The Comedy of Errors | Summary

Act I
The play takes place in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor. Ephesus has cut off all trade with the city of Syracuse because the Syracusan duke has treated Ephesian merchants badly, holding them for ransom. The duke of Ephesus has retaliated in kind, proclaiming that all Syracusan merchants apprehended in Ephesus will be killed if they cannot pay a ransom of one thousand marks. In the opening scene, Aegeon, a Syracusan merchant, has been apprehended under Ephesian law and is sentenced to death since he does not have the means to...

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