In Act 2, Pinchwife and his young wife, Margery, come into conflict when a mysterious "young gallant" of unknown identity claims to be attracted to Margery. Though Pinchwife knows the "young gallant" to be Horner, he avoids revealing to his wife the identity of her admirer, fearing that he himself will be cuckolded. As he tries to convince his wife that she shouldn't go into town, Pinchwife uses an allusion and a simile to compare Horner to a basilisk:
MRS PINCHWIFE. Was it any Hampshire gallant, any of our neighbours? I promise you, I am beholding to him.
PINCHWIFE. I promise you, you lie; for he would but ruin you, as he has done hundreds. He has no other love for women, but that; such as he look upon women, like basilisks, but to destroy ’em.
In this passage, Pinchwife alludes to classical Hellenistic/Roman legends, comparing Horner (whom they are discussing) to a basilisk. Basilisks, or cockatrices, emerged in legend as serpents with the ability to destroy plants and animals with just a glance. Later, it was rumored that they were born from eggs laid by roosters and hatched by serpents. By comparing Horner to this mythical monster, Pinchwife reveals his belief in the destructiveness of what he sees as the immoral and unchecked sexual expression in the city.
