Men....

"There was no one in that large gathering of chieftains and knights who were there who did not have a beloved, and everyone who saw their faces could right away discover distress and sorrow in them. It was a consolation that no one could mock another without himself being implicated."

Throughout this story, as every woman tried the mantle on, they were judged by the men of the court for their infidelity. This quote displays how all the men were visibly upset about the outcome of their beloved's faithfulness. Every man had something negative to say or tried to put down a women based on how short the mantle was on her; yet, what would happen if the mantle was made to show the unfaithfulness of men? The men tried to make it seem as if the women are committing the act of infidelity by themselves. The court could have been full of the men who slept with majority of the women; yet, they look down on them as if they committed the worst crime in history when they were most likely accomplices of that crime. The word choice in this quote displays how the men are so worried about their image that they believe they are better than the women, but if the mantle was made to fit men, it probably be as short as their neck.