Digital Marital Betrayal in Elif Shafak’s the Forty Rules of Love

Abstract

Digital marital betrayal can be defined as infidelity that occurs through social media, where one of spouses makes an illicit romantic relationship outside marriage through chat and audio or video calls. In most cases, it is developed into an intimate relationship. Since this problem has begun to invade societies, various authors have addressed it in their writings. The Forty Rules of Love (2009) by Elif Shafak (1971) is one of the contemporary novels that deals with the digital marital betrayal.  This study aims to search the elements of the digital marital infidelity in the Forty Rules of Love. It depends on analytical method of research in which the researcher examines digital marital betrayal in depth and details in order to prove the wife’s (Ella) cheating and the reasons behind this cheat. The study is divided into introduction, literature review, the reasons of the woman’s betrayal in the Forty Rules of Love, the digital marital infidelity in the novel, and the conclusion.