The+Unfaithful+Wife

=** Unfaithful Wife Archetype **=

How are Hera, Madame Bovary, and Princess Diana all related? They have all committed adultery. Fourteen percent of women have cheated on their husbands according to a national study conducted by the University of California. “…Above one-quarter to about one-half of married women have at least one lover after they are married in any given marriage,” Says Maggie Scarf, who wrote //Intimate Partners //. Clearly women commonly cheat on their partners in both our current culture, and the cultures that preceded us.

Characterized by a deceitful, treacherous, ambitious, and intelligent nature, the unfaithful wife has the power to manipulate her foolish husband. Desire controls her spouse’s actions, and his dullness usually drives the wife to pursue a more desirable, exciting man. Similar to the femme fatale, the dangerous, seductive adulteress always maintains control over her husband.

An altered perception of our society’s concept of the unfaithful wife has evolved over time. In Greek mythology, not uncommonly, a form of revenge manifests itself through cheating. Later, the unfaithful wife represents a shallow and selfish person who abuses the love and kindness of her husband. However, as women gain more power in our culture, the unfaithful wife’s character undergoes a metamorphosis, and the role of the victim and the perpetrator becomes muddled. The intended audience may feel an alliance toward the female adulterer. They begin to wonder if perhaps the unfaithful wife had good reason for her actions. Thus, a clear evolution of the unfaithful wife archetype has been redefined with time.

The evolution of the unfaithful wife archetype depends on the power of women in our society, however, certain common elements remained throughout history.

** L****isa Nowak**

Lisa Nowak was a married NASA astronaut who fell in love with a fellow astronaut named William Oefelein. Together they had a love filled affair that would cause the separation of Lisa and her husband Richard. Jeolousy, however took hold of lisa and drove her to paranoia. She had learned of an affair Oefelein had with another woman and soon drove many miles to where she lived and attempted kidnap and spray her with mace. Nowak is a perfect example of an unfaithful wife. She used her close proximity to Oefelein to woo him. She did it for love and was so blinded by it that she ruined a relationship she had with her husband and three kids while on top of that having a lawsuit filed against her for attempted kidnapping and assault. The unfaithful wife archetype is greatly personified through Lisa Nowak's story.

**Ana Lewis (GI Joe: Rise of Cobra)** Ana Lewis, played by Sienna Miller, in the new movie "GI Joe and the Rise of Cobra" was the wife of a wealthy baron/scientist. She was very secretive and betrayed the Baron. This resulted in his death and Ana walked away without a care in the world. Ana Lewis a.k.a. Sienna Miller was indeed an unfaithful wife. She was not an average one though. Ana did not cheat on her man but used him for his wealth and talents in the laboratory. She did this for her personal gain which is a defining characteristic of this archetype. Ana only married this man as a plan for her leader and used his scientific know how to activate a bomb that she used for evil. Ana Lewis of "GI Joe" is an excellent example of the Unfaithful Wife archetype because of her devious ways and exploitation of her husband.


 * Procris and Cephalus**



The tale of the unfaithful wife has been prominent in literature throughout history. From Spanish to Buddhist stories, this stock character has been portrayed as sneaky and deceitful. In a story by a Buddhist Sutra, the unfaithful wife is portrayed as someone who is willing to do anything to stay with her lover. She goes so far to fake her death so that she can elope with another man. As this story occurs throughout history, there are many different interpretations of the unfaithful wife.

Modern Day Unfaithful Wife In modern days, we see many stories of women cheating on their husbands for many reasons. One example of modern day cheating is the reoccurring story of a wife and mom finding another man that is more pleasing or interesting than their husband. These relationships tend to continue until the woman is caught. Now, couples try to work out their marriage, especially if they have children. In our society, unfaithful wives are not a suitable topic for talk, even though they cause many of the divorces in our time.

[[image:aphrodite.png align="left"]]
**Aphrodite**

Aphrodite, the most beautiful of all the gods and the goddess of love, epitomizes the Unfaithful Wife. Zeus chooses Hephaestus as her husband, known to be one of the more homely gods. Not surprisingly, Aphrodite feels dissatisfied with the marriage and has an affair with Ares, the handsome god of war. Although Aphrodite cares for lovers and sometimes acts with good intentions, she also acts deceitful, low, and mischievous, all historical characteristics of the unfaithful wife archetype. Aphrodite is an early example of the Unfaithful Wife.



**Extract** In the movie comedy Extract, a bored housewife played by Kristen Wiig cheats on her husband with the couple’s dull-minded pool boy. Once she realized she had no interest is the pool boy, despite sleeping with him 15 times, she tried to make it up to her husband, but he had known of the affair all along, and in fact had steered her in that direction in order to be free to have his own affair. The unfaithful wife archetypes she portrays include deceitfulness and cleverness, even though it can be argued that her husband manipulated her into having the affair.


 * Juno (Hera)**

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__Citations__

Zeller Jr., Tom. "An Astronauts's Alleged Crimes of Passion." //The Lede Blog//. New York Times, 6 Feb. 2007. Web. 22 Sept. 2009. [|

"BBC ON THIS DAY | 20 | 1995: Diana admits adultery in TV interview." // BBC NEWS | News Front Page //. Web. 20 Sept. 2009. .

"Buddist Tales for Young and Old." Buddhist Studies. Buddha Dharma Education Association and BuddhaNet, 2008. Web. 17 Sept. 2009. <[]>

"Discovering Infidelity." //Detecting Infidelity and Prevent Infidelity//. N.p., 2008. Web. 17 Sept. 2009 <[].>

Leu. "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra." //Evolution//. N.p., Aug.-Sept. 2009. Web. 22 Sept. 2009. .

Hanawalt, Barbara, and David Wallace. "Medieval Crime and Social Control." //Google Books//. Google, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2009 []. Hanawalt, Barbara, and David Wallace. "Medieval Crime and Social Control." // Google Books //. Google, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2009. .

Jubel, Michael. "Princess Diana Car Accident." //Malaysiaminilover.com//. Wordpress, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2009. .

Buddhist Sutra. "The Unfaithful Wife." //A Collection of Stories from Buddihsm.// Yahoo, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2009. .