ABSTRACT
Chapter IV “Cultural Dimension of Literary Interpretation: Geography, Economics, and Identity in The Comedy of Errors ” approaches identity studies from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics. It argues for the contextual, purposive, and partial nature of personal identity. By exploring into the geographical and economic traits of Syracuse and Ephesus depicted in The Comedy of Errors , as well as their impacts on personal identities, it reveals the emotional upheavals that accompany the move from a kinship community like Syracuse to a community structured by debts like Ephesus. The separated twins incarnate the split of personal identity that individuals felt, reflecting Shakespeare’s nostalgia for kindred ties in a community circumscribed by loans and debts.
