Begging and Poor in The Comedy of Errors (1594)
In The Comedy of Errors, "beg" occurs only four times; "poor," 10. The story contains two sets of twins, and each set bears the same name: Two of Antipholus, two of Dromio, the former raised to be masters, the latter bought and raised to be servants (slaves). - Because "their parents were exceeding *poor*," the Dromio twins were "bought and brought up to attend" Egeon's sons (1.1, an act of charity, or exploitation, or both). - But Egeon of Syracuse has traveled to Ephesus as a refugee to find his later-separated sons, risking death by execution because Syracuse and Ephesus are at war. - Solinus, Duke of Ephesus, tells Egeon to *beg* or borrow the money for his ransom to spare his life (1.1). - Luciana, sister-in-law to Antipholus of Ephesus, tells her sister that the love she *begged* for her sister from the Antipholus she believed was her sister's husband, he begged of her (4.2, because unknown to her, the Antipholus who begged lov...