Cuckold

A cuckold (sometimes shortened to cuck) is the husband of an adulterous wife. In evolutionary biology, the term is also applied to males who are unwittingly investing parental effort in offspring that are not genetically their own.

History of the term

The word "cuckold" derives from the cuckoo bird, alluding to its habit of laying its eggs in other birds' nests. The association is common in medieval folklore, literature, and iconography.

English usage first appears about 1250 in the satirical and polemical poem "The Owl and the Nightingale" (l. 1544). The term was clearly regarded as embarrassingly direct, as evident in John Lydgate's "Fall of Princes" (c. 1440). In the late 14th century, the term also appeared in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale". Shakespeare's poetry often referred to cuckolds, with several of his characters suspecting they had become one.

The female equivalent "cuckquean" first appears in English literature in 1562, adding a female suffix to the "cuck". One often overlooked subtlety of the word is that it implies that the husband is "deceived", that he is unaware of his wife's unfaithfulness and may not know until the arrival or growth of a child plainly not his (as with cuckoo birds).

Cuckold (novel)

Cuckold is a 1997 book by Indian author Kiran Nagarkar and his third novel. It is a historical novel set in the Rajput kingdom of Mewar, India during the 17th century that follows the life of Maharaj Kumar, a fictional character based upon the real life ruler Thakur Bhojraj.

Synopsis

The book follows the life of Maharaj Kumar and his attempts to win the affections of his wife Mira while war ravages the land around them.

Critical reception

Cuckold is considered to be one of Nagarkar's most well known novels and in 2000 he won India's National Academy of Letters Award (Sahitya Akademi Award) for the work. The book has been praised for its "blending of traditional narrative against a historical backdrop presented with relentless detail". Makarand R. Paranjape considered it to be part of a canon of Indian English novels. Gore Vidal called it "a fascinating book, a sort of fantastic marriage between the Thomas Mann of Royal Highness (Königliche Hoheit) and the Lady Murasaki."

References

Cuckold (film)

Cuckold is an upcoming South African drama film directed by Charlie Vundla. It was selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

Cast

References

External links