feat_summary_path: finished_summaries/sparknotes/The Comedy of Errors/section_4_part_0.txt
feat_book_id: The Comedy of Errors.act 4.scenes 3-4
feat_summary_id: act 4, scenes 3-4
feat_summary: {"name": "Act IV, scenes iii-iv", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210224233119/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/errors/section5/", "summary": "Antipholus of Syracuse, exploring the city, remarks that people he has never met are continually greeting him, thanking him for favors, showing him goods he has ordered, and so on. Dromio of Syracuse dashes up to him, carrying the gold that Adriana sent to free Antipholus of Ephesus from jail. This Antipholus, of course, has no idea why his servant is bringing him money and immediately asks Dromio whether there are ships in the harbor on which they can book passage out of Ephesus. As master and slave converse, the Courtesan, at whose home Antipholus of Ephesus ate dinner, comes upon them and asks Antipholus S. for a ring that he borrowed from her during the meal. He and Dromio decide that she is a witch and flee, leaving the Courtesan convinced that he is mad. She resolves to go to Adriana's home and tell her that her husband has stolen the ring and demand repayment. Meanwhile, Dromio of Ephesus encounters Antipholus of Ephesus in an officer's custody. His master demands to know where the money is to pay his way out of jail; Dromio, baffled, replies that he has brought the rope's end that Antipholus had earlier sent him to buy. Antipholus flies into a rage and tries to assault his slave, halting only at the sudden appearance of Adriana, Luciana, the Courtesan, and a would-be sorcerer named Doctor Pinch. The women plan to have the doctor use exorcism to cure Antipholus' supposed madness. Antipholus protests, and he argues with Adriana: she claims that he dined at home, while her husband  tells her that he was shut out of his own house. Pinch declares that both master and slave are mad, and they are bound and taken to Adriana's house; Adriana promises the officer to make good all her husband's debts. He tells her that Antipholus owes money to Angelo the goldsmith for a gold chain, and the Courtesan says that she saw Antipholus with the item; Adriana, of course, has never seen the chain. As they talk, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse rush in with drawn swords, and everyone else flees, mistaking them for Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus, who, they assume, have escaped from Pinch. Remarking that even witches are afraid of swords, the Syracusan Antipholus orders his slave to take their belongings on board a ship.", "analysis": "iv - Commentary The portrait of Ephesus as a place of enchantments continues through these scenes. Antipholus of Ephesus' bafflement at being hailed on the street by complete strangers leads him to comment that \"sure, these are but imaginary wiles, / and Lapland sorcerers inhabit here .\" His decision to blame \"Lapland sorcerers,\" however, seems to mask a deeper insecurity, since his reference to \"imaginary wiles\"  suggests that he may be beginning to doubt his own sanity. As his sense of self erodes, his hysteria mounts and his panic at the Courtesan's rather innocuous words and subsequent decision to run around with a drawn sword suggests a man teetering on the brink of panic. But, as the confusing events multiply and the conflicting stories offered by Antipholus of Ephesus and Adriana come into conflict , even the Ephesians themselves become convinced that magic is afoot--or, rather, madness that can be cured by magic. The magic is absurd rather than sinister, however: Antipholus of Syracuse's forebodings about sorcerers and witches are realized only in the ludicrous mountebank Doctor Pinch, whose incantation ) reminds the audience of the blurred lines that define the setting--he offers a Christian prayer in a supposedly pre-Christian city. The character of the Doctor--who is described, somewhat oddly, as a schoolmaster and a conjurer--defines the comic tone of the play. In Shakespeare's tragedies , magic is a destructive force; here, sorcery is a hobby of schoolteachers and, ultimately, a sham."}
text: SCENE III.
  
  A public place.
  
    _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse_._
  
  _Ant. S._ There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
  As if I were their well-acquainted friend;
  And every one doth call me by my name.
  Some tender money to me; some invite me;
  Some other give me thanks for kindnesses;                            5
  Some offer me commodities to buy;--
  Even now a tailor call'd me in his shop,
  And show'd me silks that he had bought for me,
  And therewithal took measure of my body.
  Sure, these are but imaginary wiles,                                10
  And Lapland sorcerers inhabit here.
  
    _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_._
  
  _Dro. S._ Master, here's the gold you sent me for.--
  What, have you got the picture of old Adam new-apparelled?
  
  _Ant. S._ What gold is this? what Adam dost thou mean?
  
  _Dro. S._ Not that Adam that kept the Paradise, but that            15
  Adam that keeps the prison: he that goes in the calf's skin
  that was killed for the Prodigal; he that came behind you,
  sir, like an evil angel, and bid you forsake your liberty.
  
  _Ant. S._ I understand thee not.
  
  _Dro. S._ No? why, 'tis a plain case: he that went, like a          20
  base-viol, in a case of leather; the man, sir, that, when
  gentlemen are tired, gives them a sob, and 'rests them; he, sir,
  that takes pity on decayed men, and gives them suits of
  durance; he that sets up his rest to do more exploits with
  his mace than a morris-pike.                                        25
  
  _Ant. S._ What, thou meanest an officer?
  
  _Dro. S._ Ay, sir, the sergeant of the band; he that
  brings any man to answer it that breaks his band; one that
  thinks a man always going to bed, and says, 'God give you
  good rest!'                                                         30
  
  _Ant. S._ Well, sir, there rest in your foolery. Is there
  any ship puts forth to-night? may we be gone?
  
  _Dro. S._ Why, sir, I brought you word an hour since,
  that the bark Expedition put forth to-night; and then were
  you hindered by the sergeant, to tarry for the hoy Delay.           35
  Here are the angels that you sent for to deliver you.
  
  _Ant. S._ The fellow is distract, and so am I;
  And here we wander in illusions:
  Some blessed power deliver us from hence!
  
    _Enter a _Courtezan_._
  
  _Cour._ Well met, well met, Master Antipholus.                      40
  I see, sir, you have found the goldsmith now:
  Is that the chain you promised me to-day?
  
  _Ant. S._ Satan, avoid! I charge thee, tempt me not.
  
  _Dro. S._ Master, is this Mistress Satan?
  
  _Ant. S._ It is the devil.                                          45
  
  _Dro. S._ Nay, she is worse, she is the devil's dam; and
  here she comes in the habit of a light wench: and thereof
  comes that the wenches say, 'God damn me;' that's as
  much to say, 'God make me a light wench.' It is written,
  they appear to men like angels of light: light is an effect of      50
  fire, and fire will burn; ergo, light wenches will burn. Come
  not near her.
  
  _Cour._ Your man and you are marvellous merry, sir.
  Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner here?
  
  _Dro. S._ Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat; or bespeak          55
  a long spoon.
  
  _Ant. S._ Why, Dromio?
  
  _Dro. S._ Marry, he must have a long spoon that must
  eat with the devil.
  
  _Ant. S._ Avoid then, fiend! what tell'st thou me of supping?       60
  Thou art, as you are all, a sorceress:
  I conjure thee to leave me and be gone.
  
  _Cour._ Give me the ring of mine you had at dinner,
  Or, for my diamond, the chain you promised,
  And I'll be gone, sir, and not trouble you.                         65
  
  _Dro. S._ Some devils ask but the parings of one's nail,
  A rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin,
  A nut, a cherry-stone;
  But she, more covetous, would have a chain.
  Master, be wise: an if you give it her,                             70
  The devil will shake her chain, and fright us with it.
  
  _Cour._ I pray you, sir, my ring, or else the chain:
  I hope you do not mean to cheat me so.
  
  _Ant. S._ Avaunt, thou witch! --Come, Dromio, let us go.
  
  _Dro. S._ 'Fly pride,' says the peacock: mistress, that you know.
  
      [_Exeunt Ant. S. and Dro. S._                                   75
  
  _Cour._ Now, out of doubt Antipholus is mad,
  Else would he never so demean himself.
  A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats,
  And for the same he promised me a chain:
  Both one and other he denies me now.                                80
  The reason that I gather he is mad,--
  Besides this present instance of his rage,--
  Is a mad tale he told to-day at dinner,
  Of his own doors being shut against his entrance.
  Belike his wife, acquainted with his fits,                          85
  On purpose shut the doors against his way.
  My way is now to his home to his house,
  And tell his wife that, being lunatic,
  He rush'd into my house, and took perforce
  My ring away. This course I fittest choose;                         90
  For forty ducats is too much to lose.    [_Exit._
  
  
  
    NOTES: IV, 3.
  
    SCENE III.] SCENE V. Pope.
    13: _What, have_] Pope. _What have_ Ff.
    _got_] _got rid of_ Theobald. _not_ Anon. conj.
    16: _calf's skin_] _calves-skin_ Ff.
    22: _sob_] _fob_ Rowe. _bob_ Hanmer. _sop_ Dyce conj.
      _stop_ Grant White.
    _'rests_] Warburton. _rests_ Ff.
    25: _morris_] _Moris_ Ff. _Maurice_ Hanmer (Warburton).
    28: _band_] _bond_ Rowe.
    29: _says_] Capell. _saies_ F1. _saieth_ F2. _saith_ F3 F4.
    32: _ship_] F2 F3 F4. _ships_ F1.
    34: _put_] _puts_ Pope.
    40: SCENE VI. Pope.
    44-62: Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
    47-49: _and ... wench.'_] Marked as spurious by Capell, MS.
    48, 49: _as much_] _as much as_ Pope.
    54: _me? ... here?_] _me, ... here?_ Ff. _me? ... here._ Steevens.
    55: _if you do, expect_] F2 F3 F4. _if do expect_ F1.
    _or_] om. Rowe. _so_ Capell. _either stay away, or_ Malone conj.
      _and_ Ritson conj. _Oh!_ Anon. conj.
    60: _then_] F1 F2 F3. _thou_ F4. _thee_ Dyce.
    61: _are all_] _all are_ Boswell.
    66-71: Printed as prose by Ff, as verse by Capell, ending the
      third line at _covetous_.
    75: Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
    76: SCENE VII. Pope.
    84: _doors_] _door_ Johnson.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  
  
feat_summary_name: Act IV, scenes iii-iv
target: Antipholus of Syracuse, exploring the city, remarks that people he has never met are continually greeting him, thanking him for favors, showing him goods he has ordered, and so on. Dromio of Syracuse dashes up to him, carrying the gold that Adriana sent to free Antipholus of Ephesus from jail. This Antipholus, of course, has no idea why his servant is bringing him money and immediately asks Dromio whether there are ships in the harbor on which they can book passage out of Ephesus. As master and slave converse, the Courtesan, at whose home Antipholus of Ephesus ate dinner, comes upon them and asks Antipholus S. for a ring that he borrowed from her during the meal. He and Dromio decide that she is a witch and flee, leaving the Courtesan convinced that he is mad. She resolves to go to Adriana's home and tell her that her husband has stolen the ring and demand repayment. Meanwhile, Dromio of Ephesus encounters Antipholus of Ephesus in an officer's custody. His master demands to know where the money is to pay his way out of jail; Dromio, baffled, replies that he has brought the rope's end that Antipholus had earlier sent him to buy. Antipholus flies into a rage and tries to assault his slave, halting only at the sudden appearance of Adriana, Luciana, the Courtesan, and a would-be sorcerer named Doctor Pinch. The women plan to have the doctor use exorcism to cure Antipholus' supposed madness. Antipholus protests, and he argues with Adriana: she claims that he dined at home, while her husband  tells her that he was shut out of his own house. Pinch declares that both master and slave are mad, and they are bound and taken to Adriana's house; Adriana promises the officer to make good all her husband's debts. He tells her that Antipholus owes money to Angelo the goldsmith for a gold chain, and the Courtesan says that she saw Antipholus with the item; Adriana, of course, has never seen the chain. As they talk, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse rush in with drawn swords, and everyone else flees, mistaking them for Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus, who, they assume, have escaped from Pinch. Remarking that even witches are afraid of swords, the Syracusan Antipholus orders his slave to take their belongings on board a ship.
feat_summary_analysis: iv - Commentary The portrait of Ephesus as a place of enchantments continues through these scenes. Antipholus of Ephesus' bafflement at being hailed on the street by complete strangers leads him to comment that "sure, these are but imaginary wiles, / and Lapland sorcerers inhabit here ." His decision to blame "Lapland sorcerers," however, seems to mask a deeper insecurity, since his reference to "imaginary wiles"  suggests that he may be beginning to doubt his own sanity. As his sense of self erodes, his hysteria mounts and his panic at the Courtesan's rather innocuous words and subsequent decision to run around with a drawn sword suggests a man teetering on the brink of panic. But, as the confusing events multiply and the conflicting stories offered by Antipholus of Ephesus and Adriana come into conflict , even the Ephesians themselves become convinced that magic is afoot--or, rather, madness that can be cured by magic. The magic is absurd rather than sinister, however: Antipholus of Syracuse's forebodings about sorcerers and witches are realized only in the ludicrous mountebank Doctor Pinch, whose incantation ) reminds the audience of the blurred lines that define the setting--he offers a Christian prayer in a supposedly pre-Christian city. The character of the Doctor--who is described, somewhat oddly, as a schoolmaster and a conjurer--defines the comic tone of the play. In Shakespeare's tragedies , magic is a destructive force; here, sorcery is a hobby of schoolteachers and, ultimately, a sham.