The Comedy of Errors Famous Quotes

I to the world am like a drop of water That in the ocean seeks another drop.

Antipholus of Syracuse in Act 1, Scene 2, describing his search for his lost twin brother — the image of one drop seeking another in an ocean captures both the mission's difficulty and its emotional logic. It sets the play's dominant mood before the comedy begins.

The venom clamours of a jealous woman Poisons more deadly than a mad dog's tooth.

The Abbess in Act 5, Scene 1, diagnosing the cause of Antipholus of Ephesus's madness as his wife's jealous scolding — the diagnosis is spectacularly unfair to Adriana, but the Abbess, we later learn, is the lost mother of both Antipholus brothers.

Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.

Balthazar to Antipholus of Ephesus in Act 3, Scene 1, after they are locked out of Antipholus's own house — the proverb argues that hospitality matters more than food. The situation makes it grimly ironic.

They say this town is full of cozenage, As, nimble jugglers that deceive the eye.

Antipholus of Syracuse in Act 1, Scene 2, upon arriving in Ephesus — 'cozenage' is cheating. He expects to be deceived in the city, but the deceptions he encounters are entirely accidental and come from his own twin's life rather than criminals.

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity, We bid be quiet when we hear it cry; But were we burdened with like weight of pain.

Adriana in Act 2, Scene 1, on how easy it is to counsel calm in others' troubles — the argument is that patience is easier to advise than to feel, and she is addressing the gap between moral instruction and lived experience.

O, grief hath changed me since you saw me last, And careful hours with time's deformed hand Have written strange defeatures in my face.

Aegeon in Act 5, Scene 1, explaining to his son (who does not recognise him) why he looks so different — years of grief have aged him past recognition. The phrase 'time's deformed hand' is one of the most striking in the play.

There's nothing situate under heaven's eye But hath his bound, in earth, in sea, in sky.

Adriana to Luciana in Act 2, Scene 1, making the case for marital limits — everything has its proper boundary, she argues, so why should a husband be unbound? The speech establishes her as the play's most philosophically minded character.

If any Syracusian born Come to the bay of Ephesus, he dies.

The Duke announcing the law in Act 1, Scene 1 that condemns Aegeon — the political frame (Ephesus and Syracuse are at war, their citizens subject to execution) makes everything that happens in the comedy literally life-or-death.

Hath homely age the alluring beauty took From my poor cheek?

Adriana to herself in Act 2, Scene 1, worrying that age has made her less attractive to her husband — the anxiety is about appearance and loyalty simultaneously, and it anticipates the mistaken-identity comedy without knowing it.

What a coil is there, Dromio? who are those at the gate?

Luce from inside the house in Act 3, Scene 1, as Antipholus of Ephesus hammers on his own door — 'coil' means commotion. The comedy of the man locked out of his own life by his double's presence is the engine of the middle acts.

I know not by what power I am made bold, Nor how it may concern my modesty.

Antipholus of Syracuse to Luciana in Act 3, Scene 2, falling in love — the honesty about his own boldness, the uncertainty about what drives it, are as close to genuine romantic feeling as the play allows.

Am I in earth, in heaven, or in hell? Sleeping or waking? mad or well-advised?

Antipholus of Syracuse in Act 2, Scene 2, after Adriana has addressed him as her husband — his list of alternatives (earth, heaven, hell; sleeping, waking; mad, sane) covers every possibility except the real one.

Good Lord! how you have put the wrong! I think you are all mated or stark mad.

Adriana in Act 5, Scene 1, when the chaos has reached its peak and she cannot follow the explanations — 'mated' means confounded (as in checkmate), and the line names the play's dominant condition.

We came into the world like brother and brother; And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.

Dromio of Syracuse to his twin in Act 5, Scene 1, after the families are reunited — the last line of the play proper (before the exit), a pair of servants expressing the egalitarian joy that the reunited Antipholus brothers are too dignified to say aloud.

Methinks you are my glass, and not my brother: I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth.

Antipholus of Ephesus to his twin Antipholus of Syracuse in Act 5, Scene 1, finally face to face — the mirror image makes each man a flattering version of the other. It is the one genuinely warm exchange between them.