The Eternal Husband

Dostoevsky's short novel, The Eternal Husband, appears in a bound book I have along with 2 other shorts: Notes from the Underground and The Double. Most of his other works were quite a bit longer; these are some 100 to 150 pages long. The Brothers Karamozov hovers somewhere around 1000.

What's significant about The Eternal Husband?

First, what Dostoevsky meant by an eternal husband was a man who, even though being cuckholded once or more by his attractive wife, wittingly or unwittingly chooses to remain with her. He allows and even facilitates his wife's lovers and affairs by his indifference, ignorance or even complicity.

He is a type, the author says, who exists readily throughout mankind, just as his opposite, the lover, does too. The lover, in this case, remains unmarried and pursues various affairs with other married women also.

In this story by Dostoevsky, the lover has almost forgotten the unfaithful wife and cuckholded husband until lover and husband meet on the street, indeed, the lover doesn't recognize the husband (unbelievably) for several days and chance encounters. The affair with the wife lasted a year; it occurred some 9 years ago; the husband informs him the wife has now passed away.

The cuckholded husband now knows what happened between the two; she died suddenly leaving incriminating letters to this lover and another! He has come both seeking revenge... and some kind of forgiveness/reconciliation. He brings a young daughter, progeny of the lover.

The husband rejects the daughter in the presence of the lover; the crushed and abandoned daughter dies of fear, loneliness and rejection. The lover who now realizes he is the father of the child but cannot now connect with her, is crestfallen.

Surprisingly enough, the husband does not kill or injure the lover, although there is a scene where presumably he tries. He goes away.

Then, some 2 years later, the lover again meets the husband, this time he is married anew... and you guessed it, being cuckholded by this new wife and another man! The old lover himself was tempted to approach the new wife with his affections, but when he discovers who her husband is - he backs off and leaves the encounter as soon as he can!

Are there "eternal husbands" like this? And "eternal" lovers as well? I can't speak with any authority or immediate experience, but I would assume so. I suppose the best thing for any husband is to be aware of what's going on in his marriage, take a good look at himself and how he might contribute to any such situation, and look carefully before he chooses a mate.