The Comedy of Errors Act 2 – “Since that my beauty cannot please his eye, I'll weep what's left away, and weeping die."

The Comedy of Errors Act 2 – “Since that my beauty cannot please his eye, I'll weep what's left away, and weeping die.”

The original staging of ‘The Comedy of Errors’ must have been interesting. The play is so dependent on quick appearances and disappearances and lightning scene changes that we must assume that with Shakespeare working with a company of 17 actors at this point, and 17 parts in ‘The Comedy of Errors’, then each actor probably only played one part this time. This would have been very different to ‘Henry VI Part 2’ which has over 50 parts and with the company maybe having expanded to 20 people at that point, most bit part players would have played 2 to 5 parts each. I have seen ‘The Comedy of Errors’ done with a set almost completely composed of doors but my guess is that a separate curtained area, a bit like a Roman comedy, was originally used at The Rose where it was probably performed.

In Act 2, the confusion of earlier scenes proliferates. Adriana is upset because Antipholus (her husband) has not returned home yet. Her sister, Luciana thinks he is out eating and enjoying himself somewhere, and she believes this is fine because Luciana believes, “A man is master of his own liberty…” But Adriana forthrightly questions, “Why should their liberty than ours be more?” Ironically, she then counsels her sister Luciana to marry so that Luciana will not be so subservient and thus have more power and willfulness.

Dromio (Antipholus’ and Adriana’s servant) enters and begins to tell Adriana of his strange conversation with Antipholus and his impression that Antipholus is mad:

“I mean not cuckold-mad;

But, sure, he is stark mad.

When I desired him to come home to dinner,

He ask'd me for a thousand marks in gold:

''Tis dinner-time,' quoth I; 'My gold!' quoth he;

'Your meat doth burn,' quoth I; 'My gold!' quoth he:

'Will you come home?' quoth I; 'My gold!' quoth he.

'Where is the thousand marks I gave thee, villain?'

'The pig,' quoth I, 'is burn'd;' 'My gold!' quoth he:

'My mistress, sir' quoth I; 'Hang up thy mistress!

I know not thy mistress; out on thy mistress…

For, in conclusion, he did beat me there.”

Adriana is not impressed and she demands that he return with his master or she will beat him here as well. Dromio protests that he does not want to be “new beaten home” but Adriana beats him anyway out the door.

Then Adriana complains bitterly to Luciana that her husband has abandoned her and treated her badly and that he should return with Dromio.

“His company must do his minions grace,

Whilst I at home starve for a merry look.

Hath homely age the alluring beauty took

From my poor cheek? then he hath wasted it:

Are my discourses dull? barren my wit?

If voluble and sharp discourse be marr'd,

Unkindness blunts it more than marble hard:

Do their gay vestments his affections bait?

That's not my fault: he's master of my state:

What ruins are in me that can be found,

By him not ruin'd? then is he the ground

Of my defeatures. My decayed fair

A sunny look of his would soon repair

But, too unruly deer, he breaks the pale

And feeds from home; poor I am but his stale.”

Finally, she convinces herself that he is seeing another woman because she is no longer beautiful and she decides,

“Since that my beauty cannot please his eye,

I'll weep what's left away, and weeping die.”

Luciana ends the scene alone rhetorically declaring:

“How many fond fools serve mad jealousy!”

Antipholus (the one from Syracuse who is “… in Ephesus but two hours old…”) who has been waiting for Dromio of Syracuse berates him, when he arrives, based on the conversation he had with the other Dromio. Dromio of Syracuse thinks that Antipholus is joking until the harsh reality of a beating knocks him back to the confusion of reality which is further confused by a plethora of puns about baldness and hair loss. 

Then Adriana and Luciana enter and the waters become truly muddied. Adriana, of course, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband, promptly complains of his infidelity and demands to know why he did not return with Dromio earlier. When Dromio rejects having ever met Adriana, Antipholus suspiciously does not believe Dromio since his previous conversation with Dromio (who was really Dromio of Ephesus) shows him to be a liar or a madman. Adriana knows an intimate dinner will solve everything and takes command of the situation:

“Come, come, no longer will I be a fool,

To put the finger in the eye and weep,

Whilst man and master laugh my woes to scorn.

Come, sir, to dinner. Dromio, keep the gate.

Husband, I'll dine above with you to-day

And shrive you of a thousand idle pranks.

Sirrah, if any ask you for your master,

Say he dines forth, and let no creature enter.

Come, sister. Dromio, play the porter well.”