At the turn of the century, modernization of traditions also increased family breakups and infidelity; however these situations were not seem to be the norm. The characters in the novels A Handful of Dust and What Maisie Knew show the evolution of family breakups and infidelity due to their depraved actions. Brenda, a character from Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust shows the depraved mind in women during this period and Maisie Farange's parents from Henry James's What Maisie Knew show the evolution through their depraved actions. Both novels also show the evolution by the rare and scandalo…
