Why is a cuckolded husband "fit for heaven" in Byron's Don Juan? Canto 5, stanza 154/Canto_the_Fifth#CLIV), from Byron's _Don Juan_): > His majesty saluted his fourth spouse > With all the ceremonies of his rank, > Who clear'd her sparkling eyes and smooth'd her brows, > As suits a matron who has play'd a prank; > These must seem doubly mindful of their vows, > To save the credit of their breaking bank: > To no men are such cordial greetings given > As those whose wives have made them **fit for heaven**. What is the meaning of **made them fit for heaven**? Why would a cuckolded husband be "fit for heaven"? (According to the plot, "his majesty" is a sultan who has been cuckolded by one of his wives: she ordered Don Juan bought on the slave market and brought to her in female disguise)

I don't know how it originated, but the idea that cuckolds go to heaven is apparently an old English proverb/saying, not one that was invented by Byron. _A Dictionary of Sexual Language and Imagery in Shakespearean and Stuart Literature,_ by Gordon Williams, gives a number of similar examples in the entry for "Cuckolds are Christians":

> Tilley has 'In rain and sunshine cuckolds go to heaven' (R12; the thought occurs from 1591, but this form is cited from 1659). The simplified " _Cuckolds go to Heaven_ ' occurs in Spinke, _Quackery Unmask'd_ (1711) 8; and Leanerd, _Rambling Justice_ (1678) Epil. declares: 'both Fools and Cuckolds go to Heaven'.

(p. 342)