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 today,
And will not lightly trust the messenger
That I should be attach’d in Ephesus;
I tell you ’twill sound harshly in her ears.
Don't be afraid, man, I won't escape. I'll give you plenty of money before I leave, to guarantee your safety just like I've been arrested. My wife is in a difficult mood today and won't easily believe the messenger that I've been arrested in Ephesus. I'm telling you it will sound harsh to her ears.
Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'll give you enough money to cover you like I've been arrested for. My wife's being difficult right now and won't easily believe the messenger when they say I got arrested here in Ephesus. Trust me, she's going to hate hearing this.
don't worry i'm not leaving i'll pay u enough my wife's gonna freak when she hears i got arrested
Here comes my man. I think he brings the money.
How now, sir! have you that I sent you for?
Here comes my servant. I think he brings the money. What's this? Do you have what I sent you to get?
Well, here's my guy. I bet he's got the money. What's going on? Did you bring what I asked for?
there's my guy got the money what's up
Here’s that, I warrant you, will pay them all.
This is what, I promise you, will pay them all.
This here will cover everything, I guarantee it.
this'll pay everyone back i swear
But where’s the money?
So what happened to the money?
So where's the money?
where's the cash tho
Why, sir, I gave the money for the rope.
Well, sir, I used the money to pay for the rope.
Well, I spent it on the rope you asked me to get.
i used it 2 pay for the rope
Five hundred ducats, villain, for a rope?
Five hundred coins, you idiot, for just a rope?
Five hundred ducats for a rope? Are you serious?
500 coins for a ROPE??? dude
I’ll serve you, sir, five hundred at the rate.
I'll work for you for five hundred coins at that rate.
I'll work it off at that rate, five hundred coins worth.
i'll work it off that's fair at this rate
To what end did I bid thee hie thee home?
What was the purpose when I told you to hurry home?
Why did I tell you to go home in a hurry?
why'd i send u home so fast
To a rope’s end, sir; and to that end am I return’d.
To buy a rope, sir, and for that purpose I have returned.
To get a rope, like you said, and here I am back with it.
to get a rope that's what i'm here for
And to that end, sir, I will welcome you.
Then for that purpose, I will warmly welcome you.
Well, for that purpose then, welcome.
ok then welcome
Good sir, be patient.
Sir, try to stay patient.
Sir, please calm down.
chill out man
Nay, ’tis for me to be patient. I am in adversity.
No, I'm the one who needs to be patient. I'm in trouble.
Actually, I'm the one who needs patience—I'm in real trouble here.
i'm the one who needs patience i'm getting beatings
Good now, hold thy tongue.
Now good sir, hold your tongue.
Look, just be quiet.
just shut up dude
Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands.
No, instead persuade him to control his fists.
No, maybe try getting him to stop hitting me.
nah tell him to stop hitting me
Thou whoreson, senseless villain.
You despicable, stupid brute.
You're a worthless idiot.
ur a useless jerk
I would I were senseless, sir, that I might not feel your blows.
I wish I were insensible, sir, so I wouldn't feel your blows.
I wish I couldn't feel anything, so your hits wouldn't hurt so much.
wish i couldn't feel ur punches
Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and so is an ass.
You only understand blows, and in that you're just like a donkey.
You only feel blows, which makes you as smart as a donkey.
u only understand beatings like an ass
Dr. Pinch is described in the play's cast as 'a Schoolmaster' but functions here as an exorcist-physician — a figure combining academic learning, religious authority, and medical practice that was common in Elizabethan England. The treatment he prescribes (restraint, dark room) was standard humoral medicine: excitement of the humours was treated by removing all stimulus. The exorcism he performs ('I charge thee, Satan, housed within this man') combines Catholic exorcism vocabulary (conjuring by saints, commanding Satan to yield to holy prayers) with Protestant-inflected anxiety — performed in England where Catholic exorcism was technically illegal after the Reformation. Shakespeare's audience would have found Pinch's hybrid role both familiar and slightly absurd: the conjunction of pedantic schoolmaster and theatrical exorcist is inherently comic. But there is also a serious point. Real people diagnosed as possessed — most often women, but men too — underwent exactly this treatment: binding, darkness, exorcism. Antipholus E's fate in this scene, played for laughs, was a lived reality for people wrongly diagnosed as mad or possessed in Shakespeare's England.
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 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 a beggar wont her brat; and I think when he hath
lamed me, I shall beg with it from door to door.
I am a donkey indeed; you can prove it by my long ears. I have served him from my birth to this moment, and have had nothing from his hands for my service but beatings. When I'm cold, he warms me with beating; when I'm warm, he cools me with beating. I'm woken with it when I sleep, raised with it when I sit, driven out of doors with it when I leave home, welcomed home with it when I return. I even carry it on my shoulders like a mother carries her baby; and I think when he's beaten me lame, I'll be begging door to door with it.
Yeah, I'm a donkey, and my long ears prove it. I've been working for him since I was born and the only thing I've ever gotten is beatings. When it's cold, he beats me to warm me up. When it's hot, he beats me to cool me down. I get beaten awake from sleep, hit while I'm sitting, smacked out of the house when I leave, and beaten when I come home. I carry these beatings on my shoulders like a beggar woman carries her baby. When he finally cripples me, I'll be begging with my injuries door to door.
i'm a donkey proof's my long ears beaten my whole life when i'm cold he heats me with pain when i'm hot he cools me with pain beaten awake, beaten sitting beaten in and beaten out carry these hits like a brat when he lames me i'll beg with it
Come, go along, my wife is coming yonder.
Come, let's go, my wife is coming over there.
Let's go, my wife's coming this way.
let's go my wife's coming
Mistress, _respice finem_, respect your end, or rather, the prophesy
like the parrot, “Beware the rope’s end.”
Mistress, think about your end—or rather, like the parrot's warning prophecy: 'Beware the rope's end.'
Mistress, think about how this ends—or like that parrot's warning: 'Watch out for the rope's end.'
watch out for the rope's end lady like that warning parrot thing
Wilt thou still talk?
Will you still keep talking?
Are you still talking?
will u ever shut up
How say you now? Is not your husband mad?
What do you say now? Isn't your husband crazy?
So what do you think? Your husband's completely mad, right?
so ur husband's totally crazy right
His incivility confirms no less.
Good Doctor Pinch, you are a conjurer;
Establish him in his true sense again,
And I will please you what you will demand.
His rudeness confirms it's true. Good Doctor Pinch, you are a wizard. Restore him to his right mind again, and I will give you whatever you ask for.
His behavior proves it—he's completely out of it. Doctor Pinch, you're a wizard, right? Get his mind straight again and I'll pay you anything you want.
he's def crazy i can tell doctor fix his head i'll pay u whatever u want
Alas, how fiery and how sharp he looks!
Oh no, how angry and fierce he looks!
Oh my, he looks so angry and wild!
omg he looks so angry
Mark how he trembles in his ecstasy.
Notice how he trembles in his fit of madness.
Look at him shaking in his madness.
look how he's shaking totally crazy
Give me your hand, and let me feel your pulse.
Put your hand in mine so I can feel how fast your heart's beating.
Let me take your hand and check your pulse.
let me check ur pulse
There is my hand, and let it feel your ear.
Take my hand—let it find out what your ear feels like.
Here's my hand—let it get to know your ear.
here's my hand for ur face
I charge thee, Satan, hous’d within this man,
To yield possession to my holy prayers,
And to thy state of darkness hie thee straight.
I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven.
I command you, Satan, housed within this man, to give up possession to my holy prayers and go straight to your dark realm. I call upon you by all the saints in heaven.
Satan, whoever you are in this man, get out! Surrender to my prayers and get back to the darkness. I'm calling on every saint in heaven to help me.
satan get outta this guy go back to the dark i'm calling on all the saints
Peace, doting wizard, peace; I am not mad.
Quiet, stupid wizard, quiet; I am not mad.
Shut up, you crazy old wizard—I'm not even crazy!
chill wizard i'm not crazy
O, that thou wert not, poor distressed soul!
Oh, how I wish you weren't, poor troubled soul!
Oh, if only you weren't crazy, my poor dear!
wish u weren't losing it
You minion, you, are these your customers?
Did this companion with the saffron face
Revel and feast it at my house today,
Whilst upon me the guilty doors were shut,
And I denied to enter in my house?
You little puppet, you, are these your customers? Did this man with the saffron-colored face party and feast at my house today while the guilty doors were shut against me and I was denied entry to my own house?
You little fool, are these your boyfriends? Did this guy with the yellow face come party at my place today while I was locked out of my own house?
these ur boyfriends? saffron face guy partied at my house? i was locked out of my own crib
O husband, God doth know you din’d at home,
Where would you had remain’d until this time,
Free from these slanders and this open shame.
Oh husband, God knows you dined at home. I wish you had stayed there until now, free from these lies and this public humiliation.
Oh honey, God knows you had dinner at home. I wish you'd just stayed there and avoided all this slander and shame.
u had dinner here at home wish u just stayed woulda avoided all this mess
Din’d at home? Thou villain, what sayest thou?
Dined at home? You liar, what are you saying?
I dined at home? You're lying—what are you talking about?
i dined at home?? what r u talking about
Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home.
Sir, to tell the truth, you did not dine at home.
Actually sir, you didn't have dinner at home.
actually u didn't eat home
Were not my doors lock’d up and I shut out?
Weren't my doors locked and I shut out?
Weren't the doors locked against me?
doors were locked i was locked out
Scene 4-4 is Shakespeare's most technically demanding piece of simultaneous truth-telling. By the time the bail-money dispute is in full swing (chunks 4-4-052 through 4-4-057), there are four people each stating a fact that contradicts the others while each is telling the exact truth. Adriana: 'I sent money with Dromio.' True — she gave it to Dromio S. Dromio E: 'I received no money.' True — he was sent for a rope and got none. Antipholus E: 'I sent him to her for a purse of ducats.' True — those were his instructions to Dromio S. Luciana: 'She gave it.' True — Adriana gave it to Dromio S. All four statements are simultaneously accurate. The audience, who has seen all the preceding scenes, holds all four truths in mind at once. The characters cannot reconcile them because they lack the one fact that would explain everything. This is structural dramatic irony at its most elegant: no one is lying, everyone is confused, the truth is simply missing one piece. It is the play's most concentrated version of its title theme: an 'error' (wandering, displacement) so systemic that truth itself appears to contradict itself.
Perdy, your doors were lock’d, and you shut out.
Indeed, your doors were locked and you were shut out.
Yes, definitely, the doors were locked and you were locked out.
yeah ur doors were locked u were locked out
And did not she herself revile me there?
And didn't she herself insult me there?
And didn't she personally insult me?
she insulted me herself
Sans fable, she herself revil’d you there.
Without a doubt, she herself insulted you there.
Without question, she definitely insulted you there.
she def insulted u
Did not her kitchen-maid rail, taunt, and scorn me?
Didn't her kitchen-maid insult, taunt, and mock me?
Didn't her kitchen maid trash talk me and make fun of me?
her maid trash-talked me
Certes, she did, the kitchen-vestal scorn’d you.
Certainly, she did, the kitchen servant mocked you.
Absolutely, the kitchen maid definitely mocked you.
yeah the maid def mocked u
And did not I in rage depart from thence?
And didn't I angrily leave from there?
And didn't I storm off in anger?
i left mad
In verity, you did; my bones bear witness,
That since have felt the vigour of his rage.
Truly, you did; my bones bear witness to the force of his rage that I've felt since.
Definitely, you did—and my bones can tell you how hard he's been hitting me since.
u left mad my bones feel ur anger
Is’t good to soothe him in these contraries?
Is it good to calm him down while he's acting so contradictory?
Is it smart to try to calm him down when he's like this?
should we even try to calm him down
It is no shame; the fellow finds his vein,
And yielding to him, humours well his frenzy.
It is no shame; the man is in his element, and giving in to him plays along well with his madness.
It's fine—he's found his rhythm and going along with it helps manage his craziness.
it's ok to go along it helps manage his insanity
Thou hast suborn’d the goldsmith to arrest me.
You have bribed the goldsmith to arrest me.
You paid off the goldsmith to have me arrested.
u paid the goldsmith to arrest me
Alas! I sent you money to redeem you
By Dromio here, who came in haste for it.
Oh! I sent you money to free you through Dromio here, who came in haste for it.
I sent money with Dromio to get you released—he came running for it.
i sent money thru dromio to get u out
Money by me? Heart and goodwill you might,
But surely, master, not a rag of money.
Money through me? You might have sent heart and goodwill, but certainly, master, not a shred of money.
Money through me? Maybe goodwill, but definitely no actual money, master.
no money thru me just goodwill maybe
Went’st not thou to her for a purse of ducats?
Didn't you go to her for a bag of coins?
Didn't you go get a bag of money from her?
u didn't go get coins from her??
He came to me, and I deliver’d it.
He came to me, and I gave it to him.
He came to me and I handed it over.
he came i gave it to him
And I am witness with her that she did.
I can testify alongside her that she handed it to him.
And I saw it too—she definitely gave it to him.
i saw it she def gave it
God and the rope-maker bear me witness
That I was sent for nothing but a rope.
I swear by God and the rope seller—I was sent only to purchase a rope.
God and the rope seller can both testify—I only went for a rope.
god & the rope guy know i only got sent for rope
Mistress, both man and master is possess’d,
I know it by their pale and deadly looks.
They must be bound and laid in some dark room.
Mistress, both servant and master are possessed. I know it by their pale and deathly looks. They must be tied up and put in some dark room.
Mistress, they're both possessed—you can see it in how pale and sick they look. We need to tie them up and put them in a dark room.
both possessed look how pale they r tie them up put em in the dark
Say, wherefore didst thou lock me forth today,
And why dost thou deny the bag of gold?
Tell me, why did you lock me out today and why do you deny the bag of gold?
Why did you lock me out today? And why won't you admit you took the money?
why'd u lock me out why u denying the gold
I did not, gentle husband, lock thee forth.
I did not, kind husband, lock you out.
I didn't lock you out, honey.
i didn't lock u out
And gentle master, I receiv’d no gold;
But I confess, sir, that we were lock’d out.
And kind master, I received no gold, but I admit, sir, that we were locked out.
I didn't get any gold, master, but yeah, we were definitely locked out.
no gold but yeah we got locked out
The Comedy of Errors contains more stage violence than almost any other Shakespearean comedy. Both Dromios are beaten repeatedly throughout the play. The beating of Dromio E with his own rope in this scene is both the funniest and most uncomfortable moment in that pattern. Elizabethan comedy normalised master-servant violence as a genre convention — it was part of the Plautine tradition Shakespeare inherited. But there is something in Dromio E's 4-4-022 speech ('I have served him from the hour of my nativity... and have nothing at his hands for my service but blows') that exceeds comic convention. The catalogue of beatings — cold/hot, wake/sleep, depart/arrive — describes a life comprehensively structured around pain. Shakespeare seems aware that this is not simply funny. The joke works because Dromio delivers it with his characteristic wit; but the content is the complete account of a slave's life in which the only constant is violence. The play's resolution in Act 5 resolves identities and marriages, but it does not address the servitude. Both Dromios go back to their respective masters, presumably to more beatings. The play laughs at this, and invites the audience to notice what it's laughing at.
Dissembling villain, thou speak’st false in both.
Deceitful villain, you're lying about both things.
You're a lying, two-faced villain.
ur a liar lying about everything
Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all,
And art confederate with a damned pack
To make a loathsome abject scorn of me.
But with these nails I’ll pluck out these false eyes
That would behold in me this shameful sport.
Deceitful whore, you are false in everything and are working with a cursed gang to make a disgusting, contemptible mockery of me. But with these nails I'll scratch out those false eyes that would see me in this shameful situation.
You're a lying cheater, and you're in on this whole thing to humiliate me. I'm going to scratch out those lying eyes of yours that are watching me suffer like this.
ur a liar working with these jerks to humiliate me i'll scratch out ur eyes
O, bind him, bind him; let him not come near me.
Oh, tie him up, tie him up; don't let him come near me.
Get some rope and lock him down! Keep him away from me!
tie him up keep him away from me
More company; the fiend is strong within him.
Get more people; the demon is strong in him.
We need more help—the devil's got him strong.
get more ppl the devil's got him bad
Ay me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks!
Oh my, poor man, how pale and sickly he looks!
Oh no, look how pale and sick he looks!
omg he looks so pale & sick
What, will you murder me? Thou jailer, thou,
I am thy prisoner. Wilt thou suffer them
To make a rescue?
What, are you going to kill me? You jailer, you, I am your prisoner. Will you allow them to forcibly take me?
Are you going to let them kill me? I'm your prisoner! Will you let them grab me from you?
will u let them kill me i'm ur prisoner don't let them take me
Masters, let him go.
He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.
Gentlemen, let him go. He is my prisoner, and you will not have him.
Back off, all of you. He's my prisoner and you're not taking him.
back off he's MY prisoner
Go, bind this man, for he is frantic too.
Go, tie up this man, for he is also wild.
Go tie him up—he's crazy too.
tie him up he's crazy
What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer?
Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself?
What will you do, you annoying officer? Do you enjoy watching a miserable man harm and hurt himself?
What are you doing, you stubborn officer? Do you enjoy watching this poor guy destroy himself?
ur just watching him destroy himself? that makes u happy?
He is my prisoner. If I let him go,
The debt he owes will be requir’d of me.
He is my prisoner. If I let him go, I will be held responsible for the debt he owes.
He's my prisoner. If I release him, I'll have to pay his debts.
he's my prisoner if i let him go i pay
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!
I will pay you before I leave. Take me right now to his creditor. And knowing how much the debt has grown, I will pay it. Good master doctor, see him safely taken to my house. Oh most unhappy day!
I'll pay you before I leave. Take me to whoever he owes money to right now. I'll pay the whole debt once I know how much it is. Doctor, just get him home safely for me. This is the worst day ever!
i'll pay u take me to his creditor i'll pay everything doctor get him home worst day ever
O most unhappy strumpet!
Oh most miserable prostitute!
You're the most pathetic, worthless woman!
ur disgusting
Master, I am here enter’d in bond for you.
Master, I am bound in debt for you.
Master, I've put myself on the line for you.
master i'm liable for u
Out on thee, villain! wherefore dost thou mad me?
Curse you, villain! Why are you driving me crazy?
Get away, you idiot! Why are you making me insane?
why r u making me crazy
Will you be bound for nothing? Be mad, good master; cry, “the devil”.
Will you be liable for nothing? Be crazy, good master; cry 'the devil'.
What's the point of me being liable if you're going to act crazy anyway? Go ahead, yell about the devil.
why u acting crazy just yell about the devil
God help, poor souls, how idly do they talk!
God help, poor souls, how foolishly they talk!
God help them—look at them talking nonsense!
god help them they're talking nonsense
Go bear him hence. Sister, go you with me.
Go carry him away. Sister, go with me.
Take him away. Come with me, sister.
take him away let's go sis
One of the most overlooked achievements in scene 4-4 is the portrait of Adriana as someone who is utterly efficient while emotionally devastated and completely wrong about everything. She arrives having been told her husband is mad. She deals with the situation: engages the expert, supervises the binding, addresses the officer, pays the debt, learns about the chain, and delegates home care. Each action is practical and reasonable given her understanding. Each action makes everything worse. There is a particular pathos in her line 'I long to know the truth hereof at large' — she is actively seeking truth while surrounded by a situation in which the truth she needs is systematically unavailable to her. Adriana is the play's most active agent of her own confusion: she takes more concrete action than anyone else in Act 4, and each action proceeds from a wrong premise. Her competence is what makes her situation painful as well as funny. She is not passive or foolish; she is simply operating without the one piece of information — there are two Antipholuses — that would change everything.
Say now, whose suit is he arrested at?
Tell me, whose lawsuit is he arrested under?
Whose lawsuit? Who is he arrested for?
whose suit arrested him
One Angelo, a goldsmith; do you know him?
Have you ever heard of a goldsmith called Angelo?
A goldsmith named Angelo—know him?
u know angelo the goldsmith?
I know the man. What is the sum he owes?
I know the man. What amount does he owe?
I know him. How much does he owe?
yeah i know him how much he owe
Two hundred ducats.
Two hundred ducats.
Two hundred ducats.
Two hundred ducats.
Say, how grows it due?
Tell me, how did it become owed?
So how did this debt come about?
how'd this debt happen
Due for a chain your husband had of him.
It's owed for a chain your husband received from him.
It's from a chain your husband got from him.
for a chain ur husband got
He did bespeak a chain for me, but had it not.
He did order a chain for me, but didn't have it.
He ordered a chain for me but never got it.
he ordered a chain never arrived tho
When as your husband, all in rage, today
Came to my house and took away my ring,
The ring I saw upon his finger now,
Straight after did I meet him with a chain.
When your husband came all angry to my house today and took away my ring, the ring I saw on his finger just now, soon after I met him with a chain.
Your husband showed up at my place mad as hell today, took my ring—you know, the one I saw on his finger earlier—and then shortly after that I met him with a chain.
ur husband came mad took my ring then got a chain from me
It may be so, but I did never see it.
Come, jailer, bring me where the goldsmith is,
I long to know the truth hereof at large.
It may be true, but I never saw it. Come, officer, take me to where the goldsmith is. I want to know the full truth of this.
Maybe that's what happened, but I didn't see it. Come on, officer, take me to the goldsmith. I need to know what's really going on.
maybe but i didn't see it take me to the goldsmith i need answers
Syracuse.
Syracuse.
Syracuse.
Syracuse
God, for thy mercy, they are loose again!
God in your mercy, they are loose again!
Oh God, they got away again!
oh god they escaped
And come with naked swords. Let’s call more help
To have them bound again.
And come with bare swords. Let's call for more help to tie them back up again.
And they have swords! We need more people to tie them back up.
& they have swords get help tie them back up
Away, they’ll kill us.
Let's go, they're going to kill us.
Run! They're going to murder us!
go they're killing us
I see these witches are afraid of swords.
I see these women acting like witches are afraid of swords.
Look—these crazy witch women are scared of swords.
these witch ladies fear swords
She that would be your wife now ran from you.
The woman who wanted to be your wife just ran away from you.
That woman who was trying to be your wife just took off.
ur would-be wife just bounced
Come to the Centaur, fetch our stuff from thence.
I long that we were safe and sound aboard.
Come to the Centaur inn, get our things from there. I wish we were safe and sound on the ship.
Let's go to the Centaur, grab our stuff, and get out of here. I want to be safe on a ship.
let's get to the centaur get our things i want on a ship
Faith, stay here this night, they will surely do us no harm; you saw
they speak us fair, give us gold. 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.
Really, let's stay here tonight—they won't hurt us. You saw how nicely they talk to us and gave us gold. I think they're such a kind people that, if it weren't for this huge mass of crazy flesh claiming marriage from me, I could actually enjoy staying here and becoming like them.
Come on, let's just stay the night—they're not going to hurt us. You saw how nice they are, they gave us money. These people seem so kind that if it weren't for that huge, crazy woman wanting to marry me, I'd honestly consider staying and becoming a witch.
stay tonight they won't hurt us they're nice gave us gold would stay & become a witch if that huge crazy woman didn't want 2 marry me
I will not stay tonight for all the town;
Therefore away, to get our stuff aboard.
I will not stay tonight for anything in this town. Therefore let's go, to get our things on the ship.
I'm not staying here for anyone. Let's get our stuff and get aboard the ship.
i'm not staying let's grab our stuff & go
The Reckoning
Scene 4-4 is the chaos peak of The Comedy of Errors — the moment when confusion, injustice, and farce are most compacted. Antipholus of Ephesus is completely sane, completely right about everything that happened to him, and is bound as a madman in his own city by his own wife. The injustice is total. Shakespeare gives him the most dignified protestations of innocence in the play, and they are absolutely ineffective because the confusion is structural, not personal — no amount of individual truth-telling can resolve a problem caused by the existence of identical twins. The scene requires the audience to laugh at a sane man being bound — which is not comfortable comedy. It is the play's darkest moment before the resolution.
If this happened today…
You've been arrested for fraud you didn't commit. You wait for your spouse to bail you out, and instead your employee arrives — with a different errand you sent someone else on. Your spouse shows up with a therapist who immediately diagnoses you as having a breakdown because you keep insisting you were locked out of your own house (which you were). The therapist has you sedated and taken home. Then your wife learns you owe money for a necklace and visits the jeweller. Thirty seconds later your exact double walks in with a sword and your wife runs for her life. You are alone in the dark room, tied up.