Exploring the History and Dynamics of the Cuckold within Saturday Night Live and The Canterbury Tales

A Staff Piece by Mattie Tabor

The popularity of Saturday Night Live’s (SNL) smooth-talking, Miami-native Domingo flooded the internet in recent months. He made his first appearance in October of 2024 and quickly became a recurring character, even making a return in the show’s recently celebrated 50th anniversary special. The original skit revolves around a bridal party’s song that reveals to the groom, Matthew, that his wife, Kelsey, had an affair with Domingo during her bachelorette trip. The comedic elements lie in Matthew’s naive ignorance of this event and the surprise reappearance of Domingo at the wedding reception. This trope - a husband whose wife cheats on him- has existed for centuries and is commonly referred to as the cuckold. The origins of this phenomenon, as well as an in-depth analysis comparing the trope’s appearance in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and the Domingo sketch, reveal the evolution of the literary theme.

The word cuckold derives from the European bird, the cuckoo. In certain species of cuckoo, they exhibit habits of parasitic breeding that parallel the cliche plot points of the cuckold trope in literature. Nesting females, ready to lay eggs, will seek pre-established nests to serve as hosts for their offspring. If the mother cuckoo’s plan is successful, it results in the host parents unknowingly raising the invasive species’ offspring. The cuckoo egg carries on the competitive nature of its matriarch: “Within a few hours of hatching, the blind, naked, young cuckoo develops a strong urge to evict any objects, such as eggs or other nestlings, from the nest” (Friedman). As the only hatchling remaining, the young cuckoo consumes all the food collected by the foster parents, growing to encompass the entire nest. As many have pointed out, if the cuckold’s wife were to become pregnant by her lover, the cuckold could unknowingly raise a child that is not his own, similar to the cuckoo bird, increasing the embarrassment of the affair twofold, which is a common result within literary examples of this trope.

The cuckold came into comedic literature in fabliaux, a medieval literary genre arising in the 13th and 14th centuries– which Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a part of– that includes vulgar, earthy humor that parallels the occupation of its narrator. The Miller’s Tale, told by the Miller, who is described in the general prologue of Canterbury Tales as a boisterous drunkard and morally corrupt businessman, is distinctly lower-class compared to the rest of his associates. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales depicts a pilgrimage consisting of twenty-nine pilgrims who take turns sharing a story to occupy time on their journey to Canterbury, setting up this classic frame narrative. After the Knight’s tale, the Miller, already drunk, insists that he be next and will “With which I wol now quite the Knyghtes tale” [With which I will now requite the Knight's tale]" (3127). He confidently insists that he will return with a story in kind or greater than the Knight's tale. The Knight’s story serves as a distinguished example of a love story between upper-class characters that falls apart when its lowly counterpart, The Miller’s Tale, represents the lewd humor of the lower-class people during the 14th century.

Setting the scene, the Miller describes a successful carpenter, John, housing an astrology student from Oxford, Nicholas. John’s recently wedded wife, Allison, is described as, “ful moore blissful on to see / Than is the newe pere-jonette tree [much more blissful to look upon / Than the new early-ripe pear tree]” (3247-48). By describing the eighteen-year-old bride as adventurous and beautiful, Chaucer is setting in motion the enticing mixture of Allison’s wandering eye for excitement and physical features that quickly attracts Nicholas. Continuing this description of Allison, Chaucer contrasts her personality with John’s, and the resulting effects on their marriage: "Jalous he was and heeld hire narwe in cage / For she was wylde and yong, and he was old [Jealous he was, and held her narrowly in confinement / For she was wild and young, and he was old]" (3224-25). Chaucer's story depicts the cuckold trope as a power struggle between husband and wife by introducing the husband, John the carpenter, in a controlling light. Additionally seen in the SNL skit, the affair represents an expression of the wife's freedom needed to accommodate her impulsive personality. The personality traits of Kelsey are not as explicitly mentioned, although the retelling of her weekend getaway and “excitement” from seeing her affair partner make clear some level of moral ambiguity within her character, similar to Allison. In contrast to Kelsey and Matthew’s relationship, John is much older than Allison, which was not seen with the same stigma as in modern times during the 14th century. His wife’s wild nature held him back from a peaceful and trust-filled marriage, resulting in his concealing Allison to the outside world that could have led to her eventual affair with Nicholas.

The comedic elements of the sketch, encouragement from her bridesmaids to leave Matthew for Domingo, and overlooking Matthew's increasingly concerned questions suggest a stronger connection between audiences and the wife and lover’s relationship, emphasizing a dedication to the affair partner, not the ignorant husband. Domingo’s flirtatious and brazen personality lends itself to the narrative that their affair was not a shameful act, finding humor in a different aspect of the cuckold situation than in Canterbury Tales. Domingo crashing the wedding reception, saying, “Hey, Matt. / Came all this way. Had to explain. / Direct from Domingo,” ironically ignoring Matthew’s growing anger over Kelsey’s affair to dance with her (00:04:15-20). The comedic elements in Chaucer’s tale can be found in the absurdity of the excuses given by Allison and her lover to redirect John away from discovering their rendezvous. After confessing their sexual desires towards one another while John is away, the pair needs to find an excuse to sneak off together after he returns. Nicholas fabricates and delivers the lie to John: “That now a Monday next, at quarter nyght / Shal falle a reyn. . .so wilde and wood [That now on Monday next, after midnight / Shall fall a rain. . .so wild and raging]” (3516-17). He convinces John that God sent him advice for how to avoid this flood; the three of them must sleep in baskets suspended from the ceiling of their house, avoiding being swept away. This story fools the naive John as he agrees to do all of this while additionally obeying Nicholas’ command to be silent through the night. This ruse fools him exactly as expected, leaving John absent from the majority of the action once night falls.

Fooling the cuckold in this way is featured in SNL’s sketch, demonstrated when the bridesmaids retell the story of Kelsey meeting Domino in a club, going into the bathroom to take off her engagement ring. After Matthew rightfully inquires about this detail in the bridal party’s song, Kelsey responds, “Well, I just didn’t want to lose it in the hot tub,” deflecting from her affair with Domingo and quickly averting Matthew’s understanding of the situation (00:02:32-35). This sketch builds the hilarity through the increasing severity of Kelsey’s affair as Matthew’s concerns are raised when he finally asks, “Is the point of this song just that Kelsey cheated on me all weekend?” (00:03:15-19). Finally, when the viral figure, Domingo, arrives, he explains, “Kelsey is a friend. She’s like my sis. But we did hook up, though” (00:04:20-25). This final comment, paired with Domino’s suggestive dancing confirms Matthew’s suspicions at the end of this skit, much like The Miller’s Tale, revealing the affair that leaves each respective husband dumbfounded and embarrassed.

Domingo’s appearance serves as a comedic end to SNL’s twist of the classic cuckold, while Chaucer chooses to suspend morality and societal conventions with the ending of The Miller’s Tale. After Allison and Nicholas trick John and sneak away into the night to engage in sexual activities, another man desperate for Allison’s affection, the local clerk Absolon, arrives at Allison’s window begging for a kiss. When Allison asks Absolon to close his eyes for their kiss, Chaucer delves into further absurdities: “An Absolon, hym fil no bet ne wers, / But with his mouth he kiste hir naked ers [And Absolon, to him it happened to better nor worse / But with his mouth he kissed her naked ass]” (3733-34). Vulgarity is central to the fabliau, as demonstrated by Allison and Nicholas’ trick against Absolon. Chaucer continues the vulgarity when Absolon seeks revenge on the pair with a fire-poker, resulting in a branding of Nicholos when he attempts to pull off the same scheme as his lover. As previously mentioned, with Domingo’s statement that he did sleep with Kelsey, explicit sexuality is present in both of these stories. This inclusion demonstrates the suggestive and lewd nature of the cuckold’s story, including detailed relations between the wife and her lover that go over the cuckold’s head, creating copious comedic opportunities that both Chaucer and SNL take advantage of.

SNL and Chaucer take vastly different approaches to the cuckold, a medieval fabliau rooted in vulgarity, deception, and embarrassment. While SNL centralizes the narrative around Kelsey and Domingo’s affair, Chaucer shames the actions of Allison by seeking revenge on her and her lover, yet still leaving John an embarrassed cuckold. The main concepts of the cuckold – ignorance of any infidelity and embarrassment upon the exposure of being married to a woman cheating on him – are written into each of these narratives through Matthew and John. Additionally, Kelsey and Allison share the wild and emotionally driven traits common for the wife in this narrative. The portrayals of each love-triangle dynamic show the shift in focus from the cuckold to the wife and lover’s relationship, displayed clearly as SNL’s sketch fades out with Kelsey and Domingo dancing the night away.

Works Cited

“Bridesmaid Speech - SNL.” YouTube, uploaded by Saturday Night Live, 13 October 2024,

Friedmann, Herbert. "cuculiform". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 December 2024, https://www.britannica.com/animal/cuculiform.

“1.3 The Miller’s Prologue and Tale: Harvard’s Geoffrey Chaucer Website.” Harvard University, chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/millers-prologue-and-tale.