the Other Woman is a reflection of our own anxieties and repressions. She gets away with behavior that we cannot. She represents everything that we wish we could be, all that we wish we could attain. Perhaps we project a part of ourselves—the part that we wish to disavow—so that we can conveniently create a dichotomy between the virtuous heroine (ourself) and the villainess (the Other Woman). Instead of vilifying her, shouldn’t we try to understand her?

