The White Devil

The plot of The White Devil is deeply entrenched in the complexities of marital infidelity, and the idea of the cuckold—a man whose romantic partner has a sexual liaison with another person—recurs often in the theatrical productions of the English Renaissance. Typically, the cuckolded man in such plays was mocked or derided for his apparently shameful status: a form of emasculation that was implicitly understood by contemporary writers, actors, and audiences alike.

In such plays, a cuckold is often signified on stage by wearing a pair of horns on his head. These cuckold’s horns serve as both plot device and visual joke, and they appear in The White Devil mostly through symbolism and allusion. The doddering, naïve Camillo is the main target of these jokes, for he fails to recognize that his wife is having an affair in his own home. The other characters therefore mock him with references to horns and cuckoldry. In particular, Flaminio delights in emasculating Camillo through the use of subtle jibes. He jokes about Camillo having horns or even large ears, but although he revels in this indirect mockery, he carefully avoids making any explicit mention of what is happening between Bracciano and Camillo.

Later, the cuckold’s horns are literally manifested in the play when an unseen person throws a pair of horns through Camillo’s open window, indicating that all of Rome knows about the affair between Bracciano and Vittoria. Everyone seems to have at least some knowledge of the affair, even Isabella. Camillo’s failure to understand the meaning of the cuckold’s horns further emphasizes his naiveté. The horns therefore become a symbol of Camillo’s shame—not only because his wife has been disloyal, but also because everyone knows about her transgression but him.

Isabella is in a similar position to Camillo. Like him, her husband is engaged in a very public affair, but she is nowhere near as naïve as Camillo proves to be. She notices the sly suggestions of those around her, but she actively tries to deny them because she does not want to believe that her husband is cheating on her. When she is confronted with the imagery of the cuckold’s horns, she enters into active denial, distancing herself from all mention of horns and husbands. Her response to the affair is very different from Camillo’s response. Whereas Camillo fears the public shaming associated with the horns of cuckoldry, Isabella fears the private shame of a failed marriage and a disloyal husband. Her love for Bracciano is never in doubt; she kisses his portrait three times each evening before she goes to bed despite her knowledge of his flaws, and her love eventually kills her when the lips of the portrait are poisoned. Isabella actively shuns the imagery of the cuckold’s horns because she would rather delude herself than admit that she does not truly know her husband.