To trust, or not to trust

Although Frankford was not as "sterne" as Whately would have expected, he was not the reason behind the downfall of his marriage. He gave both Anne and Wendell the most sacred value in friendship and marriage alike, trust. Can one blame him for trusting his wife and a man he believed to be a friend? Frankford is not to blame. Look to Anne and Wendoll's misjudgement and temptations. What is funny to me is the way Whately describes the woman's role, it's true that for that particular time that was what was expected, but it's all weakness. Anne is weak in "A Woman Killed with Kindness." She disobeyed her husband and surrendered to another mans proposition; weakness with no ability to control her own actions, for she probably never had the chance to.

Anne probably really was devastated when Frankford discovered her and Wendell in bed together, but so was Frankford. He says: "For I am most ashamed, and 'tis more hard for me to look upon thy gulity face than the sun's clear brow" (Scene 13, Lines 87-89). They are both human beings involved in a marriage, not a governmental run institution, as Whately seems to make marriage out to be.