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The pauper’s wife is a character in a story that Lucius hears while staying in a hostel with Philebus’s group. She is married to a poor artisan, referred to as the pauper. Like many characters in the stories in The Golden Ass, the pauper’s wife is unfaithful. Unlike some of the other unfaithful characters, however, the pauper’s wife experiences no consequences for her actions. When her husband almost catches her with a lover, she has her lover hide in a jar. The pauper’s wife and her lover even have sex on top of the jar while the pauper is cleaning it. The story of the pauper’s wife shows that Fate is complicated and that disloyal people aren’t necessarily punished for their actions.
The Pauper’s Wife Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by The Pauper’s Wife or refer to The Pauper’s Wife. 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:
).
Book 9
Quotes
At last, both tasks were completed, and the workman, beset by all misfortunes, had to carry the jar all the way to where the man who cuckolded him was staying.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Pauper’s Wife Quotes in The Golden Ass
The The Golden Ass quotes below are all either spoken by The Pauper’s Wife or refer to The Pauper’s Wife. 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:
).
Book 9
Quotes
At last, both tasks were completed, and the workman, beset by all misfortunes, had to carry the jar all the way to where the man who cuckolded him was staying.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
