Original: Now, out of doubt, Antipholus is mad,
Modern: There’s no question about it - Antipholus has gone crazy,

Original: Else would he never so demean himself.
Modern: Otherwise he would never act so badly.

Original: A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats,
Modern: He has a ring of mine that’s worth forty gold coins,

Original: And for the same he promis’d me a chain:
Modern: And in exchange for it he promised me a chain:

Original: Both one and other he denies me now.
Modern: Now he’s refusing to give me either one.

Original: The reason that I gather he is mad,
Modern: The reason I think he’s gone insane,

Original: Besides this present instance of his rage,
Modern: Besides this current example of his anger,

Original: Is a mad tale he told to-day at dinner,
Modern: Is a crazy story he told today at dinner,

Original: Of his own doors being shut against his entrance.
Modern: About being locked out of his own house.

Original: Belike his wife, acquainted with his fits,
Modern: Probably his wife, who knows about his crazy episodes,

Original: On purpose shut the doors against his way.
Modern: Deliberately locked the doors to keep him out.

Original: My way is now to hie home to his house,
Modern: My plan now is to hurry to his house,

Original: And tell his wife, that, being lunatic,
Modern: And tell his wife that, since he’s lost his mind,

Original: He rush’d into my house, and took perforce
Modern: He burst into my house and forcibly took

Original: My ring away. This course I fittest choose,
Modern: My ring from me. I think this is the best plan,

Original: For forty ducats is too much to lose.
Modern: Because forty gold coins is too much money to lose.

In Act IV, Scene 3 of “The Comedy of Errors,” Antipholus of Syracuse encounters Angelo the goldsmith, who demands payment for a gold chain that he claims to have delivered. Antipholus denies ever receiving the chain and refuses to pay, leading to a heated exchange. Angelo, convinced that he gave the chain to this Antipholus (though he actually gave it to Antipholus of Ephesus), threatens legal action and has Antipholus arrested by an officer for the debt. Despite Antipholus of Syracuse’s protests of innocence and his bewilderment at being accused of a transaction he never made, he finds himself taken into custody.

Dromio of Syracuse then arrives and further complicates the situation by reporting that he has secured passage on a ship as his master had requested, and that Adriana has prepared a feast at home. However, his master’s current predicament of being under arrest creates new confusion. The scene escalates the play’s central mistaken identity plot, as the characters become increasingly entangled in misunderstandings stemming from the presence of two sets of identical twins in Ephesus. Antipholus of Syracuse finds himself blamed for his twin brother’s actions, while the other characters remain unaware that there are two different people involved in these transactions.

The Comedy of Errors centers on two sets of identical twins separated in infancy during a shipwreck. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio of Syracuse arrive in Ephesus, unknowing that Antipholus’s twin brother (Antipholus of Ephesus) and his servant (Dromio of Ephesus) live there. The Syracuse visitors are unaware of local laws that condemn Syracusans to death unless they pay a heavy fine, though the Duke grants Antipholus of Syracuse until evening to find the money.

The confusion begins immediately when the wrong Dromio approaches Antipholus of Syracuse, speaking of dinner and a wife waiting at home. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Ephesus’s wife Adriana and her sister Luciana encounter what they believe is Adriana’s husband (actually his twin), leading Adriana to drag the bewildered Syracuse twin home for dinner. The errors multiply as both masters beat the wrong servants, money and gold chains are given to and demanded from the wrong people, and Antipholus of Syracuse finds himself locked out of his own home while his twin dines inside with his wife.

The chaos escalates when a goldsmith demands payment from Antipholus of Syracuse for a chain delivered to his twin, leading to an arrest. Adriana, believing her husband has gone mad, calls for Dr. Pinch to exorcise him, while both Dromios suffer beatings and confusion from their mistaken identities. The resolution comes when old Egeon, condemned to die at sunset for being a Syracusan in Ephesus, recognizes both Antipholus twins as his sons. The Abbess of the local priory reveals herself to be Emilia, Egeon’s long-lost wife and the twins’ mother, reuniting the family and resolving all the mistaken identities. The Duke pardons Egeon, the twins are reconciled with their respective lives, and order is restored to Ephesus.