Fidelity as a moral achievement

For those who believe, the Church's sanctions are more powerful than those of society: sexual fidelity is maintained not only in relation to the marital institution, but to the religious one as well. Moral questions can no longer be decided purely by reference to an externally given set of rules imposed by Church and State but have become increasingly a matter of individual choice and circumstances. The chapter refers to T. Hardy's Jude the Obscure, to underline how different from, and even contradictory to, an externally imposed morality is the notion of fidelity as a moral achievement. Fidelity to the ordinary is shown not to be dull and boring but noble and heroic. Paradoxically, then, the increased acceptance of pre-marital sex and divorce serves only to accentuate the need for fidelity within marriage. It is important to distinguish between monogamy and fidelity.