Essay Questions

How does the symbol of horns help to present Chysalde’s outlook on marriage?

Chrysalde asserts, “Fate gives men horns, and fate can’t be withstood/ To fret about such matters does no good” ( Act 1, Scene1 ). The horns are emblematic of the audacious wives who subject their husbands to degrading cuckoldry. Horns are allegorical weapons and encumbrances which subject men to the dishonor of their wives’ apparent disloyalty.

Explain the irony of Arnolphe’s preference for “an ugly, stupid woman.”

Arnolphe’s penchants are based on the hypothesis that the woman ( ‘ugly, stupid’) would espouse virtues; hence, would not uncover him to culckodry. However, Chrysalde elucidates the irony of Arnolphe’s predilection: “ But how can you expect an idiot/ To know what’s virtuous and what is not?/Not only would it be a lifelong bore/To have a senseless wife, but what is more/ I hardly think you could depend upon her/ To guard her husband/’s forehead from dishonour./If a bright woman breaks her wedding-vow, she knows what she is doing, anyhow;/A simpleton, however, can commit/ Adultery without suspecting it.” Unmistakably, unwise wives are not resistant to depravity. Accordingly, foolishness is not a prerequisite for devotion and virtue. An idiotic woman could discredit her husband more than an brainy woman.