A stepfather or stepdad is a non-biological male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren.

Culture

Though less common in literature than stereotypical evil stepmothers, there are also cases of evil ''stepfathers'', such as in the fairy tales ''The Gold-Bearded Man'' (in a plot usually featuring a cruel father) and '' The Little Bull-Calf''. One type of such tale features a defeated villain who insists on marrying the hero's mother and makes her help him trick the hero and so defeat him. Such tales include '' The Prince and the Princess in the Forest'' and ''

The Blue Belt The Blue Belt ( Norwegian: ''Det blå båndet'') is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in '' Norske Folkeeventyr''. It is Aarne-Thompson type 590. Plot summary A beggar woman and her son were retur ...

'', although the tales of this type can also feature a different female relation, such as the stepsister in '' The Three Princes and their Beasts''. In fiction, evil stepfathers include Claudius in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

'' (though his role as uncle is more emphasized), Walter Parks Thatcher in '' Citizen Kane'' (though this is debatable), Murdstone in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's '' David Copperfield'', the King from the movie '' Radio Flyer'', and Gozaburo Kaiba (who adopted Seto and Mokuba Kaiba) from '' Yu-Gi-Oh!''. '' The Stepfather'' also depict an evil father who has murdered his family and subsequent families. The film '' Sucker Punch'' features a sexually abusive stepfather. In his opera '' La Cenerentola'', Gioacchino Rossini inverted the tale of ''Cinderella'' to have her oppressed by her stepfather. His motive is made explicit, in that providing a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

to Cenerentola would cut into what he can give to his own daughters.Warner, pp. 213–4 An analogous male figure may also appear as a wicked uncle; like the stepmother, the father's brother may covet the child's inheritance for his own children, and so maltreat his nephews or nieces. Modern films, however, seem to cast stepfathers in a somewhat kinder light, implying honorable men who marry divorced women or single mothers make good stepfathers.

References

Stepfamily Parenting Terms for men {{parenting-stub