The Way of the World

In Act III, Fainall and Marwood have a conversation in which they mention “horns.” The discussion relates to infidelity, in that Fainall’s wife is suspected of an affair with Mirabell. Earlier, Marwood says that man should have horns and leave the rest of himself to women. These references to horns play on cuckoldry, so named by the cuckoo bird, which lays eggs in the nests of other birds. A cuckold is a man whose wife has an affair with another man, and the symbol for a cuckold is the stag. This representation is derived from the mating rituals of horned animals, like stags, who fight for the right to mate. In this sense, the “horns” are those of the stag who loses and thus has his horns but not his mate.

The symbol of the horns takes a broader meaning in The Way of the World, as Fainall has not lost his wife to Mirabell sexually. Instead, Mirabell has Mrs. Fainall’s money in trust, and he has her literal trust in the competing plots of the play. For Fainall, having his horns means losing the battle with Mirabell over his wife’s money rather than the battle to secure his marriage.