The Cuckold in Shakespeare's Works

Paper Summary:

A cuckold is a man whose wife is sleeping with another man, and the cuckold in Elizabethan drama is a staple element, suggesting not just the concerns that the Elizabethans had about the subject, but also the way they relieved tension over it by making the cuckold a figure of fun. This paper examines how William Shakespeare often used the cuckold as a character in his plays, although hints of cuckoldry are even more common in his works, with characters fearful that they may be cuckolded or with wayward wives and unmarried men making jokes about it. The paper discusses, in particular, three of Shakespeare's plays: "Troilus and Cressida," "Twelfth Night," and "As You Like It."

From the Paper:

"Rosalind in As You Like It states that no man has ever died for love in the six thousand years of history that passed before her time. Yet, she still mentions the fate of that famous cuckold Troilus: "Troilus had his brains dashed out with a Grecian club; yet he did what he could to die before, and he is one of the patterns of love" (IV.i.92-94). The cuckold in this passage is presented as both betrayed and yet somehow elevated by being the one to remain true, while the woman who has betrayed him is not even mentioned. The idea of the cuckold is that he is a dupe. But he could as easily be a true man who has been true to the wrong woman. The image of the man with horns as a cuckold reflects the meaning of the word itself, for it means "furnished with horns." Characters in Elizabethan drama often speak of horns or make the sign of horns to indicated a cuckold and to suggest in this manner an association with the beasts and perhaps with the devil."

More papers on The Cuckold in Shakespeare's Works:

• Essay # 55596 : "The Role of the Female in Shakespeare"
• Term Paper # 92123 : "The Supernatural in Shakespeare's Plays"
• Analytical Essay # 66659 : "Contribution of the Fool in Shakespeare's "King Lear"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: