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Cuckold is an old-fashioned term that describes a man whose wife is unfaithful. It usually refers to a man who is unaware of his wife’s infidelity and who is viewed as naïve or gullible because of this. Cuckolds are often assumed to unknowingly raise and support other men’s children, which their wives claim are their own. The term was commonly used in medieval and Renaissance literature and derives from a reference to cuckoo birds, which are known to lay eggs in the nests of other birds. The metaphorical idea that cuckolds have horns was widely accepted and is believed to have originated from the mating rituals of stags; when one stag beats another in competition over females, the victorious stag takes the herd and offspring of the loser. The term was widely known in common dialect and would have been familiar to Restoration audiences. In The Country Wife, Horner’s name reflects his status as a “cuckold maker,” as he gives men horns, or makes them cuckolds, when he sleeps with their wives. Sir Jasper, in contrast, is the quintessential naïve cuckold who is oblivious to his wife’s deceptions.
Cuckold Quotes in The Country Wife
The The Country Wife quotes below are all either spoken by Cuckold or refer to Cuckold. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
Why, ’tis as hard to find an old whoremaster without jealousy and the gout, as a young one without fear or the pox.
As gout in age from pox in youth proceeds,
So wenching past, then jealousy succeeds:
The worst disease that love and wenching breeds.
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Act 2
Quotes
Mrs. Squeamish: ’Tis true, nobody takes notice of a private man, and therefore with him ’tis more secret, and the crime’s the less when ’tis not known.
Lady Fidget: You say true; i’faith, I think you are in the right on’t. ’Tis not an injury to a husband till it be an injury to our honors; so that a woman of honor loses no honor with a private person; and to say truth.
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Act 3, Scene 1
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A mask makes people but the more inquisitive, and is as ridiculous a disguise as a stage beard; her shape, stature, habit will be known. And if we should meet with Horner, he would be sure to take acquaintance with us, must wish her joy, kiss her, talk to her, leer upon her, and the devil and all. No, I’ll not use her to a mask, 'tis dangerous; for masks have made more cuckolds than the best faces that ever were known … No — a woman masked, like a covered dish, gives a man curiosity and appetite, when, it may be, uncovered, ’twould turn his stomach.
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Act 3, Scene 2
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Margery Pinchwife: I don't know where to put this here, dear bud. You shall eat it. Nay, you shall have part of the fine gentleman’s good things, or treat, as you call it, when we come home.
Pinchwife: Indeed, I deserve it, since I furnished the best part of it. (Strikes away the orange.)
The gallant treats, presents, and gives the ball; But ’tis the absent cuckold, pays for all.
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Act 4, Scene 4
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Sparkish: Lord, how shy you are of your wife! But let me tell you, brother, we men of wit have amongst us a saying that cuckolding, like the smallpox, comes with a fear, and you may keep your wife as much as you will out of danger of infection, but if her constitution incline her to't, she'll have it sooner or later, by the world, say they.
Pinchwife: What a thing is a cuckold, that every fool can make him ridiculous! – Well sir – but let me advise you, now you are come to be concerned, because you suspect the danger, not to neglect the means to prevent it, especially when the greatest share of the malady will light upon your own head, for
Hows’e’er the kind wife’s belly comes to swell
The husband breeds for her, and first is ill.
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