So I take back part of what I said in My Response to Sara's Ten Commandments Post. After just reading "That Tree" and "Flowering Judas" I realize that adultery is very prevalent in Porter's stories. It is not, as I had presupposed, only there in "Maria Concepcion." Obviously, adultery is hinted at in "Rope" but I am unsure as a reader if it actually happened or was only a suspicion. However, in "That Tree" the Journalist (who doesn't have a name, which I find incredibly interesting. Why is that, do you think? Why does he not have a name while Miriam does?) sleeps with another woman and has a baby with her before Miriam ever comes to Mexico. Is this something that Porter saw a lot of in Mexico because in both "Maria Concepcion" and "That Tree" the men not only sleep with other women, but they also have children with them. Whereas in other stories, the men only sleep with the women. Of course, I take that back because in "Flowering Judas" Braggioni has numerous affairs and nothing is ever said about children, unless I missed it.
Anyway, I wonder why adultery is apart of many contentious marriages in Porter's stories. Is it just that adultery has been known as the reason for divorce for centuries (before the whole "no-fault" divorce was ever instituted, that is)? However, in those cases it was usually the man divorcing the woman for infidelity, while the woman had to have some other "wrong" done to her such as brutality, and she had to prove it, while the man just had to say it. Perhaps this is why these women stay in these marriages with the men who have affairs? I think that might be the case because the only woman who leaves the marriage is Miriam in "That Tree" and she doesn't know about the other woman at all.
I know that the adultery is not the sole reason for the unhappy marriages in these stories, but adultery does play a part in them. It is true that Miriam and the Journalist's marriage lacks communication and understanding, while the relationship in "Rope" lacks trust. In "That Tree" the affair is never discussed because he does not think he can tell her about it (hence lack of communication), and the woman in "Rope" is even more distrustful of her husband because she thinks he has an affair. Then there are the women in "Maria Concepcion" and "Flowering Judas" who take their husbands back after the sordid affairs. Maria takes her husband along with his illegitimate child back after the affair, and Braggioni's wife apologizes for being upset that he has many affairs. What is all of that about? Perhaps a little research into the Mexican culture would be interesting. I do remember that in "Maria Concepcion" the women in the community are mad at Maria for being so upset about her husband's affair. They basically say that it happens to everyone, and she should just get over it.
I keep thinking that I have decided on my topic concerning marriage, and then I change my mind. Now I am thinking that I will tie in Adultery and how it goes hand-in-hand with other problems in the marriages of Porter's stories. I don't know if Porter ever had affairs or was cheated on, but she seems to write about it a lot, and I'm not sure why. We shall see, we shall see.