Historical context, a particular view of how men and women do/should interact (now or then), the Code, and the need to create conflict just to have a story (happy, calm lives are best in real life, but don't make for interesting movies!), all enter into it.
I hate infidelity, and stories in which it is cheefully forgiven often set my teeth on edge. I want to throttle the unseen Stephen sometimes -- he never should have started with Crystal in the first place, and there's no real excuse for it.
And the "ignore it, ride it out, and take him back" aspects of Mary's mom's speech are obnoxious. But, one aspect of that speech is interesting.
She says that Stephen is bored with *himself,* not Mary. And, she points out that a woman has more choices for change if a mid-life crisis or boredom with herself hits -- redecorating her home or herself, etc.
She does miss the "buy a sports car" opportunity, which was as possible then as it is now. If a man's work happened to have a timely opening for something new and exciting, that was an option. And, of course, in their social class, a trip to an exotic locale, or an expensive new hobby, were possible.
But, in those days when well-to-do women could make themselves or the house over, but even wealthy men didn't have those choices, their way of feeling new and alive could be limited, if they lacked imagination or opportunity, making them prime targets for women like Crystal.
Doesn't forgive the infidelity, in my eyes, and it's a bit sad to know that Mary is married to a man without the imagination to just take up a hobby or buy a new car, but it's an interesting observation.
I think it's also a plot device to make sure that we know that Stephen is not a horn dog who has already been sleeping around, and one of many lines that make sure we know that he never really loves Crystal, and the divorce, and marriage to Crystal, are all a mistake.
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