Concealing Infidelity
In early usage of the term, a beard scenario involved concealing infidelity in a monogamous relationship.
In a typical scenario, X and Y are in a supposedly exclusive relationship, but X is actually cheating with Z. However, to prevent Y from learning about X's infidelity, W, the "beard", pretends to be paired with Z.
Such a scenario is a central premise of Woody Allen's 1984 film Broadway Danny Rose. The titular talent agent is the beard, pretending to date Tina, a single woman who is actually having an affair with married singer Lou Canova. By posing as Tina's date, Danny can bring her to Lou's performances without drawing attention from Lou's suspicious wife. The term "beard" is a running gag, used four times (e.g., "I'm only the beard") when Tina's relatives assume Danny is Tina's previously mysterious lover.
Read more about this topic: Beard (companion)
Famous quotes containing the words concealing and/or infidelity:
“People of substance may sin without being exposed for their stolen pleasure; but servants and the poorer sort of women have seldom an opportunity of concealing a big belly, or at least the consequences of it.”
—Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733)
“I know a love may be revived which absence, inconstancy, or even infidelity has extinguished, but there is no returning from a dégoût given by satiety.”
—Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu (1689–1762)