Margaret & Anthony have been married for the past 15 years: Legal Studies Essay, MU, Ireland

Margaret & Anthony has been married for the past 15 years. They have three children. One of whom is 19 and just started a job as an electrician.

Anthony and Margaret have a tumultuous relationship. They sleep in separate bedrooms most of the time, they still do go on family holidays together, but Margaret says that it’s just for the sake of the children. While both have always had partners on the side, this is normally followed by reconciliation between them, where they become romantically involved and then fight and separate again. Recently a relationship of Anthony’s has gotten quite serious.

Margaret cannot cope with the prospect that Anthony may be moving on and in a blazing row one night where Anthony confessed he wanted
to separate from Margaret, she threw a candlestick at him that hit his torso.

Anthony accepts that this is an escalation of Margaret’s behavior, normally she just leaves threatening notes around the house and undermines him when it comes to the children.

Margaret tells Anthony that he would not last two seconds without her, that she knows they fight, break up and get back together but that is just them.

She promises to control her temper and says that she will not be physically threatening again stating, that it only happened because she accidentally took too many sleeping tablets.

Anthony wants to stay in the family home as it was his family home growing up, he thinks Margaret should leave as she earns more money
than him anyway so could easily pay rent elsewhere.