There is no ANSWER for, Go from my house, and, What will you have with my wife?

Meaning & Analysis

Certain statements—particularly those asserting personal boundaries or accusing inappropriate behavior—are so direct or final that they admit no rebuttal or justification.

Insights

Irrefutable Boundaries

The proverb underscores that some situations or declarations—especially involving personal space or marital sanctity—broach lines so absolute that argument is futile.

Social Finality

Indicates moments of social confrontation where the force of the accusation or command is so strong, it overrides decorum, reasoning, or polite rebuttal.

Speechless Guilt or Powerlessness

Suggests that certain questions or demands are designed to dominate or expose wrongdoing so starkly that silence is the only possible response.

Dramatic Absolutes in Folk Wisdom

This proverb, drawn from Sancho Panza’s earthy and incisive wisdom in *Don Quixote*, reflects the blunt, often theatrical nature of traditional proverbs—where social truths are delivered with exaggerated finality and comic force.

Private Honor and Male Authority

The issues raised—household sovereignty and spousal fidelity—touch on early modern concepts of honor, particularly male honor rooted in control of home and wife. The proverb reflects the gravity of such perceived violations.

Philosophy of Speech Acts

The statements cited are examples of illocutionary acts—words that not only communicate but act. Like a command or accusation, they change the social landscape instantly, rendering reply irrelevant.

Rhetorical Devices

Enumerative Repetition

Presents two phrases in tandem to build rhetorical weight, dramatizing the inevitability and gravity of the confrontation they represent.

Hyperbole

Exaggerates the impossibility of response to heighten the sense of social rupture, lending the proverb a comic but cautionary sharpness.

Dialogue Framing

The proverb adopts the form of a mock-conversation or reported speech, giving it immediacy and anchoring it in lived interpersonal scenarios.

speechboundarieshonorauthorityconflictfinality
Analyzed with gpt-4o on July 10, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

I would faine know what foure Proverbs they be .. What better (said Sancho) then .. Go from my house, What will you have with my wife?

1620, SHELTON, Don Quix., Pt. II, xliii, IV 43

Cross References

  • See Sm., p. 478.

Original Scan

There is no ANSWER for, Go from my house, and, What will you have with my wife? - a scanned entry from Tilley's 1950 Dictionary of Proverbs.
Scan courtesy of HathiTrust Digital Library.
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.

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Last updated: January 27, 2026