In Doris Lessing's short story, "To Room Nineteen" Susan and Matthew Rawling appear to be the perfect couple, until Matthew begins having affairs and Susan is left alone with him same thoughts and in the end she goes mad and kills herself. An underlying theme that Lessing may be alluding to is how adultery affects marriage. During the 1960s, divorce was becoming an increasingly popular solution to marital problems. Gathering historical information and considering the characters in this story, it can be assumed that Lessing believed that divorce was a suitable solution for some marriages. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay During the 1960s, divorce was considered a widespread tragedy in London. Divorce laws were enacted and it was said that a couple could only divorce if they were “irretrievably broken”. According to the London Times article, “Breakdown or Offenses” there were three different ways in which a marriage could be considered broken: “abandonment for a continuous period of at least two years; separation for at least two years when both spouses agree to the divorce; separation for at least five years when no such agreement exists." This suggests that if a couple found themselves in one of these three situations, their marriage would undoubtedly fall apart. However, this article also argues that there are other reasons why people should be able to get a divorce easily, for example adultery, this is considered a "crime" according to this article. During this time, "adultery is one of the safest legal grounds for divorce", however, this article also states that adultery cannot always be proven, and this is an easy way for people to get divorced easily with charges "fictitious". . In 1969, an article titled “Divorce on Demand” was published in the Times of London, challenging the idea that “an isolated case of adultery is evidence that a marriage is over, and even worse, broadening the definition of cruelty.” which could be interpreted as simple incompatibility." This article argues the point that adultery should not be a ground for divorce (at least not a one-off crime) because that could mean that people were simply not compatible with each other, but it was difficult for them to get a divorce. , so they were forced to become unfaithful to their spouses. In "To Room Nineteen" Matthew, Susan Rawling's husband, is unfaithful in their marriage, and instead of divorcing, Susan decides to stay with Matthew, during which she ultimately goes mad and commits suicide. . Throughout the story, Susan justifies Matthew's affairs by claiming that monogamy is unrealistic. An example of this is Susan and Matthew even joking, saying, “Of course I won't be faithful to you, no one can be faithful to one person their whole life” (Lessing). This is significant because Susan does not seem to be bothered by Matthew's infidelity, but as time passes the loneliness consumes her and drives her crazy. Towards the end of the story, Susan tries to convince Matthew that she has been unfaithful to him so she can do so. to make him relate to how he feels, but this quickly backfires and only causes more conflict for Susan. When she tells Matthew about her fictitious lover, Michael, he seems unfazed and offers to join them on a date, to which Susan thinks, “Of course, she told herself, of course he'd be forced to say it. If you are sensible, if you are reasonable, if you never allow yourself a mean thought or a feeling of envy, you naturally say: let's have a foursome!” (Lessing). This allows Susan to realize that Matthew understands that..