Hugh Parry

Shakespeare's Cuckolds Hugh Parry

Why did the Elizabethans find horns so irresistibly amusing? This is an investigation into Shakespeare's ingenious use of a popular joke, but is also a wide-ranging discussion of the fear of cuckoldry which gave rise to it. From the unfounded jealousies of more serious case studies like Othello and Leontes, to the cynical witticisms of jesters like Touchstone and reluctant husbands-to-be like Benedick, Shakespeare's men are full of mistrust, comical or poisonous - and the women have something to say about this male paranoia, too.