Imagery is a powerful linchpin in any writer’s quiver, and there was hardly a better marksman in the entire world of literature than William Shakespeare. He used various types of images to communicate beyond the surface level of the text. He helped the reader to visualize and empathize with the drops of water, with the great birds of the sky and with something as everyday and common as food. In The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare used images of food to symbolize physical affection between husband and wife.
The first example of this imagery occurs in Act One, Scene Two, when Dromio of Ephesus first meets Antipholus of Syracuse. Antipholus, who is late for dinner, is reprimanded by Dromio, who says, “It’s so hot because the meat is cold; / The meat is cold because you don’t come home; / You don’t come home because you don’t have a stomach; / You have without a stomach, having broken your fast. (46-50). These few lines inform the careful reader of the state of Antipholus and Adriana’s marriage. Adriana is angry because she thinks her husband is unfaithful to her. This is an example of images that everyone can understand. Foods that taste great when served hot often have no flavor once they cool. In the same way, the physical love, trust and affection between the couple has cooled to the point of disappearing. Also, Adriana is ‘hot’, or angry, because this has happened. Her gift of food (or her body) is not being consumed or enjoyed by her husband. She faithfully waits for him, but he does not come home. This passage also implies that Antipholus is an adulterer by stating that he was late for dinner because he “had broken (his) fast from him”; that is, he has been feeding his sexual appetites at someone else’s table.
Later in the same scene, Dromio says, “His Excellency’s wife, my lover in the Phoenix, / She who fasts until she comes home to dinner / And prays that I take him home to dinner.” (90-93) Here, Shakespeare assures the reader that Adriana has been faithful and has not shared her bed (or table) with another. She anxiously awaits the return of her husband and urgently prays for her fidelity. She fasts for him! She is left with nothing while she awaits his return! He is her food, the only source of food for her sex life.
At the beginning of Act 2, more of this imagery is read. Adriana is worried because her husband is still away, and her sister tries to calm her down by saying: “Perhaps some merchant has invited him, / and he has gone from the market to dinner somewhere.” (4-5). So the sisters go back and forth saying, “Why should his freedom be more than ours? / Because his business is still out ‘o’ door. / See when I serve him like that, he takes it badly.” (10-12). Again, the idea comes up in the text that Antipholus is committing adultery. The word ‘lies’ in these lines has a strong meaning for the reader. The sexual idea that he has had sex, or the idea that he is a liar, appears in this sentence and causes the restless wife great concern. She closes by reaffirming her fear that when she “serves” him (physically) he is not pleased or “takes it badly.”
In this play, Shakespeare really emphasized the idea that when one spouse is sexually involved with the other, they may even like to eat a meal. Food nourishes and sustains life just as physical love nourishes and sustains marriage. A meal, just like a sexual interaction, has the power to be very intimate. You taste every morsel on your plate and derive enjoyment and physical, emotional, and mental sustenance from food. Likewise, when one participates in the physical intimacy of one’s spouse, a similar (albeit more powerful) realization is savored. These similes evoke a deeper level of thought and an intense appreciation for the master author that was Shakespeare.
