Betrayal

Betrayal

No matter the time, the place, the culture, or the people, betrayal looks and feels the same. There may be a new cast of characters with different names and faces, playing various roles in the age-old drama of love and romance. Still, the negative feelings of denunciation, refusal, and denial associated with rejection remain the same.

Enmeshed in a loveless marriage arrangement, a woman named Hannah becomes an unwilling participant in the role of the romantically rejected. She was born into a gentry upper-class society that expects her to follow the rules of tradition and honor, despite the precarious position it puts her in. As the eldest of two sisters, her family forces her to marry for wealth, status, and posterity, even if she lacks the love that should accompany marriage.

Those same limitations do not constrain her younger sister, Emily, who, while also expected to marry, does not bear the same obligations as her elder sister. Not only does Emily have considerably more autonomy in matters of marriage, but men everywhere also view her as more strikingly beautiful, endlessly seeking her affection.

Ross Jamison, the son of a wealthy aristocratic family in the nearby town of Sunderland Heights, desires to take Emily as his wife. However, both families decide that a union between Ross and Hannah would be more fitting for the status of both families. Hannah is reluctant, knowing of Ross’s interest in her sister, so she protests, but to no avail. Her parents, Edith and Lawton Morris attempt to console her by explaining that as the more intelligent and more mature of the two sisters, she would have significant social and financial advantages if she were to marry Ross, instead of Emily. Who, although younger and more physically endowed, was wholly self-absorbed with her own narcissistic needs, and lacked the discipline, commitment, and sense of duty needed to establish an enduring lineage.

They also remind Ross that, as the eldest son, he must provide an heir and that his inheritance depends entirely on doing so. In marrying Hannah, he would receive a much larger marriage dowry than a union with Emily, which would increase his family's wealth, land, and assets exponentially. Under great duress, he concedes to his family's wishes. However, he cannot easily dismiss his love for Emily, and although neither Hannah nor Ross prefers the other, they are powerless to remedy the situation.

A law of inheritance demands that Ross must marry Hannah even if she is unwanted. His love for Emily is nothing more than an unfortunate inconvenience to their families. The contractual agreement subjects Hannah to circumstances beyond her control, as her heart is bought and sold in the name of propriety and formality.

Hannah consents to the marriage, as she must, only to be spurned because of Ross’s love for Emily. Just one night seals Hannah's fate, and she enters a loveless marriage, destined to spend her life unable to earn her husband's love. As his wife, she will have all the domestic duties and responsibilities of the household, but never the love and passion she so desperately desires. She will provide a lovely home, cook gourmet meals, and carefully attend to every detail of her family, while constantly reminded that her husband prefers her sister.

Hannah hopes that Ross’s feelings for Emily will eventually wane and that she will become more than just his duty, but she knows it’s his choice. Hannah’s unrequited love for Ross sets her on a frantic and desperate search to captivate his heart. She uses every means imaginable to become the object of his affection. She even attempts to gain his acceptance by having children, believing that perhaps he will love her if she gives him a wonderful family.

But, she can do no more than look on as Ross spends every spare moment with Emily under pretenses like business. Eventually, everyone in town learns what is happening, but in a world of male privilege, consorts are common. In contrast, society expects wives to look the other way and remain silent, maintaining a facade of normalcy and finding comfort in caring for their homes and children. After all, she is told that she should be thankful to have a husband and the security of marriage. Fidelity is far too much to expect. Compelled to conform to the cultural norms of a patriarchal hierarchy, she must play the role of the dutiful, respectable wife, and always smile gracefully, even if it breaks her heart in doing so. Since she is completely dependent on her husband, she has few options. And, no matter how painful, she must remain silent.

After enduring years of marriage, Hannah finally relinquishes the right to be loved and respected, succumbing to a forlorn existence. She accepts the relationship with Ross on any meager terms he gives, even if it is only two nights a week, every other weekend, or after his time with the children. A woman unloved, she becomes compliant, fitting into his schedule whenever and wherever she can, her self-worth replaced by hopelessness, after years of betrayal by her husband and sister.

Yet, no matter how bleak Hannah’s situation may seem, she manages to procure the favor of many patrons by using her penchant for the artistry of painting, garnering a high regard for her endeavors. One of them is a local townsman named Parker Ellis. He is an ardent admirer and commissions many pieces from her collection. Hannah always welcomes his presence. Seeming to know about her marital predicament, as did everyone in town. He takes great care to compliment her creativity, and his words and attention are always thoughtful and kind.

Hannah's success elevates her to prominence and great significance in an elite world where women rarely receive recognition for their accomplishments. She goes beyond the barriers intended to keep her living in the shadow of her husband, instead walking into the light of who she is—as an individual. Although Hannah’s acclaim does not change her status with Ross, it does change her status in life and, most of all, her opinion of herself.

As time passes, Hannah tires of hoping and waiting for love and finds the courage to do the unthinkable; she breaks the code of silence and confronts Ross about his marital betrayal and contemptuous behavior towards her. For what seems like moments of suspended time, she announces the decision to divorce him. Divorce! Ross thought. No woman from a prominent family would ever think, let alone mention, the word divorce. After all, she enjoyed other advantages and should simply ignore infidelity, which was considered a small indiscretion. It was part of the unspoken rule of the "boys will be boys, and men will be men" society. Shocked and angry, Ross reminds her of what she will lose, but with newfound confidence, she reminds him of what she has found. Her will, her identity, and her own self-determination.

At last, Hannah overcomes the circumstances of her marriage and finds peace within her heart. She is no longer the victim of what her father did, nor is she playing "he loves me; he loves me not" with Ross. Instead, she finds an inner source of strength and is no longer vying for the approval and acceptance of others. Her marriage began with feelings of shame, humiliation, and reproach, but it now ends with the restoration of worth, dignity, and honor.

She leaves a marriage of pretense and charades with Ross and begins a wonderful life with Parker, a man who marries her for love. It’s true love, not a false love contrived to gain her inheritance. He’s everything that she has always longed for and more. Their days together are warm when it is cold and filled with sunshine when it rains. Her joy with Parker makes her marriage to Ross seem like a fleeting memory of something that once was, yet no longer remains, leaving no trace of its existence. Although some scrutinize and scorn her divorce, she and Parker are oblivious to their disapproving looks because they can only see each other and their new life together.

In the drama of life and love, Hannah has experienced inequity and unfairness, but in the last scene of the last act of her life, she finds her voice and breaks the silence imposed on her by others. Triumphantly reclaiming the right to choose her own life, her own love, and her own path.