‘A Million Little Bonds’: Infidelity, Divorce and the Emotional Worlds of Marriage in British Women’s Magazines of the 1930s

Abstract

Hannah Charnock'A million little bonds': Infidelity, divorce and the emotional worlds of marriage in British women's magazines of the 1930s Throughout the 1930s, women's magazines positioned themselves as an invaluable source of guidance for wives dealing with unfaithful spouses. In February 1936, Woman's Own published an article entitled, 'Make Friends with the "Other Woman"', which offered practical help for women with philandering husbands. 1 The author initially reprimanded couples, diagnosing laziness and pride as the cause of broken marriages. However, they went on to prescribe a pragmatic course of action that was rooted in marital love's supposedly enduring strength. Shifting to a maternal mode of address, the article's author quickly exchanged stern admonishment for sage reassurance: Remember, O doubting wife, that you start with a huge advantage over your rival. You and your husband are linked by a chain of happy memories, which she cannot share. […] However blind his infatuation, that single fact has bound you more closely to him that ever she can be.The article suggested that husbands may require subtle manipulation in order to recall their true attachment to the wives who 'share [their] lives', but it simultaneously reassured readers that 'a real break [was] almost inconceivable'. This advice is illustrative of women's magazines' particular understanding of married love at this time. Throughout the 1930s, the idea that marital love had its own enduring strength that could be called upon to rescue marriages from all manner of crises was a recurring theme in magazine discourse. Whatever mistakes had been made by either spouse (including laziness,