There is a paradox in that the reader “justifies” the heroes of some works of literature, forgives them some of their mistakes. They seek excuses for betrayal - for example, love, which the hero cannot resist. However, in the case of betrayal, we must not forget that this is primarily a deception, a lie to loved ones, which we should not even make for love. Lies and betrayal are so closely connected that one thing never happens without the other: if you changed, then you lied when you promised loyalty; if you lied, then you have changed your word.
Those who cheat, sometimes lie not only to their husbands or wives, often they deceive and confuse themselves. For example, Anna Karenina, the heroine of the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy, forgot all the rules of behavior of a married woman and succumbed to an impulse, started a secret affair with Vronsky. Of course, the excuse for her is the fact that she never loved Karenina, but still this is a deception, as it later turns out, of a worthy and noble man. The situation was complicated by the fact that Anna was deceiving herself, believing that she was in control of the situation, that she could clearly choose what was more precious to her: motherhood, life in society, or romance with Vronsky. In fact, she was in a precarious state, rushing from one to the other, and thereby made a welter in the lives of all three people. Apparently, Anna lied to her husband, hiding her relationship with her lover, without this betrayal would not have taken place.
A similar situation occurs in the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov "Quiet Don". The main character, Grigory Melikhov, is torn between Aksinya and Natalya, his real wife. In justification, he should say that he became the spouse of Natalia by the will of his parents, forcibly, while he never tried to deceive her - she knew that he loved another. But Gregory did not have the spirit to finally leave Natalia, which gave her a ghostly hope that their marriage could be arranged. This state of betrayal and eternal deception tormented all three for many years, until Natalya surrendered and committed suicide.
Treason is impossible without cheating. Moreover, deception is not simple, as, for example, violation of one’s obligations, and not one-time, but deception of a long, constant and vile. This is, first of all, a lie to oneself, which entangles and weaves into a complex knot of the fate of people connected by someone else's betrayal.
