This can hardly come as a surprise, not only because sexual humor is almost universally extramarital, but also because fabliau characterizations imply and invite such dalliances. Husbands are routinely presented as cruel or stupid, while many wives are found to be lascivious creatures with gargantuan sexual appetites, either ripe for an adulterous relationship or already embroiled in one. Adultery is in fact a prevalent theme in the fabliaux. Nykrog calculated that 63 of his 160 fabliaux dealt with love triangles. Almost invariably, the participants in an adulterous relationship are married women and men other than their husbands, rather than husbands with mistresses.
Seducers are never in short supply.
Knights and clerics invariably succeed. The fabliaux frequently show an interest in language and its uses or misuses. Several texts offer amusing anecdotes that play on the distinction between figurative and literal language. Revenge is the motivating force in some of the best fabliaux. The authors of fabliaux show a keen interest in genitalia.