Original: My liege, I am advised what I say:
Modern: My lord, I know exactly what I’m saying:

Original: Neither disturb’d with the effect of wine,
Modern: I’m not drunk or confused by alcohol,

Original: Nor heady-rash, provok’d with raging ire,
Modern: And I’m not acting rashly out of anger,

Original: Albeit my wrongs might make one wiser mad.
Modern: Even though what’s been done to me would drive a sane person crazy.

Original: This woman lock’d me out this day from dinner:
Modern: This woman locked me out of my own house today at dinnertime:

Original: That goldsmith there, were he not pack’d with her,
Modern: That goldsmith over there, if he weren’t conspiring with her,

Original: Could witness it, for he was with me then;
Modern: Could confirm this, because he was with me at the time;

Original: Who parted with me to go fetch a chain,
Modern: He left me to go get a chain,

Original: Promising to bring it to the Porpentine,
Modern: Promising to bring it to the Porcupine inn,

Original: Where Balthazar and I did dine together.
Modern: Where Balthazar and I ate dinner together.

Original: Our dinner done, and he not coming thither,
Modern: After we finished eating, and he didn’t show up there,

Original: I went to seek him: in the street I met him,
Modern: I went to look for him: I found him in the street,

Original: And in his company that gentleman.
Modern: And with him was that gentleman.

Original: There did this perjur’d goldsmith swear me down
Modern: There this lying goldsmith insisted

Original: That I this day of him receiv’d the chain,
Modern: That I had received the chain from him today,

Original: Which, God he knows, I saw not; for the which
Modern: Which, God knows, I never saw; and because of this

Original: He did arrest me with an officer.
Modern: He had me arrested by an officer.

Original: I did obey, and sent my peasant home
Modern: I cooperated, and sent my servant home

Original: For certain ducats: he with none return’d.
Modern: To get some money: he came back with nothing.

Original: Then fairly I bespoke the officer
Modern: Then I politely asked the officer

Original: To go in person with me to my house.
Modern: To come with me personally to my house.

Original: By the way we met
Modern: On the way we encountered

Original: My wife, her sister, and a rabble more
Modern: My wife, her sister, and a crowd of others

Original: Of vile confederates: along with them
Modern: Who were all plotting against me: along with them

Original: They brought one Pinch, a hungry lean-fac’d villain,
Modern: They brought one Pinch, a starving, thin-faced scoundrel,

Original: A mere anatomy, a mountebank,
Modern: Just a skeleton of a man, a fake doctor,

Original: A threadbare juggler, and a fortune-teller,
Modern: A raggedly-dressed trickster, and a fortune-teller,

Original: A needy, hollow-ey’d, sharp-looking wretch,
Modern: A desperate, sunken-eyed, shifty-looking creep,

Original: A living-dead man. This pernicious slave,
Modern: A walking corpse. This evil fool,

Original: Forsooth, took on him as a conjurer,
Modern: Indeed, pretended to be a magician,

Original: And, gazing in mine eyes, feeling my pulse,
Modern: And, staring into my eyes, checking my pulse,

Original: And with no face, as ‘twere, out-facing me,
Modern: And brazenly confronting me with no shame,

Original: Cries out, I was possess’d. Then, altogether
Modern: Declared that I was possessed by demons. Then, all together

Original: They fell upon me, bound me, bore me thence,
Modern: They attacked me, tied me up, and carried me away,

Original: And in a dark and dankish vault at home
Modern: And in a dark and damp cellar at home

Original: There left me and my man, both bound together;
Modern: They left me and my servant, both tied up together;

Original: Till, gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder,
Modern: Until, chewing through my ropes with my teeth,

Original: I gain’d my freedom, and immediately
Modern: I broke free, and immediately

Original: Ran hither to your Grace; whom I beseech
Modern: Ran here to you, your Grace; and I beg you

Original: To give me ample satisfaction
Modern: To give me complete justice

Original: For these deep shames and great indignities.
Modern: For these terrible humiliations and serious wrongs.

In Act V, Scene 1 of “The Comedy of Errors,” the scene opens outside the Priory with Antipholus of Ephesus arriving with the Officer, Dromio of Ephesus, Adriana, Luciana, and the Courtesan. Antipholus demands that Adriana compensate him for the gold chain and the money spent at the Courtesan’s house, while Adriana protests her husband’s behavior and madness. The Abbess emerges from the Priory and becomes involved in the dispute, questioning Adriana about her treatment of her husband and ultimately suggesting that Adriana’s jealous behavior may have driven Antipholus to distraction. When Adriana requests that the Abbess release her husband from the sanctuary of the Priory, the Abbess refuses, claiming she will care for him herself.

The situation becomes more complicated with the arrival of a messenger announcing that Antipholus and Dromio have escaped their bonds and are approaching. Shortly after, Duke Solinus enters with Aegeon (bound for execution), followed by Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse. The presence of what appears to be two identical sets of master and servant creates confusion among all present. The scene builds toward the revelation of the twin brothers’ true identities when the Abbess emerges and recognizes Aegeon as her long-lost husband, revealing herself to be Emilia, the mother of both Antipholus twins. The scene concludes with the reunion of the separated family members and the resolution of the various mistaken identities that have driven the play’s action.

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.