Relational Dissolution
Emotional Infidelity
In the episode The Grown-Ups (L), Betty exhibits signs of emotional infidelity. Her relationship with Henry Francis helps her to recognize how dissatisfied she is in her relationship with Don. Betty's relational dissatisfaction in her marriage stems from Don's lies and infidelity. With Henry, Betty gets the attention and affection that she does not receive from Don.
Betty sees Henry at the Hargrove-Sterling wedding with a date, who turns out to be his daughter. Betty watches Henry from across the room, talking little with Don, showing emotional disengagement. Betty has to decide which man she will talk to, and after some hesitation, she leaves with Don. Later, Betty is upset about JFK's assassination but pushes Don away when he tries to comfort her. According to Guerrero (2011), emotional disengagement is when "the partner seems to be distancing herself or himself emotionally (27)." Betty puts less effort into her marriage and more effort and attention into her relationship with Henry. Betty suspects that Don has been having affairs, so she feels less guilty about her feelings for Henry. (Photo: see Notes, bb) |
Catastrophe Theory
Betty comes home from her meeting with Henry, saying that she wants to scream at Don for ruining their family. However, she says she does not want him to try to fix it. Betty says she does not love him anymore. The dissolution of their marriage can be described by the catastrophe theory. According to Guerrero (2011), "signs of an impending relational catastrophe exist, but people often fail to see them or deny them (28)."
In the sudden death phase of this model, small transgressions go largely unnoticed until a critical incident occurs. After all of the times that Don did not come home, missed family events, and lied and cheated, Betty fell out of love with him and into love with Henry. Those transgressions created cracks in the foundation of their marriage. The critical incident in this case, was JFK's assassination. This event caused Betty to realize that she no longer had feelings for Don and did not want to confide in him anymore. Betty tells Don that she does not love him, which is her point of no return, or when she knew it was over. (Video: see Notes, cc) For more information on references; see Notes. |
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