Adultery in Literature and Film
When a book is published today that includes the story of an affair betweena married man and/or woman, hardly anyone raises an eyebrow in protest.After all, this is 2003, and extramarital affairs occur regularly in reallife and even more so in literature and films. However, the situation wasquite different in earlier centuries when affairs were looked upon muchdifferently and novels covered the topic of marriage but not of illicitlove affairs. Although adultery is mentioned in works from the earliesttimes as in Homer, chivalric literature and Shakespeare's plays, thesubject takes on a much greater significance in the latter 18th and 19th Early fiction that deals with infidelities often centers on"seduction, fornication and rape" and how these related to differentclasses (Tanner 12). In the 18th century novel, for example, sexualactivities are much more visible, often directly related to considerationsof money and class. Frequently called the Age of Reason, 18th centuryliterature was dry and lucid. Poetry became so intellectualized that itlost all its appeal to the senses and the imagination. Because of thedominating bourgeois power, the emphasis was on marriage rather than lov
However,-6-they present adultery as a multi-sided occurrence that significantlyimpacts the characters' lives. Hester, alone, is the character who is able to strongly face the futuredespite her adulterous actions. It is the same theme of adultery as in 19th centuryliterature, but this time the book is written with humor and fun. Emma runsfrom one unhappy and unrealistic relationship to another, which she thinkswill be better, and deceives herself once again. The search was doomed to frustration becauseno earthly role of herself or of her love could satisfy her. "Emma's life was spent inseeking an image of herself. Just like the novels written during the 18th and 19th centuriespainted a story about the society around them, so do these modern-daynovels portray American society and the role played by adultery. However, it many cases, the results are not any morereassuring. On today's television, however, such programs as soap operas show themain characters going from one affair to another-sometimes making theirlife more rewarding, other times ruining it for the long-term. This story goes beyond thetheme of adultery and extends into single motherhood. "Anna's environment does stiflewhat is good in her," adds Rippon. Hester Prynne, wife of an older man, whowas away from America in England for two years, bears an illegitimate childin Puritan New England. Then she meetsHolden, a 20-year-old cashier, and against her better judgment, begins tohave an affair with him. In the third book, he is prevented from consummatinghis lustful desires and nobody dies.
Common topics in this essay:
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Anna Karenin,
Madame Bovary,
Scarlette Letter,
Judith Lipton,
Age Reason,
Soon Justine,
Rabbit Rabbit,
Updike Rabbit,
Napoleonic Code,
19th century,
theme adultery,
madame bovary,
18th century,
century literature,
18th century literature,
18th 19th,
scarlet letter,
20th century,
century novels,
flaubert's madame,
adultery 19th century,
flaubert's madame bovary,
19th century novels,
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Acceptance Essays
