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 …showed first 75 words of 1863 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1863 total…Tab/>The great novels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century show the increase of family breakups and infidelity in England, where these stories take place as it advances the modernization of the traditions. The actions of Maisie Farange's immoral and self-involved parents and Brenda's depraved actions in A Handful of Dust and the abnormal divorces clearly show the beginning of this age and how it evolved into the modern world today.