Last night on Mad Men, both Don and Betty are tempted to cheat. While Don, a seasoned philanderer, has no trouble cheating on Betty with his daughter's former teacher, Betty thinks twice about consummating her flirtation with belly-toucher Henry. It's not because of her marriage, of course, but because sex in an office is "tawdry." Obviously!
Betty knows Don's a cheater, and seems to have reconciled it by cheating herself — both last season with that stranger in the bar and this season in her emotional affair with Henry — and limiting what she knows about her husband's, well, affairs. Would being married to a cheater modify how you reacted, or would you put your foot down no matter what?
(For more Mad Men, check out BuzzSugar's 5 Maddest Mad Men moments from last night's episode.)
Source: AMC
L.a.p.a.
Alberta Ferretti
Erickson Beamon
oh jeez, it is so so so difficult to sum up these two characters and their relationship into one post here...... yikes I'm interested to see what people say
1Betty didn't sleep with Henry because the situation didn't live up to her romantic fantasy of being seduced on that ugly couch.
2Speaking from personal experience, you tell yourself that you will put your foot down IF it happens to you. WHEN it happens, you may find that you're in a different place and mindset, for right or wrong. It's easy to speak about it in cut-and-dried terms when it's only a possibility. The reality is much more messy than that.
3Yah I think its all about the chase for Betty. I've done that where I am interested and then as soon as I get them, I'm so bored and uninterested. Sorta recently actually.
haha. Don is just a cheating guy.
I wouldn't ever get married to someone who I know cheated on me. If I was married and that person cheated on me, we arent married anymore. And you would always know. whether you wanna see the signs or not.
4I agree with Anonymous in post 3.
5Briandiesel, I hope you NEVER, EVER have to experience this. But if you do, I hope that you have a support system and back-up finances in place to make it so easy as simply saying "we aren't married anymore." Not to mention children, pets or other complicating factors that make it incredibly difficult to just pick up and leave.
6I would never have tolerated cheating when I was dating. Now that I'm married, it's completely different. It would be heartbreaking and pretty earth-shattering, but I would do my best to move on and forgive my husband. I imagine I'd be pretty devastated for a while and wouldn't want to talk to him at first, but we're in this for the long haul. That's what it meant to us when we got married: we're sticking together no matter what. We choose each other. Sometimes it's not easy, but that's the vow we took. We choose each other.
7I think people stay in a marriage even after that bond has been broken because of kids or a financial situation. If someone cheats it's usually because they aren't feeling special and getting that attention they need (I saw this just the other day on Dr. Phil). So give your spouse what they need and you will in return get what you need and it will all be good.
8hmmmm sounds easier said then done.
I think the portrayal of Don and Betty's relationship does a great job at illustrating the fact that the cheater is often the one not giving the other spouse the attention they need and making them feel special.
Their relationship may be unhealthy in a lot of ways for which both are to blame. However, Betty's not driving Don to cheat. I think he would be doing it regardless because of his own issues.
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