith’s efficacy against witches and the devil; see e.g. Gifford (sig. C2v). The images ‘heart of steel’ and ‘true as steel’ are proverbial (Dent, H310.1; Tilley, S840) (Oxf1). Cf. 4.2.34 and n.

  151 curtal dog dog with a docked (curtailed) tail, thus not capable of running well (Ard1); also suggesting emasculation

  turn i’th’ wheel i.e. go round like a dog inside a treadmill turning a roasting spit in a kitchen (Hudson); proverbial (Tilley, M87) (Ard2)

  152 Go, hie … post On such repetition of verbs, see 26 and n.

  hie See 1.2.90n.

  presently immediately (OED adv. 1a); also at 5.1.31

  post
hurry, as does a post-rider (OED v. 2a, 1); cf. 1.2.63 and n.

  road place where ships ride safely at anchor, roadstead (OED n. 3a)

  153 An if An intensifies if (Abbott, 103); also at 4.1.43, 4.3.76.

  146 ‘Dromio’] this edn; Dromio F 150–1] Knight; prose F 150 faith] flint Hanmer 153 An] (And)

  154 harbour lodge (OED v. 1a)

  155 bark See 1.1.116n.

  158 trudge … gone three different ways of saying ‘leave’; trudge means ‘depart’ (OED v. 1c); cf. 26 and n.; 4.3.69. OED cites New Custom (1573): ‘Hence out of my sight, away, packing, trudge’ (1.2).

  159 On this action, see also KL 3.4.9 and, famously, WT 3.3.58 SD.

  161 witches applicable to both sexes (Ard1); see 1.2.100 and n. Antipholus’ notion later takes concrete form; see 4.3.49 and n.

  165 Possessed Cf. 2.2.146 and n.

  166 enchanting capturing Antipholus’ competing images of Luciana as beatific goddess and destructive siren (Ard2)

  discourse See 2.1.90n., on Are … dull.

  168 to of; perhaps compositorial eye-skip from to myself (167)

  169 See 45–52 and n. Sailors who listened to the sirens’ song cast themselves overboard; Odysseus stopped his sailors’ ears with wax, but he listened safely by having himself tied to the mast (Od., 12.165–80). The image was conventional: ‘To these mermaids and their bates of error / I stop mine ears’ (Psalms, 6.165–6, trans. Wyatt).

  170+ SP1] (Ang.) 170 Antipholus–] Theobald subst.; Antipholus. F Ay,] (I)

  171 perhaps with a one-beat pause after sir

  172 ta’en taken; i.e. overtaken; spelled tane in F. This consonant suppression occurs also at 5.1.387.

  the Porpentine See 3.1.116 and n.

  175 What please yourself whatever may please you (see Abbott, 254)

  178 Angelo may be subtly urging marital reconciliation.

  179 soon at supper-time soon at means ‘at about’; cf. ‘Soon at five o’clock’ (1.2.26 and n., on Soon at); a common Elizabethan supper-time was five o’clock. The phrase provides another time marker and anticipates the climactic convergence of characters.

  182 The line prepares for Angelo’s discomfiture in 4.1 (Ard2).

  183–90 Heroic couplets complete the scene.

  183 merry Angelo apparently recalls that Antipholus declared, after the lock-out, that he would be merry regardless of the circumstances (3.1.108). He repeats the term to Antipholus at 4.1.27 (see n., on merry). See also 1.2.21 and n., on merry jests.

  171 here’s] here is Pope 172 ta’en] (tane) 173 SD] Bevington4 175] Cam; prose F 176] Pope2; prose F sir?] Collier; sir, F; sir! Rowe

  185 vain foolish; cf. 27n.

  186 so … chain a chain offered so courteously (OED fair adv. 2a)

  187 shifts fraudulent schemes, subterfuges (OED n. 4a), as if Antipholus might practise them

  188 golden Cf. 48 and n., associating the mysterious ‘gift’ of the chain with Luciana’s aura of magic.

  189 I’ll to ‘I’ll go to’; the context supplies the active infinitive (OED will v.1 19a).

  190 straight See 1.1.86n.

  4.1 The scene takes place on the mart (as indicated at 5.1.262), although exactitude seems unnecessary.

  0.1 Second See List of Roles, 15n. The Second Merchant wishes to collect a debt from Angelo before departing for Persia; he and Antipholus are unacquainted (see stranger at 36; 5.1.4); also at 5.1.0.1.

  0.2 Officer See List of Roles, 16n.

  1 Pentecost The 50th day (seventh Sunday) after Easter, celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ’s disciples (Acts, 2.1–41); i.e. Whitsun. In 1 Corinthians, Paul remarks that he will tarry until Pentecost in Ephesus (16.8). Pentecost was associated with the payment of financial debt, and ‘Pentecostal’ sometimes meant a fixed payment by a parish to the bishop at Pentecost, or a payment by parishioners to their priest (OED n. 1; see Ollard, 454).

  2 since since then

  importuned impòrtuned

  3 Verse lines in the scene often favour monosyllabic words, apt for rapid-fire delivery.

  bound See 1.1.81n.

  4 Persia roughly, modern Iran. In Shakespeare’s day, Persia was identified not only with heroic military action (see Marlowe’s 1 Tamburlaine; also MV 2.1.25) but with luxury goods. Elizabethans traded with Persia for silks, carpets, shawls, pearls and precious stones (see e.g. Marlowe’s Jew of Malta, 1.1.88).

  guilders See 1.1.8n., on guilders.

  185 think:] Wells; thinke, F 190 straight,] Ard2; straight F away!] Kittredge; away. F 4.1] (Actus Quartus. Scoena Prima.); ACT IV. SCENE I. Rowe 0.1 Second Merchant] Dyce; a Merchant F; SECOND MERCHANT OF EPHESUS Riv 1+ SP] Dyce subst.; Mar. F; Mer. F2 1 SD] Oxf

  5 present immediate

  satisfaction payment in full of the debt (OED n. 1a); with -ion pronounced disyllabically; also at 5.1.253. The word launches a series of legalistic terms and phrases in the scene.

  6 attach arrest (on the authority of a writ of attachment); also at 73

  officer here, a bailiff, i.e. an official under a sheriff who executes writs and processes and makes arrests (OED bailiff 2); a private suitor could employ his services for a fee. The Officer is later called a sergeant (see 4.2.55, 60n.; sergeant also occurs at 4.3.31, 40; see 4.3.31n.).

  7 Even possibly ‘to be sure’ (OED adv. 8b); or possibly referring to the present moment, i.e. ‘only now’ (see Abbott, 38; also OED 9b); probably pronounced ‘e’en’

  8 growing accruing (OED grow v. 5b; see also OED accrue v. 2, 3); cf. 4.4.122, 135.

  10 chain the first of 13 occurrences of chain in this scene, making it an aural marker; in subsequent scenes, the chain will also function as a visual marker (see O’Donnell, 414–16).

  five o’clock the hour appointed for Egeon’s execution and for the meeting of other parties; see 1.2.26 and n., on five o’clock; 1.1.100n., on five.

  12 Pleaseth you ‘if it may please you to’; i.e. polite address. Pleaseth is third-person singular subjunctive (see Blake, 4.3.2.1.e).

  13 bond legal obligation of financial debt (OED n. 9a); bond is related to bound (see 1.1.81n.) and occurs in different forms and senses at 4.4.126; 5.1.250, 339 (bonds); 5.1.141, 288, 289 (bondman; see 5.1.288–91n.).

  13.1–2 wearing … ring The Courtesan’s ring now identifies Ephesian Antipholus, just as the chain will distinguish his twin brother; see also 4.4.0.1. Both signal misappropriation, and each will be returned ultimately to its rightful owner. In the latter part of the play, the ring is introduced as an important prop and a source of dispute; references to it occur at 4.3.70, 78, 84, 96; 4.4.0.1, 139, 140; 5.1.144, 185.1, 277, 278, 391, 392 SD. In Shakespeare, rings often have vaginal connotations (see Williams, Glossary, 260).

  13.3 from the Courtesan’s i.e. from her house, the Porpentine (see 3.1.116) a ‘fictional’ SD; cf. from the bay (84.1 and n.) and to the priory (5.1.37.1 and n.).

  7+ SP] Rowe (Ang.); Gold. F 8 growing] owing Pope 13.1 OF EPHESUS] Rowe subst.; Ephes. F 13.1–2 wearing … and] this edn 13.2 OF EPHESUS] Rowe subst.

  15–18 2go … day Antipholus plans to beat his wife (see 2.1.15 and n.). Wife-beating was repudiated by Elizabethan proponents of companionate marriage; for a man to beat his wife and to treat her ‘like a slave’ was to incur the ‘greatest shame that can be’, according to the ‘Homily on the State of Matrimony’ (Homilies, 545, 544); notwithstanding, Elizabethan husbands had a common-law right to beat their wives (Dolan, 33).

  16 rope’s end short section of rope used for flogging (OED rope’s end); also at 98. The item is introduced at 4.4.7.1 and named at 4.4.16; see also 4.4.44 and n. ‘Rope’ was also a slang word for penis (Levinson, 2.3.136n.; Levin, ‘Rope’), giving Antipholus’ aggression a sexual edge; rope’s end may allude to the phalluses and slapsticks of the commedia dell’arte tradition. The phrase occurs in Warn
er’s translation of Men. (34).

  will I I will; will (as opposed to ‘shall’) emphasizes volition.

  bestow distribute (Crystal & Crystal, v. 7) (cf. JC 1.3.151); confer as a gift (OED v. 6a), here used ironically. Previously, Antipholus had angrily declared his intention to bestow (3.1.117) the chain, meant for his wife, upon the Courtesan; now he intends to bestow a rope upon Adriana.

  17 confederates accomplices for unlawful purposes (OED n. 2). ‘Confederacy’ appears in cony-catching pamphlets associated with trickery and juggling, e.g. Rid, Art of Juggling (1612), sig. C1v (see Caputo, 318). Forms of the word recur with magical-trickster connotations at 4.4.103, 5.1.237.

  19 But soft See 2.2.115n., on But soft.

  21 i.e. sometimes I am sent to buy valuable items (i.e. a thousand pounds’ worth), now I am sent for something trivial (a rope); on thousand, cf. 1.1.21 and n., on a thousand marks. In addition, by buying a rope, Dromio will perhaps be securing a thousand ‘poundings’ of Adriana or himself from Antipholus (Jorgensen), although this reading forfeits a contrast of clauses. Despite its opacity, this exit line typically gets a laugh in the theatre. It scans metrically as a hexameter.

  22 holp up helped; archaic past tense (OED help v.)

  14+ SP] (Offi., Offic.) 15+ SP] (Ant., Eph.Ant., Anti., An.) 15 SD] Oxf 16 end. That] end, that F 17 her] Rowe; their F; these Collier2 (Collier, Notes) 21 SP] Malone subst. (Dro. E.); Dro. F year, … rope.] year! … rope? Collier3; year: … rope. Cam SD] (Exit Dromio) 22 SD] Oxf

  23 promised promisèd; i.e. to the Courtesan. Antipholus had asked the goldsmith to bring the chain to him at the Porpentine and declared that he would bestow it on the Courtesan (see 3.1.114–19; ‘he promised me a chain’, 4.3.85).

  25–6 our … it ‘our mutual loves of one for the other would last too long if they’. By love Antipholus presumably means friendship, but his image conveys a hint of sexual aggressiveness; cf. 48 and n.