essay

A gold chain, and a bag of money (ducats), are all circulating in the last two acts of The Comedy of Errors. But both the chain and the money end up with S. Antipholus even though he has no use for them and doesn’t understand why they’ve been given to him. As a result, none of the transactions that are supposed to take place, such as payment for the necklace and the payment of bail, can happen. Yet at the end, when E. Antipholus finally gets his bag of ducats back and offers them to the Duke as ransom for his newly discovered father the Duke refuses payment.

What do you think Shakespeare is saying by having both the money and the chain fail to function as objects of value to be exchanged? How does this failure of currency (or commerce) connect to the family reunion at the end of the play?