Topic > Infidelity in marriages from Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn and Shakespeare's Othello

Infidelity is one of the main causes of marital breakups. To be successful in a marriage, it takes two people to make it work. There are factors that can tear a marriage apart, but infidelity in marriages is the most important, as it can impact the individuals themselves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Infidelity in marriages from Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn and Shakespeare's Othello brings out emotions that can lead to outbursts of sociopathic acts, which can affect the sustenance of their relationship. After infidelity occurs, an epidemic is bound to occur. The three courses of action that lead to outbursts stem from loneliness, and this stems from lack of communication, from feeling helpless, this stems from one partner dominating the other partner and finally jealousy is the breaking point in both novels, and this determines the fate between the two couples in Gone Girl and Othello. For a strong and healthy relationship, communication is a key component. In Gone Girl and Othello, both protagonists have no communication skills with each other. Since their spouses were suspected of infidelity; it was their loneliness that made them not communicate with each other, as it can cause serious harm to those around them and themselves. In Gone Girl, Amy knew her relationship with Nick was getting worse when things started to change. Nick and Amy both knew they weren't really happy. Amy saw Nick with a younger woman and realized that “her husband had abandoned her for a younger woman” (Flynn 234). Although she knew about the affair, she never addressed it, as she hid her emotions underneath her. Relationships are based on trust, compromise and mutual understanding. Betrayal in marriages is one of the quickest and most painful ways to betray an individual's trust. Nick was “desperate to please [his] wife[. . .] for two years, [he] tried while [his] old wife was gone [. . .] [he] tried so hard: without anger, without argument” (Flynn 211). This shows that marriage requires the same amount of mutual attention for it to be stable and healthy. Both partners should communicate and compromise with each other, rather than avoiding the truth, because eventually everything will accumulate and create chaos. When this is not taken into consideration it can cause an abundance of unhappiness in the relationship. Amy and Nick did not support each other, as they were unable to confront each other about how they really felt. They both tried to make an effort but it wasn't enough. In the novel, he describes how poor communication affects a relationship. Although their spark is gone, they once loved each other, but their lack of communication made them feel alone. Much like Amy from Gone Girl, Othello is missing the key component of his communication skills in his marriage. Othello and Desdemona are newlyweds who love each other dearly. In a snap of his fingers, Othello's entire view of his wife changes as Iago corrupts his mind into doubting his marriage. Iago assures Othello that his beloved Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, having an affair with Cassio. Although he doesn't believe him at first, he later trusts Iago's judgment rather than himself seeing the evidence. He tells Iago “if you perceive more, let me know more” (Shakespeare 3.3.245). Rather than confront Desdemona or even Cassio, he tasks Iago with gathering more evidence, when he could have simply asked for it. Othello never demanded enough of Iago to obtain concrete proof of the allegedDesdemona's relationship. He is quite content with jumping to conclusions and not knowing the whole truth. If Othello had not been so ignorant and had not asked Iago to give him concrete evidence instead of implications, he might have picked up on Iago's ideas.selfish scheme. Because Othello suspected his wife of being unfaithful, he never spoke about it directly to her, but when he approached her, he made her understand by telling her to swear that she had been faithful to him when she assured him of this by saying, "Your wife, my lord. Your true and loyal wife” (Shakespeare 4.2.36) Desdemona became confused when he approached her. He accused her of lying and disrespecting her by implying that she was a whore confront his wife, he also refused to speak to Cassio after taking away his position, if he had, Cassio would not have had to go through Desdemona to get his position back and Iago would have had no way to make it clear that she was unfaithful. In both Gone Girl and Othello, the infidelity in their marriages leads them to feel alone and desperate due to their lack of communication. It shows that marriage is hard work and requires two people to function properly; a key factor requires good communication. Without it they fall apart. Infidelity in marriages not only brings out feelings of loneliness due to lack of communication, but can also bring out feelings of desperation and helplessness. In most relationships there is always one partner who dominates the other. The roles are reversed between the two novels, In Gone Girl; Amy Dunne has control and power over her husband, while in Othello, Othello has complete dominion over his wife, Desdemona. The feeling of ineffectiveness and helplessness is what Nick and Desdemona experience from their spouses, which leads them to have a reputation for infidelity. Amy and Othello show their dominance in contrasting ways. In Gone Girl Amy has controlled her husband's life since the day she disappeared. Before she disappeared, Nick “took everything from her until she no longer existed” (Flynn 367); he had it wrapped around his finger. Nick was the dominant one in the beginning of the relationship, which made her do anything, and everything, just to please him. Amy felt powerless, but that changed from the day she left as she gained power over the relationship. From the day she left, she had Nick's entire life planned out for him. For their fifth anniversary gift, he gave Nick the Punch and Judy dolls "giving [Nick] the narration of [his] hype" (Flynn 363). The Punch and Judy dolls have a meaning behind them. The original story of the dolls is that Punch kills his son, his wife Judy. In the story of Punch and Judy, Punch kills his son, and then kills Judy when he discovers the crime, "That's the way to do it", is the tagline of the story where Punch says every time he gets away with murder . Amy uses the puppets as a way to describe what would happen to her dear husband and as a metaphor to portray Amy's manipulative actions in trying to make him control the people around her. Nick was basically his puppet; she controlled everyone from then on. He was trapped in every step he took; she controlled his life and how others saw him as a person was still in control. Nick however was convinced that he would get a divorce but with Amy's manipulative and controlling mind, she convinced him to stay with her. However, the dominance roles in Othello are different. Although both novels depict that there is one partner who dominates the other, men dominate women. Mostly women in the play do not have any dominating role. Desdemona is an obedient and submissive wife, as she continues to obeyunder Othello's orders from the beginning of their relationship. She responds to Othello with very obedient words such as: "I will, my lord" (Shakespeare 4.3.9) or "recommend me to my kind lord" (Shakespeare 5.2.139), speaking to him as if he were above her, showing that she has power over them. Brabantio talks about women as the true Venetian ideology of what women should be like. As the Venetian Senate, it sets traditional expectations in women. It is known that it is natural if a woman is feminine, but anything else is "against all the rules of nature" (Shakespeare 1.3.104). Desdemona was expected to make endless compromises and sacrifices in order to be a convenient option for her husband. Society makes women feel the need to always have support from their husbands even if their actions are questionable. The women in Othello act according to ideological expectations, as is the norm. At the end of the play, Desdemona knowing that she herself would die, chose to proceed in her role as a subordinate and obedient wife. Othello has all the power and control over his wife; he believes he has the right to determine his wife's fate as he kills her. The act of killing Desdemona caused Othello to gain a greater sense of power due to his wife's infidelity. Furthermore, Amy and Othello have power over their spouses. They both control their lives. Both Desdemona and Nick live their lives dominated by their significant others. Amy Dunne from Gone Girl and Othello's men display similar dominating characteristics as they control their spouse's life and as a result, they benefit from it. Infidelity can make you vulnerable and lead to jealousy and hatred. In Gone Girl and Othello, the fate of the two main characters is determined by their spouse. However, the two characters have similar motivations behind their actions. Amy and Othello are both insecure and jealous due to their spouse's betrayal and this is what causes their minds. Despite Amy's actions and choices, she loves her husband dearly. Nick destroys their relationship by cheating on Amy with his student Andie. Even though the marriage seemed to be falling apart on Amy's side of the relationship, she is raging with anger that he disrespected her. She cannot admit that her husband is dissatisfied with her and replaces her with a younger girl. This makes her jealous of Andie because “cool girls are mostly hot. Warm and understanding. Cool girls never get mad [. . .] and let their men do what they want” (Flynn 222). Amy was once the "cool girl," but when she stopped pretending to be something she wasn't, her marriage fell apart. She pretended to be the girl Nick wanted her to be and whatever everyone else wanted her to be. Now Andie is his new "pretty girl". As a result, Amy handles the situation ingeniously. Betrayal is the motivation that drove her to create her master plan to take revenge on her husband. Amy and Nick's marriage has failed and is the reason for Amy's psychotic plan. The infidelity in Nick and Amy's marriage brought out the emotions that led to his psychotic outbreak. Amy uses Nick's flaws as bait to destroy him, impregnating herself with Nick's sample that she rescued from the fertility clinic, so that she can "hold onto him like a climbing, twisting vine until [she] [has] invaded every part of him and made him [hers]” (Flynn 400). By getting pregnant she knew she would have Nick forever, and that he wouldn't be able to leave, not without looking like an idiot, after his wife came home pregnant with his. son If Nick no longer belonged to Amy, he would belong to no one else but her. In the novel, it is described how Nick's infidelity in their marriage leads to hers.