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At the time of this book’s publication it was a common practice to depict a cuckolded man (a man whose wife has been unfaithful to him) with horns coming out of his head. Experts have not been able to agree on a single explanation for why horns began to be used as the symbol for a man with an unfaithful wife, but, in keeping with this convention, animal horns appear several times throughout the text of Lazarillo de Tormes, always as a symbolic foreshadowing that Lazaro’s fate is to become a cuckolded husband. Although it is painfully clear, based on his own account, that Lazaro’s wife is also the archpriest’s mistress and that Lazaro therefore suffers from what is seen by others as the ultimate social disgrace, he is nevertheless determined by the end of the book not to admit to the reality of his circumstance. Instead, Lazaro is content to benefit from the arrangement with the archpriest, who gives both Lazaro and Lazaro’s wife money, even though it has cost Lazaro his dignity and sense of morality. Lazaro’s evident satisfaction with his own state of disgrace is representative of the hardened, cynical perspective on life that he has developed over the course of the book. Moreover, his willingness to feign ignorance of the ways in which he is being deceived by a religious figure of such high office (i.e., the archpriest) demonstrate his moral indifference toward the hypocrisy of the church.
Horns Quotes in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes
The The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes quotes below all refer to the symbol of Horns. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
It seemed to me that at that moment I awoke out of the simplicity in which I had remained like a sleeping child. And I said to myself, “He’s right. I’d better keep my eyes open and my wits about me, for I’m on my own, and I’ll have to figure out how to manage for myself.”
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In this passage, following the incident in which the blind man knocks Lazaro’s head against the stone bull, Lazaro reflects on the blind man’s admonishment of him for his stupidity and he resolves that he will learn everything he can from the blind man about what it takes to survive on his own. This incident and the realization it produces in Lazaro will prove to be a major turning point in the development of Lazaro’s character—what Lazaro once would have seen as an unjustifiable act of cruelty, he now sees as an exercise of power and cunning that he would Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam con
“Oh wicked object, the fruit of worse behavior! How many there are who would like to see you on their neighbors’ heads, and yet how few want to have you for themselves, or even want to hear you mentioned in connection with them! … It’s a bad dinner and supper I’ve got in my hand here, but I’ll give it to you one of these days… What I’ve said is true. You’ll see, if you live long enough.”
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The blind man utters these cryptic but prophetic words at the inn in the town of Escalona, after he has rested his hand on an animal horn that is mounted to the exterior wall of the inn. At this time in Spain, horns were a common symbol for a cuckold, or a man with an unfaithful wife. Therefore, by reacting to the presence of a horn as a bad omen, the blind man is repudiating the practice of cuckoldry by cursing the horn which symbolizes it. The blind man’s statement that many people wish their neighbors would be cuckolded but Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusanti
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Horns Symbol Timeline in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes
The timeline below shows where the symbol Horns appears in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...soon as Lazaro has done this, the blind man knocks Lazaro’s head against the stone horns, hurting him badly. The blind man remarks that anyone who wants to be his servant...
(full context)
...inn, the blind man is feeling his way along the exterior of the building, where horns have been mounted for mule drivers to tie up their animals. When the blind man’s...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...haunted by what the blind man said to him long ago in Escalona about the horns on the wall of the inn.
(full context)
