The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose” (Lady Macbeth).
Shakespeare, in this famous soliloquy, captured the musings of Lady Macbeth as she was about to initiate the murder of King Duncan. In this instance, Shakespeare alluded to the fact that Lady Macbeth had to acquire the mental state of a man in order to ensure the death of Duncan. This suggests that men are inherently crueller and capable of greater evil than women.
Hardly surprising, the brutal slaying of Neisha Cyleane Sankar by her husband Harricharran Ramsundar, who subsequently committed suicide, appears testimony to the cruelty of man. But, the situation is not as simple as this. In reported stories, allegations of infidelity have appeared as a major factor leading to the tragedy that unfolded in my hometown of Siparia. Infidelity, perceived and real, has played a major role in acts of both mental and physical domestic violence. However, acts of reprisal know no gender. Both male and female are capable of vengeful behaviour in the face of unfaithfulness, even though infidelity has always been part of human civilisation.
While we pretend to be clothed with human decency, this façade can be quickly removed in relationships where infidelity becomes an issue. It is widely reported that as Prince Charles grew tired of Princess Diana in the wake of his growing relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, he wielded mental cruelty as a weapon to destroy Diana’s confidence. According to Paul Burrell, a former butler of the Royal Household, “Charles wasn’t always kind to the princess, in fact sometimes he was quite cruel…I remember one occasion she came downstairs wearing a beautiful black-and-white Catherine Walker gown. She said, “Charles I’ve had it made specially, do you like it?” Burrel went on to report Charles’ response, “You look like you belong to the Mafia,” a comment which according to Burrel, “cut her down to her knees” (The Diana Story, 2017).
Not only mental cruelty but physical harm is also part of the repertoire used in situations of infidelity. According to a report in the Times of India, a woman arranged for the beating of her husband for cheating on her, with the one condition that he not be killed. She wanted his arms and legs broken to teach him a lesson (October 05, 2016).
Sometimes, a cheated spouse may elect to financially destroy her husband. The once playboy of the tennis circuit, Boris Becker, learnt the hard way the consequences of infidelity in divorce proceedings. Married to model Barbara Feltus, his financial world crashed after he started a relationship with Russian model Angela Ermakova after they “hooked up” in the broom closet at a Japanese restaurant in London. A lengthy and bitter divorce battle with Feltus cost him $25 million, his luxury condo in Miami and custody of their two sons.
In some instances, a spouse/partner may employ all the tools of revenge when confronting infidelity (mental, physical and financial), with the ultimate being death. Clearly, there is no gender issue in acts of inhumanity when people are acting on allegations of infidelity. “Hell hath no fury like a woman/man scorned.”
Ramsundar has been variously described as a “cool” and “quiet man.” Ramsundar’s father stated “I am surprised that he did that because my son was a cool fella. He does not smoke or drink like me.” “Neighbours were in shock yesterday, saying that Ramsundar never showed violent behaviour. They said he was quiet” (T&T Guardian, September 02, 2019). Yet below this quiet demeanour lurked a person capable of great evil. The alleged or real sexual proclivities of another human cannot justify the barbaric actions of members of society who believe infidelity, real or perceived, justifies unspeakable revenge.
Infidelity is conveniently used as the excuse to justify human weakness in pursuing a possessory approach to relationships. The reality is, it simply helps to lift the mask that conceals the deeper demonic forces lurking beneath the surface of human consciousness, stripping the thin veneer of civility we often pretend to be endowed with. How easy it is to “Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose.”
Professor Rajendra Ramlogan, Commercial and Environment Law, The University of the West Indies. The views expressed are entirely his own.