# Old Paunchinello — The Devil’s Dictionary character guide

> Old Paunchinello in The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** your

**First appearance:** 0001-the-devil-s-dictionary

## Snapshot

A gluttonous newlywed immortalized in verse, whose devotion to the table d'hôte exposes the gap between marital vows and the appetites that actually govern men.

## Who they are

Old Paunchinello appears in the Dictionary's illustrative verses as a freshly wed husband who takes his bride straight to the table and feeds 'as fast as he was able.' His oblivious cry of 'I dote upon good grub' against the neglected bride's dry retort makes him a compact emblem of self-absorption dressed as affection. He matters because he shows how the book's satire works: a single comic couplet can indict an entire institution of manners.

## In the story

### [T](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/t)

Appears in the poem under 'Table d'Hôte', freshly wed and greedily eating.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/characters/old_paunchinello
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/characters