Negative Effects Of Relationship Betrayal

Sometimes in a marriage or relationship people become unsatisfied or bored, this can then lead to relationship betrayal. Relationship betrayal is “an act that goes against expectations of a romantic relationship and, as a result, causes pain to a partner” (McCornack 307). Examples of relationship betrayal include sexual infidelity, emotional infidelity, deception, and disloyalty. Relationship betrayal can cause two strong negative reactions in the partner who was betrayed. The first is an overpowering sense of relational devaluation, which is “the realization that our partners do not love and respect us as much as we thought they did” (McCornack 307). The second is a deep sense of loss, often causing the partner who has been betrayed to feel like all the time, trust and commitment they put into the relationship was a waste. In the movie The Affair (2006), the main character Jean (played by Kelsey Oldershaw) is married to Paul (played by Horatio Ledon) who is a busy architect and hardly ever home. After sitting at home day after day by herself she decides she wants to have some fun. Jean and her friend Mandy are supposed to meet Paul at a bar but they end up going …show more content…
After leaving the bar instead of Jean going home to her husband she ends up going home with Viggo and having sex with him. When she finally goes home to Paul she uses another form of relationship betrayal, deception. Jean tells Paul that she stayed the night with Mandy and that he can call her since he doesn’t believe her. Here she is using deception by lying to her husband about where she really stayed the night and has convinced her friend to also lie to cover for her so her husband doesn’t find out that she had an affair. Eventually Paul finds out about the affair and Jean goes to stay with Viggo. But, Paul doesn’t want to lose his wife so he allows her to be with Viggo while trying to win her