I feel like posts about infidelity in books, movies, popular culture, etc., are usually negative (for very understandable reasons), but I actually have a positive experience to share.
I’m a high school English teacher, and this year I taught the play Fences for the first time. Infidelity is a major plot point in the play. I’m far enough out from my husband’s betrayal that this type of thing doesn’t overly affect me, but the book discussions in my class tend to get very real and deep, so I was a little nervous about how it would go.
Guys, it was a beautiful experience, even though there were some hard and painful moments. Teenagers can be immature messes sometimes, but they can also be so earnest and thoughtful and insightful. They had so many good things to ask and discuss and express, and a few of them even talked about dealing with infidelity in their parents’ relationships, either privately with me or with the class at large. It was vulnerable and real and I feel like we all learned something.
At the end of the unit they were given a choice of five prompts for writing an essay about the play (prompts from the curriculum; not written by me). One of the prompts focused on betrayal, and about half of them chose that one. I’m grading their essays now and am so moved and impressed. Sure, their youth and inexperience come through, but on the whole their writing is so thoughtful and sincere.
Anyway, I thought I’d share. I don’t recommend the play if things are still raw for you, but it’s a fantastic work of literature. There’s an excellent movie version too.
[This message edited by Grieving at 7:01 PM, Thursday, February 20th]
