To open his epic novel that explored infidelity, Leo Tolstoy wrote, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
The opening words of Anna Karenina may have gone down in history as one of literature’s most unforgettable lines, but a closer look at crumbling marriages and romantic relationships show that the roots of their breakdown have more similarities than most people realize.
Doomed relationships are often attributed to different causes, such as lack of intimacy, unresolved differences, or financial issues. In each case, an analysis by American professor Mark Knapp identifies five stages that reveal how relationships deteriorate following a common pattern.
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